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If you live below the 49th parallel you've probably never heard of a Canadian television show called Talking to Americans. Host Rick Mercer travels across the continental United States doing street interviews with Americans to get their reactions on make-believe Canadian news headlines.

Often he heads for University campuses - such as Harvard, Stanford and Princeton where he got students and professors to sign a petition to protest Canadian government decisions "to resume the Saskatchewan seal hunt" and "reinstate the Toronto polar bear slaughter." .

"Congratulations, Canada, for getting a McDonald's," says one man in New York City.

"Congratulations, Canada, on 800 miles of paved road!" says another New Yorker.

"Canada, please don't put your senior citizens on ice floes to perish anymore," say folks in Michigan.

While I'm sure that Americans don't see as much humor in the show's premise as Canadians do, it also stands to reason that there really isn't any good reason for not knowing that we have higher education ("Congratulations, Canada, for finally getting a university" said a student at Berkley), VCRs aren't illegal and that frostbite isn't the number one Canadian killer.

But we do still put our senior citizens out on ice floes to perish...