Toronto's inferiority complex

Toronto, the self-ordained Centre of the Canadian Universe, has a serious inferiority complex. So says the Canada correspondent for the New York Times, that bastion of political correctness taken to its illogical extreme.
Kate turned me on to this story, headlined "The Ugly anti-American", in The Toronto Red Star.
The story quotes Clifford Knauss, the Canada correspondent for the Times: "I've seen some really appalling behaviour simply because I'm an American... I think that the anti-Americanism is part of a regional character that fills a vacuum. The Canadian identity, which in some parts of Canada is quite strong, is not so strong here. I say with some trepidation, because it might sound very arrogant, but there are other places in Canada where the culture is richer and where people are more confident in their culture."
So, by Mr. Knauss, Toronto's inferiority complex is eminently justified. Its culture is poor, and people aren't confident in it. Hell, Live 8 is playing in Barrie, not Toronto. Barrie, which is on about 2.6 percent of American radar screens.
I guess that excuses the kind of arrogant juvenile behavior discovered by Red Star reporter David Bruser, who posed as an American conservative and got some rudeness from the wonderfully "tolerant" Toronto citizenry. One "gentleman" advised the reporter to "Reconsider your views."
So The Ugly Canadian does exist... and is endorsed by Carolyn Parrish, Paul Martin, the Martin idiot in Manitoba, and the rest of the Librano-NDP axis of conceit.
Several points in response:
* Hey, Alberta, you should have called our Red Cross first; we would have gotten to help you sooner than your own prime minister and deputy prime minister did.
* Hey, Toronto, you want American tourist dollars? Stop the self-righteous crap. I was in T.O. two years ago with my son, who had just turned 13 and was visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame as part of his big present. (And, no, he didn't get a visit to one of Judy Sgro's favorite immigrant industrial centres). I'll tell you this -- the best treatment we received was from what you call your "visible minorities"; the worst was from a group of protesters of white Canadians (this was just before Operation Iraqi Freedom and SARS hit) who detected my easy-to-identify-as-American (coalcracker with a tinge of deep South from having an Alabama native as a college roommate) accent and gave us a Carolyn Parrish moment.
* And if I spot any Canadian vehicles on our annual family sojourn to the beach, I do intend to politely strike up a conversation. If, in the course of conversation, I discern that the Canadians in question are Librano or NDP sympathizers, I will advise them that their rank arrogance is not welcome in a nation that they detest and that they should return to their nirvana of the North forthwith. (Bloc and ADQ supporters will require further examination, while CPC sympathizers and Independents of the centre will be welcomed and encouraged to enjoy their stay, and offered tips on good dining establishments and fishing and crabbing sites.)