Canada - Of The United States of America The Canadian identity has always been difficult to define. We, as Canadians, have continued to define ourselves by reference to what we are not - American - rather than in terms of our own national history and tradition. This is ironic since the United States is continuing to be allowed by Canadians to take over our economy and literally buy our country. Culturally Canada has its own distinct government and institutions which differ and are better from those in the United States, but economically the country has been all but sold out to America. The major cultural d