A Hit Song That Will Make You Equally Ashamed to Be American and Canadian

In June 1973, Canadian DJ Byron
McGregor read this above commentary (written by fellow Great White
Northerner Gordon Sinclair) on a radio station broadcasting out of
Toronto. It
eventually became a massive hit, peaking at number four on the
Top 40 charts and generating cover versions by Tex Ritter and
others.

Despite not knowing the Canada was America’s
biggest trading partner, Ronald Reagan praised the track by
name when he made his first trip abroad as president.

Ironically, because it was written and performed by Canadians,
it satisfied Canada’s idiotic (and still in force, even
when it comes to pornography) rules about airing a certain
amount of domestically produced cultural content.

Without going full Lee Greenwood, I’m very proud to be an
American and I thank my grandparents every day for emigrating here
rather than England or Argentina (the two other likely choices,
given that one side was Irish and the other Italian).

But even on the Fourth of July weekend, perspective is a
wonderful thing. Take it way, Remy, talking about the Veterans
Affairs scandal: