Originally Posted by Mutt

You gotta be dumb not to understand it. The vast majority of Canadians live closer to a major American city that to the next major Canadian city. Even before cable Canadians got TV through the major American TV networks and the same with radio. With the United States being a world superpower politically and culturally what do you think a Canadian is going to do - watch a crappy Canadian TV series or one of many great American series? Same with movies and music. Hockey is pretty much Canadian culture with a small number of musicians, writers, artists etc who most Canadians would know or care about. Politics - US politics matter, especially when the vast majority of your population can literally walk or is a short drive to the US border. What happens in US politics affects Canada more than any other country.

And if you haven't noticed, the US is becoming more like Canada not the other way around. For better or worse.