Is Canada any worse off than Europe, Asia, Latin America, or Africa in this regard?
Probably not, but in this case I imagine it was scratching a personal itch and no other country in the world starts with "can" - I imagine that bit really rubs it in the face of Canadians. I'm sure other copycats will emerge as people think up amusing domain options.
It doesn't need to start with 'can':
Dominican't Republic, Vatican't City, and of course Can'tartica - a whole continent where most services are unavailable.