BBC Travel

BBC Travel

Sixteen-month-old Canada fan Rogan Clark watches team Canada and team Switzerland warm up before their exhibition hockey game in Red Deer, Alberta.

Can Canada teach the rest of us to be nicer?

Belief

The world, I think, would be a better place if we were all a bit more Canadian. Canadian niceness is pure, and untainted by the passive-aggressive undertones found in American niceness (have a good day, or else!). It’s also abundant. Canada is to niceness as Saudi Arabia is to oil. It’s awash in the stuff, and it’s about time, I say, the rest of the world imported some.