(B)ordering Canadians

Abstract

In late September 2001, Aaron Sorkin’s popular TV drama, The West Wing, broadcast a special episode in response to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Perhaps due to its being hastily written, the episode’s script included a gaffe that did not go unnoticed by viewers in Canada. In the episode, a terror suspect was discovered to have entered the United States via the Ontario/ Vermont border, a remarkable geographic achievement given that Ontario and Vermont do not share a border. In addition to the “Americans know nothing about Canada,” the “blame Canada” rhetoric within the episode, what with our lax immigration policies and security practices, did little to warm the average Canadian viewer’s heart. Indeed, despite the initial outpouring of sympathy and support on the part of Canadians in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, polls in subsequent years indicate an increasing chill between the neighboring countries.