Blame Canada!
US diplomats in Ottawa had no sense of humor when it came to the portrayal of Americans and the US government on TV, newly released WikiLeaks cables reveal.
The correspondence from US Embassy officials said Canadians have an “inferiority complex” and fretted that a spy thriller TV series portrayed the villains as “nefarious Americans,” according to the State Department documents released today.
In explaining why the US was not a topic of discussion during the 2008 Canadian elections, political affairs officer Scott Bellard, wrote its because “an almost inherent Canadian inferiority complex may disincline Canadian political leaders from making this election about the U.S.”
That same year, Embassy Ottawa officials warned Foggy Bottom about the popularity of the show “The Border” saying it has a high “level of anti-American melodrama” and offers “Canadian viewers their fill of nefarious American officials carrying out equally nefarious deeds.”
One story involved an American plot to steal Canada’s freshwater and another had F-16s bombing Quebec.
After President Obama was inaugurated, officials at the embassy sent a briefing memo about his upcoming visit to Canada.
“No Canadian politician of any stripe is nearly as popular, respected, or inspiring as you are to Canadian voters,” the official wrote.
chuck.bennett@nypost.com