Virtually everyone in the world right now knows there’s a presidential election going on in the US. We all know who’s running and roughly what their platforms are.
Although we obviously can’t vote in the US, I’d argue that most Canadians stay tuned to things like celebrity endorsements, presidential debates, and poll numbers. Even though we do have our own politics to worry about, too.
But there’s some big questions at play here. We know we’re a bit obsessed with US politics, but why exactly? What’s it like being from Canada and tuning into what’s going on with our neighbours down south? And really, these questions boil down to one debate: do Canadians pay more attention to US politics than our own?
Well, one American Reddit user recently posed this same question: “Is it true that many Canadians pay more attention to US politics than their own?” And they explained that they’re “sick of being a laughingstock” to the rest of the world. Canadians did NOT hold back in their answers.
Soooo, here are some of the top-voted answers to this question so we can settle this debate once and for all:
1. “When a mouse sleeps next to an elephant, it is the best interest of the mouse to watch every move of the elephant.”
“My phrase about the Canada/US relationship is, when the US sneezes, Canada catches the cold.”
2. “Of course, the US impacts Canada, but most Canadians pay attention to US politics because they find it interesting, not because it’s important to their day-to-day life.”
“In 90% of cases we’re most impacted by our municipality, then by our provincial government, then by the federal government and then by the actions of foreign countries (with the US at the forefront of that group) — but most Canadians probably know more about US politics than their own city’s politics.”
3. “I think it’s more that if someone doesn’t pay close attention to anything, they’ll just accidentally consume a disproportionate amount of the vast supply of American mass-media. Just because it’s there and there’s so much of it.”
4. “I can name all the US Supreme Court Justices and I’m not sure I can name any Canadian ones.”
5. “US elections absolutely affect Canadians and our trade relationship with the US. It’s also such a dumpster fire that it’s kind of a soap opera. It’s Politainment to me.”
“Generally speaking, this is probably true. US politics appeals to people who like circuses, soap operas, legal dramas, crime, etc. Ours is boring in comparison.”
7. “I don’t know if it can be categorically true. But I’m a Canadian who lives in Europe now and everyone knows about the US election, and it’s because the election is not really about policy — it’s a spectacle.”
“Canada has a bit of personal push and shove between party leaders, but we don’t have the same circus that’s running down south.”
8. “Our politicians, generally, aren’t as hungry for the attention (or bug-fuck crazy) as yours, so you guys end up in our news cycle.”
“It’s very seldom a positive thing.”
9. But on the other hand, “Canada has a long history of watching the trainwreck in the US, then with 20/20 full hindsight, doing exactly the same thing.”
10. “It’s like watching a building burning down and slowly seeing it spread to our backyard.”
“When your neighbour’s house is on fire, you pay attention. That is US politics to Canadians.”
11. “Not only do many Canadians pay more attention to US politics, I would say many have little idea about Canadian issues or the Canadian system.”
12. “We pay attention to the US because of how reliant our economy is.”
“That being said, we pay plenty of attention to ours. While we aren’t typically as loud as the USA is during an election year, Canadians have been very outward about politics.”
13. “Always makes me laugh when I see people with MAGA hats or Trump flags [in Canada]. People sometimes forget which country they’re in.”
14. “The US political scene is crazy upside down monkey banana pants. It’s way more entertaining.”
15. “It’s like a nice apartment above a meth lab. In that situation, you’d pay attention to what’s going on downstairs, too!”
16. “‘Pay attention’ may be the wrong choice of words here. May be more like ‘mindlessly consume whatever information is being fed to us through social media and US TV talk shows.'”
“The news has a story or two on US politics just about every night.”
17. “I prefer having boring politics, and I follow it enough to make an informed decision, but watching the American election cycle is almost always funny. Where else are you gonna hear a former world leader say ‘they’re eating the DOGS’?”
18. “This is shameful, but I don’t even watch debates for Prime Minister. At least not with a tub of popcorn. Born and raised here, and I would struggle to provide a lot of detail on our system of government.”
“But the US? I know how many seats are needed for a majority in the house; I know at least the first 5 levels of succession; I can explain (though not understand) the electoral college; I can tell you which district is the key to Wisconsin or how Texas could flip this year. I listen to US political podcasts (liberal of course), yet couldn’t name a single Canadian political podcast, if there is one.
And this would apply to the majority of people I know. So yes, far as I’m concerned, it’s true.”
19. And finally: “I’d say it’s about equal. But to be fair, who you guys choose as president probably affects us more than who our own leader is. You know, living next door to the superpower of the world and leaders of the whole free world and all.”
