As a Canadian, the one thing I don't quite understand is how many of my countrymen are so quick to condemn the American system despite all the obvious signs tha

As a Canadian, the one thing I don't quite understand is how many of my countrymen are so quick to condemn the American system despite all the obvious signs that the Canadian system is unsustainable and failing Canadians' responses to the US are not a rational phenomenon. They're rooted in our identity issues and aren't amenable to argument. This is a (the?) fundamental fact of (English) Canadian history right from the beginning. It doesn't follow that all our responses are wrong; as far as I can tell they tend to fall along a spectrum. But it's a real weakness that we can't be more objective. It leads us to accept and defend substandard things about ourselves that we could otherwise set about improving... your example being exhibit #1.