The United States and Canada have quite a friendly relationship with each other, which is quite different than you can find between neighboring countries in many other parts of the world. This is despite the fact that the governments of the two neighboring countries are quite different. Why is this? We will compare and contrast both governments, and explain why they seem to get along so well together.
Here are some of the differences found between the governments of the United States and Canada
- The United States has a federation republic type of central government, with power divided between the state and federal governments, and each level being separated into three branches, each of which serve (at least are supposed to, but don’t anymore) to limit the power of each of the other branches, and include the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. Canada has a confederation type of government, that combines the cabinet system as found in the United Kingdom, in the way that it partially merges the legislative and executive branches by the fact that the prime minister, and most of his cabinet, are from the House of Commons, combining that element with the federal form of government found in the U.S.
- The United States is dominated by two major parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, with one of those two major parties dominating in some states or metro areas, with some other minor unimportant parties; Canada is more politically diverse with five parties that are important and dominant, including the Liberal Party, the Canadian Alliance Party (united a bunch of smaller conservative groups together), the Progressive Conservative Party, The New Democratic Party, and the Bloc Quebecois which is centered in Quebec.
- The United States has had a single dominant language, English, which immigrants, even though they come from many different language sources, know they need to learn to become Americanized, and to socialize and work in that country; Canada has been dominated by English and French, and any attempts to try to quash French in the province of Quebec fails and causes bad reactions, leading the Canadians to have a two-language dominant country, rather than a one-language-fits-all approach like they have in the U.S.
- The United States has a capital, Washington, that exists within its own district, the District of Columbia, outside of any state’s control or jurisdiction; Canada’s capital, Ottawa, does not reside within its own district, but is within the jurisdiction of the province of Ontario, even though they have tried in the past, and failed, to create a federal capital district.
- Canada has royalty that can represent it, albeit royalty from its mother country, the United Kingdom; the United States, although it also can be said to have descended from the United Kingdom, does not have any royalty that represents itself, nor does it have any royalty of its own.
- The United States has many states, fifty in number, as well as its capital district, and a few island territories; Canada has only ten provinces and three territories, making their divisions much less numerous than the divisions on that level found in the U.S.
- The United States has a stronger central, federal, government, stronger than the states at least, in order to keep the country together and make for more of a cohesive whole – the U.S. originally had a confederation system in place when they originally became a nation, more than 200 years ago, but this didn’t work very well. Canada, on the other hand, has had a confederation system in place, that has allowed their provinces a great deal more independence and sovereignty than even the system of federalism as found in the U.S. give the states, and it has worked remarkably well for them, although they still struggle with the desire of some Quebecois who want to secede.
- In the United States, if you don’t like the government that is in place, you are forced to wait until the next election cycle and try to vote for a new senator or representative for your district; in Canada, the political parties that are not in control of the parliament can stage a vote of no confidence, which, if passed, forces that government in power to dissolve, and new elections to take place after at least a minimum amount of campaigning, to replace the dissolved government.
With those comparisons and contrasts between what is found politically, and governmentally, in the United States and Canada, the question is asked why the two nations have such a friendly and amicable relationship, getting along quite well together, and not being enemies who are aggressive towards each other, like Pakistan and India, or Iraq and Iran, or even like the U.S. and Mexico a century ago. Why is this the case?
For starters, despite the differences that can be pointed out, there are a lot of similarities between the two nations. Both nations started out as colonies from the same mother country, the United Kingdom (just England back then), both speak primarily the same language, and have cultures that are very similar. The standard of living is about the same; the aspirations, dreams, and desires are quite similar between the citizens of the two nations.
They also have economies that are very closely linked to each other, and so each nation is beneficial to the other. Canada buys many U.S. products, and the U.S. buys many of Canada’s products. Just take the automobile manufacturing industry for example. With a little research, you’ll notice how closely linked the automobile manufacturing industry is on both sides of the border – Canada has about 10% of the amount of automobile assembly plants as the United States, as well as about 10% of the suppliers, suppliers in Canada can supply the assembly plants in the U.S. and vice versa.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it is in both of their best interests, the United States as well as Canada’s, to have a good and peaceful relationship with each other. With all the other world issues that pressure and worry the citizens of both countries, it is just better to not have to worry about things on that end. Working together and helping each other out is more beneficial than tearing each other down.
These are a few of the many reasons why the two nations have a good relationship with each other, and work well together, at least for the most part.
