Once upon a time, not so long ago, Canadians always came out second best in comparison to our neighbours to the south. And, particularly in the English-speaking regions of the country, this led to an overwhelming sense of inferiority about everything Canadian. It may be less so today, but it still exists. It can be seen in the urge many English Canadians have to adopt all things American unthinkingly, because after all, anything American must, by definition, be the best in the world. At the same time, many English Canadians make a fetish of being anti-American. It gives them a sense of moral superiority, the very essence of having an inferiority complex. Both the inferiority complex and moral superiority complex originate in the same place, i.e. the abysmal ignorance among Canadians of their history, their institutions, and what makes them Canadian. But that discussion belongs in another place, not here.

In 2008, around Canada Day, Maclean's Magazine published a report using Statistics Canada and U.S. Federal Reserve figures from 2004/5. The results, as you'll see, now favour Canadians. Some of the relevant figures are excerpted below. It's important to remember that these figures are averages or median figures, so they're affected by regional disparities and by the still deep racial divide in the United States and the great differences in social legislation of both countries (which has a negative effect on many American numbers).