How do the American and Canadian populations overlap in their political spectrum?

[WindowPhil]

It might be easier to compare social issues than fiscal issues, considering that part of fiscal conservatism is wanting to keep things the same. And two countries with different types of safety nets make the comparison difficult.

Anyways, it's often said that Canada is orders of magnitude more liberal/progressive than the United States. However, I'm curious what proportion of Canadians are "too liberal" for the United States' Overton window and what proportion of Americans are "too conservative" for Canada's Overton window.

Edit: Also, how much of a difference would there be between border areas?

So a town in North Dakota on the Canadian Border and a town 5 minutes away on the immediately opposite side in Manitoba. Or between someone in Niagara Falls New York and Niagara Falls Ontario.

[King of Kensington]

The rural Prairies are as close you get to red-state Republican conservatism in Canada, all the constituencies where the Conservatives get at least 70% of the vote are there.  

Places like Niagara Region, Sault Ste. Marie, the Windsor area would be very Trumpy if they were in the US.  In Canada only a minority of the white working class in the industrial heartland of Ontario are conservative.  Right-wing populism just hasn't caught on that much in Canada.

[King of Kensington]

I'd say about 45% of Americans have "beyond the pale" views by mainstream Canadian standards.  That includes "establishment" Republicans. 

Of Canadian Conservatives, maybe about half are like the GOP base, less than 20% of the population.

[mileslunn]

There is some overlap, but median voter in US is definitely more right wing than Canadian.  Only around 15-20% in Canada would vote Republican if in US and some Republican positions like opposition to universal health care would be political suicide here.  Likewise being pro-life is much riskier and on things like gun control, concealed carry would be a non-starter.

For left, Democrats have usually been similar to Liberals although Trudeau has moved somewhat to left, but not as left as Bernie Sanders or AOC.  Nonetheless AOC's policies wouldn't have majority support in Canada, but a much larger minority would support her policies than in US.  Maybe only 20% in US support her policies while in Canada probably closer to 40%. 

Also even in popular vote, Tories often get in low 30s and only in the bluest states does GOP get that low while 40% is the ceiling for Tories while for GOP their floor is around 45-46% (which outside Prairies is unthinkable for Tories)

I think a more interesting, would be looking overseas, how does Canada compare to other developed countries.  US is clearly more right wing, but if comparing to Australia, New Zealand or any Western European country, you could probably make a strong argument both ways of Canada being more left wing or more conservative depending on what policies you focus on.   True right now Canada more left wing than most as Trudeau is one of the more left wing leaders out there, but leaders come and go so better to look at long term trends for comparison not leader of the day.  Boris Johnson is to right of Biden but that doesn't mean UK is more conservative just as Harper was more conservative than Obama.  At same time Harper never got above 40% while McCain get 46% and Romney 47% so one could argue in Canada, Tories can win on splits while in US they have to get close to half the vote to win.  Yet despite having to get a much larger share of the popular vote, GOP still has a better track record of winning than Canadian Tories do.  With UK, Boris Johnson got a smaller share of the popular vote than Biden did never mind Jeremy Corbyn was a lot further left so pretty sure Trump would have won against someone that left wing.

[King of Kensington]

US median quite a bit to the right of Canada. 

The left boundary is harder to determine.  To what extent is the Canadian media voter further left because it has a lot more leftists/socialists vs. fewer on the hard right?

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

Liberal voters are Democrat voters, period. A lazy Democratic candidate could just take the LPC platform, make a couple edits, and run on that. Most Liberal voters have the same priorities as Democratic voters (again, except for a few things like universal healthcare which is just the status quo in Canada). AOC types or blue dog/right-leaning democrats' Canadian equivalents don't vote Liberal, but the Warren-Biden spectrum of the Democratic Party are hardly distinct from Liberal supporters.

The Conservative Party of Canada occupies a space that is hard to categorize in US terms. Most GOP voters would be well to the right of the CPC, that said, there are a lot of Trumpish/GOP-like Canadians who mostly vote CPC. A lot of people say things like "Biden/Obama/Bloomberg would be CPC if they were Canadian" which I think is completely wrong. I don't think the median Conservative voter in Canada would fit clearly into either the Democrats or the GOP, and Conservative voters would probably split halfway on balance. Canadian conservatism is a weird frankenstein coalition that often lacks consensus, and that makes it a hard thing to categorize. Using UK terms, the CPC coalition is a less classist, more pro-immigration, and less environmentalist version of the Tory coalition. (edited: even this is a very rough analogy though. Really, the Conservative Party coalition couldn't exist without Canada's unique characteristics. The GOP and the Dems are about equally powerful, while the CPC usually plays second fiddle to the LPC, so the people who vote CPC tend to just be people who don't like the Liberals and are right of the Liberals to some extent. Make of that what you will)

The NDP is basically the left wing of the Democratic Party if they split off. NDP voters are very similar to Sanders supporters in that a lot of their grievances come from a Liberal Party/Democratic establishment that is ostensibly progressive but governs in a more centrist way than they would like. There's also a third party element to the NDP that doesn't exist in the US, but by my understanding, it's comparable to some Lib Dem voters in the UK whose main thing is "the two parties suck, I'm voting for this weird third option". The Greens are a mix of this "third party/Lib Dem" element and the "Sanders/AOC" element, increasingly the latter (and hardcore environmentalists of course).

One interesting area of difference is age - polling suggests that the Liberals are pretty even in support across age groups, which is most definitely not the case for Democrats. Conservatives gain support with age, while the NDP/Greens lose support, but the Liberals stay fairly consistent.

Canada also has a more significant "rural left" because a lot of rural areas in Canada are quite remote and rely heavily on government services. Atlantic Canada, the far north, northern Ontario, and much of BC's pacific coast falls into this category.

Quebec has almost no political overlap.

[King of Kensington]

Canadian Conservatives have a very strong regional base in the Prairies (Great Plains), hence the heavy focus on support for the oil and gas sector and grievances against Liberals who they associate with the "eastern establishment."

Outside the Prairies (which has less than 20% of the population), Canada is super-liberal by US standards.   
 

[WindowPhil]

Canadian Conservatives have a very strong regional base in the Prairies (Great Plains), hence the heavy focus on support for the oil and gas sector and grievances against Liberals who they associate with the "eastern establishment."

Outside the Prairies (which has less than 20% of the population), Canada is super-liberal by US standards.   
 

Would you say that ultra-liberalness extends to daily life outside of politics (What foods Canadians eat, what media Canadians consume, what Canadians buy or do as hobbies, how they portray themselves, where Canadians desire to live, etc)?

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

Canadian Conservatives have a very strong regional base in the Prairies (Great Plains), hence the heavy focus on support for the oil and gas sector and grievances against Liberals who they associate with the "eastern establishment."

Outside the Prairies (which has less than 20% of the population), Canada is super-liberal by US standards.   
 

Would you say that ultra-liberalness extends to daily life outside of politics (What foods Canadians eat, what media Canadians consume, what Canadians buy or do as hobbies, how they portray themselves, where Canadians desire to live, etc)?

Yes but in very few ways. One of the clearest examples of Canadian everyday liberalism is that religion is much, much less a part of daily life. One thing that always sticks out to me when I go down stateside is how often people will say "god bless you" or something like that in ordinary conversation, or how often I'll see random signs on billboards or bumper stickers that are very overtly Christian. This isn't necessarily taboo in Canada (except Quebec, public expression of religion is infamously taboo there), but it's just not a thing we do. Religiosity isn't that much lower in Canada, but people prefer to keep it to themselves, and it shows in our politics.

Canadians are also more politically correct, and you can imagine how this relates to our voting behaviour. Gun culture is also much less a thing here. Rural Canadians do often own guns, and there are definitely NRA types here, but it's far from mainstream. For the most part, gun owners treat it like a tool and not a cultural symbol or a god given right.

But for the most part, Canadians don't have more "ultra-liberal" lives than Americans. You'll see F-150s on the road even in big cities, you'll get invited to barbecues where you eat steak, drink Budweiser, and watch some pigskin, Canada's rural population as a % is almost identical to the US, and so on.

The reason Canadians are so much more liberal politically, while only a little more stereotypically liberal culturally, is that culture is less of a factor in Canadian politics. Regional identity and economic play a much bigger role. Hence why Calgary, a cosmopolitan, diverse city of 1M+ is overwhelmingly conservative, and the very white, rural, and elderly province of Newfoundland is overwhelmingly liberal. I general the normal American liberal/conservative stereotypes do hold true in Canada, but there are many exceptions and it doesn't matter nearly as much up here.

[WindowPhil]

Canadian Conservatives have a very strong regional base in the Prairies (Great Plains), hence the heavy focus on support for the oil and gas sector and grievances against Liberals who they associate with the "eastern establishment."

Outside the Prairies (which has less than 20% of the population), Canada is super-liberal by US standards.   
 

Would you say that ultra-liberalness extends to daily life outside of politics (What foods Canadians eat, what media Canadians consume, what Canadians buy or do as hobbies, how they portray themselves, where Canadians desire to live, etc)?

Yes but in very few ways. One of the clearest examples of Canadian everyday liberalism is that religion is much, much less a part of daily life. One thing that always sticks out to me when I go down stateside is how often people will say "god bless you" or something like that in ordinary conversation, or how often I'll see random signs on billboards or bumper stickers that are very overtly Christian. This isn't necessarily taboo in Canada (except Quebec, public expression of religion is infamously taboo there), but it's just not a thing we do. Religiosity isn't that much lower in Canada, but people prefer to keep it to themselves, and it shows in our politics.

Canadians are also more politically correct, and you can imagine how this relates to our voting behaviour. Gun culture is also much less a thing here. Rural Canadians do often own guns, and there are definitely NRA types here, but it's far from mainstream. For the most part, gun owners treat it like a tool and not a cultural symbol or a god given right.

But for the most part, Canadians don't have more "ultra-liberal" lives than Americans. You'll see F-150s on the road even in big cities, you'll get invited to barbecues where you eat steak, drink Budweiser, and watch some pigskin, Canada's rural population as a % is almost identical to the US, and so on.

The reason Canadians are so much more liberal politically, while only a little more stereotypically liberal culturally, is that culture is less of a factor in Canadian politics. Regional identity and economic play a much bigger role. Hence why Calgary, a cosmopolitan, diverse city of 1M+ is overwhelmingly conservative, and the very white, rural, and elderly province of Newfoundland is overwhelmingly liberal. I general the normal American liberal/conservative stereotypes do hold true in Canada, but there are many exceptions and it doesn't matter nearly as much up here.

I assumed Canadians are way more technologically progressive than Americans (less likely to use flip phones, more likely to own electric cars, less likely to listen to the radio and more likely to listen to Spotify, less likely to subscribe to cable and more likely to subscribe to Netflix, more likely to know what a "meme" is or what a "twitch streamer" is, etc).

I also assumed there's less of a sense of familial duty in Canada. Many American parents won't let their children cut them off. Many American parents are incredibly nosy about their children and demand full access to everything about them even in adulthood.

Am I wrong about these?
 

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

I assumed Canadians are way more technologically progressive than Americans (less likely to use flip phones, more likely to own electric cars, less likely to listen to the radio and more likely to listen to Spotify, less likely to subscribe to cable and more likely to subscribe to Netflix, more likely to know what a "meme" is or what a "twitch streamer" is, etc).

I also assumed there's less of a sense of familial duty in Canada. Many American parents won't let their children cut them off. Many American parents are incredibly nosy about their children and demand full access to everything about them even in adulthood.

Am I wrong about these?
 

Those things are hard to say, I've always assumed Canadians and Americans are fairly similar those things (as with most aspects of daily life) but someone who's lived in both might have more of an insight.

On internet usage for example, Canadians seem a little behind actually. Just based on this I would assume Canada ranks a little lower than the US on the proliferation of technology.

Keep in mind that while Canada and the US have a similar urbanization rate, rural Canada can get reeeeally remote in some parts. Big chunks of Canada aren't even accessible by road, you'll have to get on a boat or snowmobile to reach some of these tiny northern settlements. The territory of Nunavut is bigger than Mexico, yet so inaccessible that not a single road travels into it, your options are plane, boat, or snowmobile.

Interestingly though Americans seem to be a fair bit behind on banking-related technology. Contactless/tap payments have been the norm in Canada for years, I really only have to use chip/swipe when I'm withdrawing money from an ATM. Sending/receiving money is also much easier because you can just e-transfer directly from your bank account instead of Venmo/Paypal. I don't think this has much to do with political preferences though, it's more that Canada's banking industry is basically a cartel of five big banks and one of the benefits is they collaborate on these things.

As for family commitments, I got nothing. I did a brief search for polling on the topic but I got nothing. It sounds like your point is true, but a lot of Canada/US perceptions are based on Canadians assuming all of the US is a Mississippi backwater trailer park and American liberals idolizing Canada as some utopia where gold falls out of the sky. If someone can find polling on this question or just some anecdotal evidence, it would be really interesting.

[King of Kensington]

Canada is a less religious country than the US.  The Prairies comes out the most religious, but even there the religiously committed are a minority:

https://angusreid.org/religion-in-canada-150/#part-2

Canada doesn't have a US-type Bible Belt by any means, but sometimes the term "Bible belt" is sometimes used to describe rural religious Protestant concentrations.  Outside the (Baptist) ones in the Maritimes, they're usually Mennonite and/or Dutch Canadian in nature.

[mileslunn]

US median quite a bit to the right of Canada. 

The left boundary is harder to determine.  To what extent is the Canadian media voter further left because it has a lot more leftists/socialists vs. fewer on the hard right?

I would say its more fewer on hard right.  On hard left probably not a lot different in numbers, but they are more spread out while in US most are hard left are very concentrated in a few locations that viewpoints are radically different than rest of country, otherwise left wing bubbles.  I think more on standard left wing ideas, like larger welfare state, raising taxes on rich, larger public sector there is less pushback so parties on left more willing to go through while in US Democrats due to past results are scared to go there worried they will pay a big price politically.  Whereas in Canada that doesn't seem to be case and whether they win or lose is more based on whether it is a time for change election or stick with incumbent type.

[mileslunn]

I would also argue geography plays a big role.  Middle part of US which is akin to Prairies makes up a much larger share of population while Canada's population is more heavily concentrated on West Coast and Great Lakes-St. Lawrence than US is.  It would be like Northeast and West Coast containing 75% of US population and if that was the case, US would be a lot more liberal.  Also Quebec and Southern US have no equivalents in other country so that has a big impact.  Southern US really pulls country rightward and had Confederacy won the Civil War, I suspect gap between two countries would be much smaller.  At same time Quebec is totally its own culture and while not exactly left wing per se, generally minority groups tend to vote for centre-left parties nationally as more likely to protect language and culture.  Same reason Tories in UK struggle in Scotland while Popular Party struggles in Catalonia and Basque country in Spain or parties on right do poorly in Wallonia in Belgium.  Those areas aren't that much more left wing than country as whole, but vote that way as left more sensitive to their interests.  Quebec is very much that way and US has no such equivalent.

Also with rural, I find right has advantage in high density rural areas (over 50 people per square km) but not blowouts (rural Southern Ontario, rural Northeast, most of rural Europe), blowouts in your low density rural areas (1-10 people per square km) i.e. Prairies in Canada, Plains and Mountain West in US, while lean left in sparsely populated rural areas (under 1 person per square km) so much of Northern Canada and for latter US outside Alaska has no equivalent.  Northern parts of Norway, Sweden, and Finland are a lot like Northern Canada; they tend to vote heavily for parties on left for same reason.  Rely heavily on government to provide services and infrastructure.

Also there is image too, Americans like to think of themselves as the best in everything so naturally right with its emphasis on patriotism has advantage here.  Canadians tend to like to think of themselves as compassionate, polite, and for the little guy thus advantage left there. 

Some things like health care might also just be fear of alternative.  There is no question Americans are more individualistic and tend to fear bigger government more than Canadians, but I suspect if most actually experienced universal health care, there would be far less pushback.  Likewise if most Canadians saw a private one, they might disagree but wouldn't freak out like they do now as I think a lot in both countries tend to assume things are much worse for others' health care than it really is.

But on other social programs, US has most that Canada has, after all we have CPP they have Social Security, both have public education so really only on health care is big difference.  On taxes, generally in both countries most want lower taxes for middle and lower incomes while higher for wealthy.  Its more a matter of degree as support for tax cuts to middle and lower income not quite as high in Canada as US while support for taxing rich more is higher in Canada than US, but has majority support in both.  In essence, in both countries most want lower taxes for people making their income, while others to pay more. 

On guns as mentioned yes a huge difference, although most Americans support an assault weapons ban while in Canada, Conservatives are against it and gun lobby although represents a much smaller chunk of the population; you still have our versions of NRA such as CCFR and NFA.  But they represent a much smaller chunk of the population than they do in US although in both countries represent a minority.  Just in US a big enough minority you can win pandering to them, in Canada too small that pandering to them ensures you lose. 

So in summary, there is a lot of overlap, but also some big differences.  If you ranked Canadians from most right wing to most left wing someone on the 20th percentile most right wing would be around 40th percentile in US and median voter in Canada probably somewhere in 30-40th percentile in US most left wing and vice versa.

[King of Kensington]

And meanwhile, less than 40% of Americans live in the Northeast or West Coast.

[King of Kensington]

Population by region (2016 census):

Atlantic  2,333,322  7%
Quebec  8,164,361  23%
Ontario  13,448,494  38%
Prairies  6,443,892  18%
British Columbia  4,648,055  13%

Less than 0.5% live in the northern territories.

[WindowPhil]

And meanwhile, less than 40% of Americans live in the Northeast or West Coast.

And my guess is those areas get pulled right by the integration they have to the south/midwest and the intermigration that the U.S has had within itself over the years. IE southern evangelicals moving to Boston and planting churches.

Meanwhile a Quebecois may move to rural Manitoba and transplant their secular left ideas.

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

Also there is image too, Americans like to think of themselves as the best in everything so naturally right with its emphasis on patriotism has advantage here.  Canadians tend to like to think of themselves as compassionate, polite, and for the little guy thus advantage left there. 

I think this is one of the best analyses of Canada's liberal tendency. Canadian patriotism is pretty left wing and somewhat anti-American. If you ask a random Canadian why they love Canada so much, the answer will probably consist of universal healthcare, multiculturalism, and peacekeeping.

I mean, universal healthcare and multiculturalism are hardly unique to Canada, and we haven't been a peacekeeper country in decades. But this is how Canadians see themselves. The stereotype of the polite do-gooder Canadian isn't just how Americans see us, it's how we see ourselves. I think this alone makes left-wing politics more appealing to Canadians.

The lazy analysis that I see from people on both sides of the 49th parallel is "Canadians are just more left wing than Americans". I think the median Canadian is to the left of the median American, but full-on leftists are as rare in Canada as they are in the US. There are elements of the American left that are pretty far to the left by Canadian standards, if Canada was just uniformly to the left of the US, you'd see Canadian politicians calling for the abolition of capitalism. I mean, Warren and Sanders were campaigning on workers' representation on corporate boards, something that not even the NDP runs on. Democratic socialism, as in achieving socialism through democratic means, seems much more mainstream in the US than it is up here.

Broadly speaking, I think Canada's political culture isn't shifted to the left compared to American politics, but rather "zoomed in" to the centre-left of American politics

[WindowPhil]

Also there is image too, Americans like to think of themselves as the best in everything so naturally right with its emphasis on patriotism has advantage here.  Canadians tend to like to think of themselves as compassionate, polite, and for the little guy thus advantage left there. 

I think this is one of the best analyses of Canada's liberal tendency. Canadian patriotism is pretty left wing and somewhat anti-American. If you ask a random Canadian why they love Canada so much, the answer will probably consist of universal healthcare, multiculturalism, and peacekeeping.

I mean, universal healthcare and multiculturalism are hardly unique to Canada, and we haven't been a peacekeeper country in decades. But this is how Canadians see themselves. The stereotype of the polite do-gooder Canadian isn't just how Americans see us, it's how we see ourselves. I think this alone makes left-wing politics more appealing to Canadians.

The lazy analysis that I see from people on both sides of the 49th parallel is "Canadians are just more left wing than Americans". I think the median Canadian is to the left of the median American, but full-on leftists are as rare in Canada as they are in the US. There are elements of the American left that are pretty far to the left by Canadian standards, if Canada was just uniformly to the left of the US, you'd see Canadian politicians calling for the abolition of capitalism. I mean, Warren and Sanders were campaigning on workers' representation on corporate boards, something that not even the NDP runs on. Democratic socialism, as in achieving socialism through democratic means, seems much more mainstream in the US than it is up here.

Broadly speaking, I think Canada's political culture isn't shifted to the left compared to American politics, but rather "zoomed in" to the centre-left of American politics

How do you think Canada would react if the United States adopted Universal Healthcare, made Puerto Rico a state (a smaller Quebec), and heavily downsized its military and made them into a peacekeeping force, All in the same year?

[mileslunn]

Also there is image too, Americans like to think of themselves as the best in everything so naturally right with its emphasis on patriotism has advantage here.  Canadians tend to like to think of themselves as compassionate, polite, and for the little guy thus advantage left there. 

I think this is one of the best analyses of Canada's liberal tendency. Canadian patriotism is pretty left wing and somewhat anti-American. If you ask a random Canadian why they love Canada so much, the answer will probably consist of universal healthcare, multiculturalism, and peacekeeping.

I mean, universal healthcare and multiculturalism are hardly unique to Canada, and we haven't been a peacekeeper country in decades. But this is how Canadians see themselves. The stereotype of the polite do-gooder Canadian isn't just how Americans see us, it's how we see ourselves. I think this alone makes left-wing politics more appealing to Canadians.

The lazy analysis that I see from people on both sides of the 49th parallel is "Canadians are just more left wing than Americans". I think the median Canadian is to the left of the median American, but full-on leftists are as rare in Canada as they are in the US. There are elements of the American left that are pretty far to the left by Canadian standards, if Canada was just uniformly to the left of the US, you'd see Canadian politicians calling for the abolition of capitalism. I mean, Warren and Sanders were campaigning on workers' representation on corporate boards, something that not even the NDP runs on. Democratic socialism, as in achieving socialism through democratic means, seems much more mainstream in the US than it is up here.

Broadly speaking, I think Canada's political culture isn't shifted to the left compared to American politics, but rather "zoomed in" to the centre-left of American politics

How do you think Canada would react if the United States adopted Universal Healthcare, made Puerto Rico a state (a smaller Quebec), and heavily downsized its military and made them into a peacekeeping force, All in the same year?

On universal health care, reaction would its about time.  Still even if US does go to universal health care, they are still likely to tolerate a lot more private involvement than Canadians tolerate.  It would likely be a mixed system not a government monopoly.  Now if they cover things like prescription drugs and dental care, which we don't, that would only increase pressure to follow.  One barrier is due to living next to US, both our corporate and top marginal tax rates can be a bit higher, but not so high it leads to companies and people with money leaving for US so that somewhat limits what we can do.  If US raises one or other, that gives us more room to raise them too.

As for downsized military, I think its more people don't like US starting foreign wars like Iraq, size of military most could care less about.  On Puerto Rico joining, doesn't make much difference as only 1% of population so much smaller impact. 

[WindowPhil]

Also there is image too, Americans like to think of themselves as the best in everything so naturally right with its emphasis on patriotism has advantage here.  Canadians tend to like to think of themselves as compassionate, polite, and for the little guy thus advantage left there. 

I think this is one of the best analyses of Canada's liberal tendency. Canadian patriotism is pretty left wing and somewhat anti-American. If you ask a random Canadian why they love Canada so much, the answer will probably consist of universal healthcare, multiculturalism, and peacekeeping.

I mean, universal healthcare and multiculturalism are hardly unique to Canada, and we haven't been a peacekeeper country in decades. But this is how Canadians see themselves. The stereotype of the polite do-gooder Canadian isn't just how Americans see us, it's how we see ourselves. I think this alone makes left-wing politics more appealing to Canadians.

The lazy analysis that I see from people on both sides of the 49th parallel is "Canadians are just more left wing than Americans". I think the median Canadian is to the left of the median American, but full-on leftists are as rare in Canada as they are in the US. There are elements of the American left that are pretty far to the left by Canadian standards, if Canada was just uniformly to the left of the US, you'd see Canadian politicians calling for the abolition of capitalism. I mean, Warren and Sanders were campaigning on workers' representation on corporate boards, something that not even the NDP runs on. Democratic socialism, as in achieving socialism through democratic means, seems much more mainstream in the US than it is up here.

Broadly speaking, I think Canada's political culture isn't shifted to the left compared to American politics, but rather "zoomed in" to the centre-left of American politics

How do you think Canada would react if the United States adopted Universal Healthcare, made Puerto Rico a state (a smaller Quebec), and heavily downsized its military and made them into a peacekeeping force, All in the same year?

On universal health care, reaction would its about time.  Still even if US does go to universal health care, they are still likely to tolerate a lot more private involvement than Canadians tolerate.  It would likely be a mixed system not a government monopoly.  Now if they cover things like prescription drugs and dental care, which we don't, that would only increase pressure to follow.  One barrier is due to living next to US, both our corporate and top marginal tax rates can be a bit higher, but not so high it leads to companies and people with money leaving for US so that somewhat limits what we can do.  If US raises one or other, that gives us more room to raise them too.

As for downsized military, I think its more people don't like US starting foreign wars like Iraq, size of military most could care less about.  On Puerto Rico joining, doesn't make much difference as only 1% of population so much smaller impact. 

Do you think Canada legalized marijuana when it did because it was afraid of being "outliberaled" by the United States?

[King of Kensington]

Here's a question:  what percentage of Americans would find the Conservative Party of Canada "beyond the pale"?

[mileslunn]

Here's a question:  what percentage of Americans would find the Conservative Party of Canada "beyond the pale"?

US is far more polarized so guessing close to 40% would find Tories too right wing to even consider in US.  In Canada it is 60%.  Big difference is base would probably be in upper 40s rather than 25-30% it is in Canada.

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

Also there is image too, Americans like to think of themselves as the best in everything so naturally right with its emphasis on patriotism has advantage here.  Canadians tend to like to think of themselves as compassionate, polite, and for the little guy thus advantage left there.  

I think this is one of the best analyses of Canada's liberal tendency. Canadian patriotism is pretty left wing and somewhat anti-American. If you ask a random Canadian why they love Canada so much, the answer will probably consist of universal healthcare, multiculturalism, and peacekeeping.

I mean, universal healthcare and multiculturalism are hardly unique to Canada, and we haven't been a peacekeeper country in decades. But this is how Canadians see themselves. The stereotype of the polite do-gooder Canadian isn't just how Americans see us, it's how we see ourselves. I think this alone makes left-wing politics more appealing to Canadians.

The lazy analysis that I see from people on both sides of the 49th parallel is "Canadians are just more left wing than Americans". I think the median Canadian is to the left of the median American, but full-on leftists are as rare in Canada as they are in the US. There are elements of the American left that are pretty far to the left by Canadian standards, if Canada was just uniformly to the left of the US, you'd see Canadian politicians calling for the abolition of capitalism. I mean, Warren and Sanders were campaigning on workers' representation on corporate boards, something that not even the NDP runs on. Democratic socialism, as in achieving socialism through democratic means, seems much more mainstream in the US than it is up here.

Broadly speaking, I think Canada's political culture isn't shifted to the left compared to American politics, but rather "zoomed in" to the centre-left of American politics

How do you think Canada would react if the United States adopted Universal Healthcare, made Puerto Rico a state (a smaller Quebec), and heavily downsized its military and made them into a peacekeeping force, All in the same year?

On universal health care, reaction would its about time.  Still even if US does go to universal health care, they are still likely to tolerate a lot more private involvement than Canadians tolerate.  It would likely be a mixed system not a government monopoly.  Now if they cover things like prescription drugs and dental care, which we don't, that would only increase pressure to follow.  One barrier is due to living next to US, both our corporate and top marginal tax rates can be a bit higher, but not so high it leads to companies and people with money leaving for US so that somewhat limits what we can do.  If US raises one or other, that gives us more room to raise them too.

As for downsized military, I think its more people don't like US starting foreign wars like Iraq, size of military most could care less about.  On Puerto Rico joining, doesn't make much difference as only 1% of population so much smaller impact.  

Do you think Canada legalized marijuana when it did because it was afraid of being "outliberaled" by the United States?

I wonder what Miles thinks, but I don't think this was the main reason. Trudeau tried heavily to appeal to young people. As a young Canadian whose first federal election was 2015, this was a big deal because even before legalization smoking weed was more common than cigarettes, so it just seemed like an outdated "THINK OF DUH CHILDREN" relic. Harper was also seen as a big "tough on crime/war on drugs" kinda guy (he literally said that marijuana was infinitely worse than tobacco...what a load of bovine manure), and by promising to legalize it, Trudeau reasserted his position as the more obvious anti-Harper option as opposed to Mulcair's deeply uninspiring and gun shy NDP.

I do think Colorado and Washington sparked the cause for legalization a bit, because it forced it into the public consciousness in North America. But I don't remember any overt or even implicit sense of "look how we're falling behind those redneck Americans"

[King of Kensington]

In this thread, people seemed to think Colorado was "too liberal" to be compared to Alberta:

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=449624.0

Would the Canadian Tories be "beyond the pale" in Colorado or in another "blue since Obama" state like Virginia?