But also that's a net positive for the world at large.

Anyone who has ever had a serious medical issue in Canada knows our medical system is fantastic. Top doctors, machines and treatments.

Where we drop the ball is on elective surgies, hip replacements, knees etc. People can pay to have this done privately or out of country if they have the money, but anything life threatening is handled very quickly and efficiently.

I'm still happy to live in this system over America any day, but yeah, not sure why I hear that argument being used so much..

You might have to wait if what you have is a non life threatening condition as people who have a life-threatening condition will take priority over you no matter who you are. It is the trade-off for a more cost effective system. But after you've received your treatment you leave the hospital without even seeing a bill except maybe for a parking fee.

Meanwhile in the US, unless you are wealthy enough to afford to pay for your own healthcare or at least a premium health insurance you are left to wait with life threatening conditions and might even be left to die by your insurance company who will purposefully delay until your death to maximize their profits. And then they'll still send you an eye-watering bill on top of having charged you a premium that is twice what Canadians pay in their taxes for their healthcare.

Of those who’ve actually left, an overwhelming majority have only gone as far afield as Canada or Mexico.

I mean, yeah, Canada and Mexico are zero kilometers away from the U.S., and there are a few island countries, but for the most part, to get to another country, people from the U.S. would have to travel to a whole other continent.

If you want to be consistent, you'd need to compare what percentage of people from each other contintent have travelled to another continent, and you'd need to consider what percentage of people on other continents live close to another continent.

I am not saying that most people in the U.S. have experience with international travel, just that to illustrate your point, I think you've gone too far and included some information which doesn't actually distinguish the U.S. quite as much as you think.

Once met a guy, in his 50’s, in North Carolina who had only left his small town once. He didn’t like it so has never left it since. He lived an hour from the coast, so he planned a trip to the ocean for a long weekend, he got there and could not stand the noise of the waves, so he went home early the next day.

I do love the vertical $10 bill

https://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/bank-note-series/vertical-series/vertical10/

Ehhhhhh, there's been worse. Just less internationally fucked up.

The USA does think of Canada and has an irrational need to put us down.

It's very rational. They need to make sure we never develop any self-esteem so they can continue their abusive relationship with us forever.