THE GREAT WHITE NONTHREATENING NORTH: Yes, Wurtzel is nuts, she's made a career off that. But here's why she thought she could express herself:

Wurtzel acknowledges she'd never dare say such things in the U.S., noting, "You can't tell people this. I'm talking to you because you're Canadian."

Which reminds me of this recent post by Olympic blogger b-may:

A Canadian skater kept approaching the stairs up to the ice, only to be told that, for security purposes, we had to stop everyone, even if we knew them:
"I'm not a security threat: I'm Canadian"

The Can-Am consensus appears to be: Canadians? They wouldn't hurt a fly. Is there another country whose national identity is based on being non-threatening? Well, probably.