[andyt]

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/forbes/1427/the-canadian-century

[BartSimpson]

The guy is way off on saying that the Arctic sea lanes are open. Other than that it's a pretty good article.

[andyt]

Well we've heard it all before. And we're still tied to the US at the hip, as they go so do we. And I'd rather have that relationship than being tied to China at the hip. If Europe would get it's act together tho, that could be the the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

[BartSimpson]

andyt wrote:

Well we've heard it all before. And we're still tied to the US at the hip, as they go so do we. And I'd rather have that relationship than being tied to China at the hip. If Europe would get it's act together tho, that could be the the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Thanks!

And the feeling is mutual.

I'm really very cautious about Europe and the EU. In my personal opinion (one that is shared in many parts of the UK) the EU is France and Germany accomplishing politically and economically what neither of them was ever able to accomplish by force: the conquest of Europe.

Europe in the past 100 years has had two massively devastating wars that were in no small part caused by their elitist hubris. European history is rife with petty rivalries that resulted in rivers of blood and both of our countries are a rejection of the worldview that makes Europe prone to self-destruction. Canada and the USA are both founded by immigrants who came here to escape the lingering feudalism that still holds Europeans in bondage.

We have much more in common with each other than we do with the Old World.

I only hope that Europe does not cause us to have to over there again to straighten out their messes.

[andyt]

Sorry Bart. I wasn't agreeing with you. I was saying that if Europe got it's act together, that could be the start of a good trading relationship between us and them. I don't share your fears about Europe starting any wars, tho of course anything is possible.

What I'd really like to see is Canada in a position to play off the US, China and Europe against each other. But I would settle for some sort of Europe US Canada loose (very) union.

My main worry about Europe is that they seem to have even more Muslims than we do, and if we get to the point of labor mobility, that could get scary. But our own immigration policies will pretty much accomplish the same thing anyway.

[BartSimpson]

The European Union will never consider Canada as an equal because they see Canada as a colony of provincialists who were not good enough to make it in London, Paris, Brussels, or Berlin. You know, places that really count.