CANADA

Matthew Williams by Nagisa Akimori

CANADA

Name: Matthew Williams

Birthday: July 1

Gender: Male

Official Languages: English and French

Close Relations: America (Alfred F. Jones), England (Arthur Kirkland), France (Francis Bonnefoy)

The iammatthewian Voice Actors: Kurotsuchi, Rhinocio, Ina-chan (Canada EH! only)

PERSONALITY

Canada vs Latvia (World Juniors 2010) by HapoEatsWaffles

Matthew is very laid back, kind, and sometimes has the annoying habit to apologize even for things he wasn’t directly responsible for. But underneath that layer of Canadian politeness is an insolent, passive-aggressive little prat. Be mindful when you see Matthew smile politely and speaking in a pleasant tone in response to something a normal person would find offensive.

"I know you long enough to realize that if you talk in that pleasant tone, you actually mean the opposite. And if its in French, most likely insulting." --- England, Canada EH! Episode 4

Matthew, at times can also be a bit of a whiner and complainer and doesn’t really take much action over what annoys him for fear of offending people. He's slow to anger as long as you don't show blatant ignorance to his military achievements and insult the memory of the sacrifices made by his soldiers (and yes, this also applies to ice hockey). He can be quite opinionated if you get him worked up! Matthew is mostly a pacifist, but if need be, he is one of the most dependable allies you would want to cover your back. While Matthew is known for his peace-keeping, he is an accomplished marksman and is the current record holder for the longest-ever recorded and confirmed sniper kill.

Being raised as both French and English has always caused a bit of conflict within himself. Matthew's French-half has given him the attitude to accept and tolerate all sorts of liberal ideas, cultures and lifestyles though his British-half still gives him bit conservative point of view with how to act on things.

Matthew is a well-known hockey fanatic. He has been known to become uncharacteristically aggressive when holding a hockey stick. His holy grail is the return of Lord Stanley’s Cup into Canadian soil.

RELATIONSHIPS/RIVALRIES/AFFILIATIONS

Canada is a member of many affiliations and has a few tumultous dysfucntional turbulent complicated relationships.

Canada and France

Chibi Canada and France by ctcsherry

Matthew stubbornly clinging on to his Frenchness would make one think that he has a very special connection with his Papa. In some ways, there is some truth to it. Along with seven embassies and consulates (which the land the buildings are built on are all considered that nation's territory in foreign land), France has given Canada 9 historical sites within France, to recognize the sacrifices made by Canadian soldier in World War I. So you could say that France is the European country that has the most pieces of Canada in him.

But in reality, underneath that pretty picture, Matthew is actually still very bitter about the results of the 7-Year-War. France, after all, pretty much abandoned Canada in favour of keeping his sugar hunnies in his Caribbean colonies. New France was seen as an expensive ice waste land so France quite happily handed Matthew over to England. There's also the language conflict. Yes, Canada and France may speak the same language, but the very dialect Canada speaks is reason to cause a a bit of a rift between the two nations. Canada's French is derived from "Old World" French that modern-day France has distanced himself from since the French Revolution, mostly because the type of French that Matthew retained was the symbol of the corrupt aristocracy that Francis hated. Also, because North America is so far away from Europe, Matthew's French did not evolve into the more "sophisticated" modern-day French that France speaks now. In fact, France actually looks down at the Quebecois, citing it as a crass, unsophisticated and old-fashioned language.

Matthew and France are club members of "The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie". It's somewhat similar to the Commonwealth of Nations. only smaller. and members have to speak French. One would think that being part of this club would foster a common spirit of brotherhood. but not really, at least not in Canada. France has stirred a bit of trouble in causing problems in Canadian National Unity through La Francophonie by encouraging Quebec separatism. And later on, France's current boss, Nicolas Sarkozy, further complicated the already convoluted relations by. discouraging Quebec separatism after many of his predecessors encouraging it.

Then there was this ^_^. Thank God for failsafe mechanisms?

Canada and Great Britain

Despite his resistance on letting go of his French side, Matthew has had an extremely long history of almost blind loyalty to England. It's quite a puzzle in some ways, especially with England's brutal attempts to suppress and drive the French out of Matthew (though mass British immigration to Canada in the late 1800's may have played a big role in softening Canada's anti-British sentiments). Matthew is so loyal that it took more than 100 years after the declaration of his Independence for him to be "fully" and "officially" independent. Of course, in all fairness, it's not entirely his fault. Some vague factors in the Statute of Westminster in 1931 caused a lot of problems in sorting out things for Canada's constitution. even New Zealand and Australia had the same problems, causing the same delays with their official independence. I suppose Matthew had to learn that passive aggressive trait to cause problems to your enemies from somewhere.

Nonetheless, Matthew retains much of that loyalty, eventhough Britain has had nothing to do with Canada for a great number of years. Canada stood by England's side in the second Boer War, throughout both World Wars, the rise and fall of the League of Nations, the establishment of the United Nations, and is also one of the founding members of the Commonwealth of Nations. And despite the patriation of Canada's Constitution in 1982 and officially becoming a fully sovereign nation. Matthew continues to see England's boss as his own.

Momma's boy.

Canada and The United States of America

There is no greater woe, than the story of Juli--- oops! Wrong story...

If you want to look for the personification of true sibling love and brutal sibling rivalry, look no further than the history of the North American Bros. This relationship is rooted from shared French. though mostly British colonial heritage, that turned into a conflicted shaky relationship clouded by suspicion and paranoia, and eventually evolved into one of the most successful international partnerships of the modern world.

Yes, like all siblings, Matthew and Alfred still have their instances of disagreements here and there, a strong rivalry wherein one takes extreme pleasure in beating the crap out of the other in contests of any form, and at times still eye each other suspiciously with their weird quirks and behaviours. The North American brothers are figuratively and literally (okay not literally since Canada is on the north side) joined at the hip.

They have the longest undefended border in the world, are each other's biggest trading partner and each other's strongest allies since WW2. Even though Matthew doesn't agree with Alfred's recent war efforts (and eating habits) or Alfred with Matthew's very liberal points of view on MJ, homosexuality, and historical sympathies to certain communist nations (Cuba, China, Vietnam). or even agree on how to own guns responsibility. AND there was also that big kerfuffle during the Cold War where Canada essentially became the unwilling "shield" between the Soviet Union and the United States (no, Matthew was not happy about that at all!). Matthew and Alfred actually do get along quite well.

In fact, Matthew and Alfred is so close that polls regarding nation favourability had Americans consistently polling Canada as the country they favour the most. One poll even suggested that Alfred likes Matthew so much that 4 out of 10 Americans are in favour of annexing Canada as the 51st American state. Unfortunately Matthew still continues to not have the mutual feelings about the whole idea. though dismisses this latest poll as his brother's continued inability to read the atmosphere. Though, he's fightng nail and teeth to block all forms of US hostile takeover just in case.

Canada and The Soviet Union/Russia

Matthew and Ivan's relationship throughout the years has been the same as their climates. cold, very cold, very very cold, and some rare instances of lukewarm feelings, as in "while-standing-in-a-public-pool-type" lukewarm. Canada did not have a flattering image in the Soviet Union prior to WW2, mostly thanks to Matthew participating in several British-USSR conflicts in Britain's behalf. WW2 warmed Canada-USSR relations a teeney bit as Canada and the Soviet Union became short-term allies. But soon after that, Ivan started seeing Alfred as a big head bastard, thus making Matthew a bastard by association. There's also the fact that Ivan is a big head bastard himself.

Though in all fairness, since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian and Canadian relations have improved dramatically. Canada and Russia's ties have strengthened politically, culturally, economically. and as Arctic nations, both countries have actively worked together to get the upperhand on their respective Arctic land claims ensure a forward working agenda on northern cooperation. This friendly relationship, of course, is not so close to the point that Alfred would start to get worried that the world's 2 largest nations would get together and plot world domination.

thumb|300px|right|FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!!!!There's no chance of that for as long as Russia and Canada remain traditional rivals in Hockey, thanks to the historic 1972 Summit Series, also known as the USSR-CANADA Superseries (ironically, originally named the "Friendship Series", but that name was quickly forgotten for obvious reasons). While Canada and USSR, and now Russia, has a great amount of mutual respect for each other in relation to the game, on-ice relations between the two nations, however were never friendly. Normally laid back Canada would drop his stick and gloves to join a free for all brawl, even if it costs him a gold medal game in an international hockey event if the USSR pushes the right buttons. Though Russia has never quite dominated international hockey with the same intensity since the fall of the Soviet Union, the traditional rivalry between Matthew and Ivan in the game is so strong that a match between them is actually one of the few instances where Alfred will find himself not the centre of attention.

Canada and Ukraine

It all started in the 1870's when Canada came to the rescue in helping an ethnic group of people that the Ivan kicked out of his lands, which would later become modern-day Ukraine. This was the start of the legacy of mass Ukrainian immigration to Canada, most of them settling in the prairies of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba. Canada is the home to the largest Ukrainian population outside of Ukraine and Russia. Aside from the Cold War, Ukraine was also one of the causes for tensions for the post-war tensions between the USSR and Canada as Canada pushed for the recognition of the Soviet government in Ukraine, Ukrainian independence, and human rights issues. Though Canada did lay low during the Cold War as to prevent further antagonizing the USSR.

Canada and Ukraine by HapoEatsWaffles

After Ukraine gained independence after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Canada was the first western nation to recognize Ukraine's independence. Since then, Ukraine and Canada has enjoyed a close diplomatic relationship and even signed a joint declaration of a special partnership in 1994, which was renewed in 2001.

Despite that, however, Matthew and Ukraine still continue to remain. "just friends".