It's Canada Day Today!

As a general rule, Canadian patriotism tends to be pretty quiet and introverted. But when I was young, there was a real upsurge of Canadian patriotism in the 1960s (the decade of our new flag and our Centennial year) and in the 1970s-80s (when Canadian culture enjoyed a renaissance in music, art, TV and films). Then the sentiment largely simmered down again and was confined to celebrating Canada Day once a year.

Oh yes, there was that beer commercial in 2000 which featured the now-classic "I Am Canadian Rant" debunking stupid stereotypes about us. Its mock-serious tone is typical Canadian humour, satirical and self-deprecating. Everyone loved that fun little ad and it was a big hit here --

And then things simmered down once more for a couple of decades. Until Trump's Tariff War and his "51st state" rhetoric this year. THAT got us all worked up again, so the same actor was brought back to do a NEW RANT on our behalf. This one has a bit more of a pissed-off edge to it, but is still pretty funny --

And whatever you do, watch out for that Shawinigan Handshake, eh? Canadians can surprise you when you least expect it.