[JTon]

I don't know. I heard this narrative a lot more during the trump era, and I rarely hear it now. I have a pet theory that it comes up in popular Canadian culture when a republican is in office and dies down when a democrat is there.

[refurb]

Maybe it’s changed, but the “Canadian identity” has long been this amorphous thing many Canadians quietly fret over because nobody is quite sure what it is but they're sure it exists.

Since US and Canada are so similar, a lot of the discussion of identity are around the differences, which to me is a weird way to talk about a national identity.

It also comes up a lot when someone mentions something positive about the US that Canada struggles with, say economic growth - then it becomes a common refrain of “yes, but at least X is better in Canada than the US”.

It’s also used commonly in discussions in healthcare - any change is described as “Amerification” of the healthcare system even those the change would just make Canada more like European systems.

Maybe it’s unavoidable being right next door to the US, I don't know.

[ClimaxGravely]

I've heard this same narrative for 35+ years now. Didn't matter if it was a republican or democrat in office.

Anecdotally it's usually used when someone starts to criticize our healthcare system.