> When I think about the counterfactual me that grew up in a large American city, New York or L.A. instead of Toronto,

And just think, those are the American areas most common to Canada.

There are places in America where those counterfactuals do not exist, where the necessities aren't locked behind counters, where community is thriving, and where the normality of civic life is an expectation.

I expect no honors for those parts of the country. If Canada didn't have an air of superiority to comfort itself with, it would have nothing at all.