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Gonna tackle a couple of these that mostly have to do with sports and entertainment:

"Our festivals rule: TIFF is by far North America’s most important film festival, and the world’s second-biggest after Cannes."

Over the last few years TIFF just kinda became the unofficial kickoff for awards season, a place where that year's prestige pictures make their widest debut. It also became an excuse for movie stars to come up and get drunk in Canada for a week. No one is discovering movies here though, like Sundance in its heyday, and its status as the awards season's kickoff is in dispute. The Telluride Film Festival now trumps it by a week and features most of the year's big pictures that previously debuted in Toronto. Without a clear identity — you could always pick out "a Sundance movie" — TIFF's status rests entirely on debuting the year's biggest movies on a big stage with big audiences. Now with Telluride nipping at its heels, TIFF is left simply with the big stage and big audiences. Why will celebrities keep coming to Toronto if they have to hobnob with a bunch of normals at the festival's overcrowded parties when they could skip to Telluride the week before and at least hit the slopes in privacy?

To borrow a borrowed line from an old Sundance movie, TIFF is dangerously close to becoming too crowded. No one will go there anymore.

"We dominate hockey: Stanley Cups aside, hockey is still Canada’s game. While the percentage of Canadians playing in the NHL has declined since the 1980s, Canadians still make up more than 50 per cent of all players in the league, compared to Americans, who account for just one-quarter of players."

And yet the league can't survive in Canada alone. Yes, there should probably be a second team in Toronto, and one in Quebec City too. But that still leaves the majority of teams in the US, with likely expansions to balance out divisions in Seattle and Las Vegas. There is no league in which all those Canadians make their living without American money.

"Better football: Since the late 1970s, the National Football League has been tweaking its rules to encourage more passing—that is, to make the U.S. game more exciting. Up here, we got it right the first time: a three-down game on a great, big field. So on second and 10, you can bet that ball will be in the air."

Nope. American football players make a living playing their sport. Canadian football players work at Home Hardware.

(Also, you know, the game is significantly better. Those passing rules were tweaked because defenses are stiffer and more talented in the NFL and the field is like, half the size. I can throw a touchdown pass in the CFL.)

"We’re more popular: Backpackers knew it for years, but studies confirm the Maple Leaf really is beloved around the world. In 2012, the Canada brand held top spot in the Reputation Institute’s ranking of countries based on people’s trust, admiration and affinity for them. America’s reputation rank: 23rd."

A debunked myth.

I think the simple fact that Canada supplies the U.S with their maple syrup is reason enough to prove why Canada is better than the States.

I think it's very easy to make comparisons like this because in many ways we have better things like healthcare and one of the only cultural identities we have is being nice and saying eh. Which are all great things, but this country definitely has it's negative side. Every year we get closer to losing the idea of a peacekeeping nation entirely. In addition going off of krstevenson's point, we still harbour a log of racism as a country towards aboriginal citizens. The U.S. is going through it's fair share of human rights crisis' right now but last month our country was also essentially called out by the U.N. saying, indicating that we are facing a crisis on Aboriginal reserves. Many of us live in the wonderful conditions listed by that macleans article, but this doesn't extend to all Canadians, especially the people whose land we stole. Then proceeded to hid them in corners of the country without giving them proper living conditions. These article continues to outline only some of the devastating and frankly embarrassing ways the Harper government and Canadian history have allowed us to get this bad.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canada-faces-a-crisis-on-aboriginal-reserves-un-investigator-1.1497612

Just as Taylor mentions, the way in which Canada’s peacekeeping narrative has become a popular project for deconstruction speaks volumes about Canada’s bygone (or delusional) national superiority. Again, as mentioned, any critical analysis into Canada’s contemporary racial circumstances (and the relations that race, gender and class identities have with political structures like regionalism, immigration, colonialism, globalization, etc) leads to a more productive understanding of the nation’s most sincere systemic issues.

However, if we consider Canada’s (AND America’s) contemporary involvement with Middle Eastern warfare, I think that the "America versus Canada debate" is awaiting international insight. More specifically, because of 9/11’s influences on Western ideology, the relationship developed between these nations and their foreign policy says much more about their political similarities than most of Maclean’s insights put together.

Living the entirety of my 20 years in Canada probably makes me a little biased towards categorizing Canada as the better country, but there were some remarks about sex and sexual orientation that kind of struck me as odd. Number 14 which says that Canadians have more sex than Americans and number 17 which states that Canadians are more open to accepting homosexuality than Americans is hardly grounds to deem one country better than another, especially considering that in both countries it is almost taboo to speak freely of one's sex life. Over the past couple of weeks in my university English class, we've been discussing novels and prose that have underlying sexual themes to them. Unfortunately, even entering the age of adulthood, phallic or yonic symbols still generate murmurs and snickers among classmates. If any country is going to be categorized as more accepting of sex, whether that be heterosexual or homosexual, I believe individuals should be able to openly discuss such topics without the fear of being gawked at; not being able to discuss sexual desires and/or pleasures is the equivalent, if not a worse outcome than not accepting them. If Canadians are so accepting of homosexuality and pro-LGBT community, then why is it that when two men or two women are seen interacting in a similar fashion as a man and woman, they become a sort of spectacle? No matter the country, Canada or America, doing or being anything out of the ordinary sparks conversation; boys who are artistic instead of athletically driven are considered "not manly", girls who dress in non-conventional "female outfits" are less feminine than girls who flaunt dresses and high heels. Much like the previous post stated, we should not be having a debate over which country is better because at the end of the day there are issues in both places that need to be resolved before fingers are pointed and first place is handed out. The government may have passed legislation that advocates for gay rights such as same sex marriage, but that does not automatically mean Canadian communities have adopted the same outlook. America is simply placed under the microscope because of its visibility through individual states not passing similar legislation that grants rights to the LGBT community; and there is another discussion all in itself. If Canadians are so accepting of everyone no matter race, gender, or sexual orientation, why is it that there needs to be a separate label to recognize these individuals?

At the end of the day, Canada and America still have a long way to go before either can come close to claiming they are better than the other and frankly, I don't believe either ever will be able to. There is always room for improvement and just like individual people, no country is perfect. I think the entirety of the Maclean's article, although factually based with the use of statistics and nation-wide rankings, is the opinion of one individual who took the time to create such a thing; if there were an American equivalent, I am sure the statistics would sway in favour of the American populace or the claims made would be rooted in American culture that is recognized on a worldly scale as "better in America".

I would like to address #64 on this list.

"We’re more peaceful: This year, Canada was ranked the eighth most peaceful country in the world. The U.S is ranked 100th."

This is a stereotype that is perpetuated across the world, and it is difficult to ignore. The idea of Canada as a wholly peaceful, tolerant, and welcoming country is entirely absurd. It is true, that in many aspects, Canada is justifiably among the higher end of the peaceful nations. However, our history paints a very dark picture, particularly in light of the government's treatment of the First Nations peoples. I had the opportunity to explore this topic, especially in regards to the 20th century, and it is appalling to say the least.What is also disturbing, is how greatly this history is misunderstood and denied. It is only in the extremely recent past that a full understanding of the horrors that occurred in the residential schools has been possible. An article dated November 3, 2015 attests to this:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/residential-school-documents-to-be-publicly-available-for-first-time/article27075555/

First Nations children were forced into government "regulated" institutions where they were taught to neglect their own cultures, were punished for speaking in their own languages, and were brutally abused. Only now, in 2-15, is the full scope of these events and the records are made available to the public. These schools began in 1883, and only know is the Canadian population allowed to understand. Of course, much has been made known across the years, but only in this past year is the factual evidence presented to us. Personally, I was never taught this side of Canadian history, not until my fourth year of university, where it was only briefly mentioned and available as a research topic. Instead, as children, we are taught the highly modified and "Americanized" version. The settlers came in peace and shared a bountiful meal. Throughout the years, scattered comments about wars and unpleasantness among Canadians and First Nations is taught, but the full and tragic history has seemingly never been taught. If anyone was actually taught about these events, please feel free to let me know, but the point stands. It seems that Canada's peaceful nature and attitude is highly selective.

I'm obviously, as a Canadian, not incredibly well versed in American history and their treatment of their own Aboriginal communities. However, the notion that we are this dramatically more peaceful than them should be called into question, especially in regards to institutionalized racism and the attempt at forced integration of communities that the government and society themselves have pushed to the fringes of society.

I completely agree with Melissa F. Of course it is natural to hold a strong sense of pride in one's country, however I found this article almost petty in trying to make such a long-winded list of comparisons, many of which seemed unnecessary and just listed for the sake of filling up space. The more I read down the list, the more I cringed. I do agree that we're lucky to have free healthcare and a solid reputation around the world (for our tourism, winter sports, peacekeeping missions, etc.), but the boastful tone in this article is quite ironic given that we are the "nice" and "overly apologetic" nation. It seems to be looking at Canada through rose tinted glasses, because we are in many ways similar to our neighbours to the south in terms of our "dark moments" as Moriah stated above.

It's my philosophy that patriotism that entails encouraging superiority over other nations is toxic. Citizens of a nation state should be proud of identity solely, yet also critical of their country.

Sure, Number 12 may claim Canadians are "better educated", but is that really correct? The article would benefit comparing tuition between Canadian and American students, which may shed a light on why a lesser percentage of Americans pursue a post-secondary degree - and would be a better case to promote Canada's socialized education costs.

It's interesting to see an attempt at sizing-up Canadian musicians. When it comes to music, Canada has trouble competing. The United States is a media giant, and many successful artists within the nation reach international success as well. For Canadian artists, you're lucky to get national recognition, let alone international. Canada has laws to encourage radio play of Canadian artists (CanCon) to ensure that modern artists get some exposure (at least until they fall into obscurity like A Foot in Coldwater or Five Man Electric Band). Success in Canada is very much preserved as a national scene. Bands like The Tragically Hip may be well known and celebrated within the country, but hardly known outside of it let alone the United States. Bands like Metric and Stars tried relocating to New York before returning to Canada, while Celine Dion is recognized for being Canadian yet her music fails to meet MAPL standards (there is too much American involvement in the writing and production of her music for it to be considered Canadian). While Canada has produced artists that have managed to break out of the Canadian scene and gain recognition - like Arcade Fire and Death From Above 1979 (and I'm surprised to see the author of this article even mention Winnipeg's The Weakerthans), it does not compare to the powerhouse of the United States.

The US is also so densely populated with so many music scenes, audiences are abundant within the country. For Canada, the scene is comparable to Toronto's subway system - a straight line from one coast to the next along the border. A Canadian tour for a band would include a lot of distance to travel with few stops inbetween. And even with the money put in by the government to produce Canadian artists and radio laws geared towards encouraging exposure, it's hard for Canadian artists to compete with foreign artists from the United States.

I posted this video to illustrate the point that the quintessential difference between Canada and the US is that the US is much more "flashy" than Canada. Being the spectacle does have its advantages. For example, when thinking of classic literature my recollection is predominately American literature than Canadian literature. This is not to say that Canadian literature is lower quality, rather, American literature is more memorable because of the prominence it enforces. This relationship is prevalent in sports as well. The CFL Grey Cup just passed, and sports analysts have recorded declining numbers in viewership. This will never be a problem which the NFL faces because of the spectacle behind the sport. This relationship is prevalent in multifarious avenues: movies, politics, celebrities, athletics-they all favour the US.

From a Canadian perspective, the flashiness of the US is a problem because Canadians are starting to believe in this hype as well. In my Canadian university, there are more American literature classes than Canadian literature classes. In our biggest malls nationwide, there are much more American-based companies than Canadian-based companies. Even in my list in the previous paragraph, I generalized ways in which the US is superior than Canada.

The point of this topic is not to derail American product in any way shape or form, rather for Canadians to have more appreciation and support for what they have. Canada may not have the same flash, but sometimes-as I hope this video will illustrate-that is not always a bad thing.

As a Canadian citizen, one thing that I have noticed over the years about our relationship with America is that we are so eager to write off all Americans. We see the racism of the south and the gun control laws and the police brutality and think that it is an awful place to live. (These are obviously broad and sweeping generalizations) I think that this tendency to ultimately dismiss America comes from a deep rooted insecurity that Canadians face with regards to their international status. We want to be taken seriously, but with the states as our southern neighbour, it often becomes easy to get lost in their looming and ominous shadow. One of the reasons for this, I believe, is celebrity culture, and the tendency many Canadian celebrities have of dismissing their Canadian roots, or at the very least not acknowledging it, in order to become more famous. I do think that there are many ways in which America is inferior to Canada. That being said, Canada could use some improvement as well. Sorry, eh?