When was the last time you went to Canada? A trip north of the 49th parallel is a fantastic excursion. You'll likely find yourself thinking or saying at least a few of the following:

• These people are so friendly!
• Canada is like America's attic — there's some cool stuff up here.
• Other than this colorful money, the metric system and French on their signs, Canadians aren't that different from us.
• It's like Canada is the 51st state! (You might think this is a compliment, but Canadians hate this one.)

Similar, but different

It's easy to think Canadians are just Americans without (as many) handguns. But socially, they are significantly different. And if we're looking for Canadian lessons to apply to the American health care system, recognizing these differences really matters.

➤➤ Be sure to attend Reid Rasmussen's Education Track session, “American Health Care: 99 Problems & Single Payer Is One” April 3 at 2:45 p.m. at the 2019 BenefitsPRO Broker Expo.

Let's start with some basics about the population:

• Canada's land mass is larger than that of the U.S. (Seriously, check out a globe.)
• Canada has only 36 million people. That's about 9 percent of the U.S. population (comparable to the population of California).
• 90 percent of Canadians live within 100 miles of the U.S. border.
• Canadian culture is extremely influenced by American TV, magazines, companies, social media, etc.

Why does this matter? It means Canadians are much more educated about our American affairs than we are about theirs. And living in America's shadow breeds a touch of “little brother syndrome.” They're ready to compete with you, and you don't even realize they're in the running.Therefore, if you ask a Canadian if they like their single-payer health care system, you'll usually get a strong “Yes!” followed by a detailed description of how it's better than America's system. Boom, they won. And you didn't even know it was a competition.

Freedom vs. fairness

A more telling question to ask is: “What does it mean to be a Canadian?” You'll likely get some form of this answer: “Well, we're not like Americans. We care more about our people than you do. For example, our health care system.”

Think about that. Canadians define who they are by contrasting themselves with Americans, and they bring up health care to do it! Americans wouldn't do either. Even those of us who work in the health care system wouldn't think of “health care” when defining our national pride. Instead, I bet your answer would include the word “freedom.”