An American perspective on Canada ....
> By Samantha Bennett
> Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
>
> You live next door to a clean-cut, quiet guy. He never plays loud music or
> throws raucous parties. He doesn't gossip over the fence, just smiles
>politely and offers you some tomatoes. His lawn is cared-for, his house is
>neat as a pin and you get the feeling he doesn't always lock his front
>door.
>
> He wears Dockers. You hardly know he's there. And then one day you
>discover that he has pot in his basement, spends his weekends at peace
>marches and that guy you've seen mowing the yard is his spouse. Allow me to
> introduce Canada.
>
> The Canadians are so quiet that you may have forgotten they're up there,
>but they've been busy doing some surprising things. It's like
> discovering that the mice you are dimly aware of in your attic have been
>building an espresso
> machine. Did you realize, for example, that our reliable little tag-along
>brother never joined the Coalition of the Willing? Canada wasn't willing,
>as it turns out, to join the fun in Iraq. I can only assume American diner
> menus weren't angrily changed to include "freedom bacon," because
> nobody here eats the stuff anyway.
>
> And then there's the wild drug situation: Canadian doctors are authorized
>to dispense medical arijuana. Parliament is considering legislation that
>would not exactly legalize marijuana possession, as you may have heard,
>but would reduce the penalty for possession of under 15 grams to a
> fine, like a speeding ticket. This is to allow law enforcement to
>concentrate resources
> on traffickers; if your garden is full of wasps, it's smarter to go for
>the nest rather than trying to swat every individual bug. Or, in the
>United States, bong.
>
> Now, here's the part that I, as an American, can't understand. These poor
>benighted pinkos are doing everything wrong. They have a drug problem:
> Marijuana offences have doubled since 1991. And Canada has strict gun
>control laws, which means that the criminals must all be heavily armed, the
> law-abiding civilians helpless and the government on the verge of a
>massive confiscation campaign. (The laws have been in place since the
> '70s, but I'm sure the government will get around to the confiscation
>eventually.)
> They don't even have a death penalty!
>
> And yet .. nationally, overall crime in Canada has been declining since
>1991. Violent crimes fell 13 percent in 2002. Of course, there are still
>crimes committed with guns -- brought in from the United States, which has
>become the major illegal weapons supplier for all of North America
> -- but my theory is that the surge in pot-smoking has rendered most
>criminals too
> relaxed to commit violent crimes. They're probably more focused on
>shoplifting boxes of Ho-Hos from convenience stores.
>
> And then there's the most reckless move of all: Just last month, Canada
>decided to allow and recognize same-sex marriages. Merciful moose, what can
> they be thinking? Will there be married Mounties (they always get their
>man!)? Dudley Do-Right was sweet on Nell, not Mel! We must be the
> only ones who really care about families. Not enough to make sure they all
> have health insurance, of course, but more than those libertines up north
>
>
> This sort of behavior is a clear and present danger to all our stereotypes
> about Canada. It's supposed to be a cold, wholesome country of polite,
>beer-drinking hockey players, not founded by freedom-fighters in a bloody
>revolution but quietly assembled by loyalists and royalists more
> interested in order and good government than liberty and independence. But
>if we are
> the rugged individualists, why do we spend so much of our time trying to
>get everyone to march in lockstep? And if Canadians are so reserved and
>moderate, why are they so progressive about letting people do what they
>want to?
>
> Canadians are, as a nation, less religious than we are, according to polls
>
> As a result, Canada's government isn't influenced by large, well-organized
> religious groups and thus has more in common with those of Scandinavia
>than those of the United States, or, say, Iran. Canada signed the Kyoto
>global warming treaty, lets 19-year-olds drink, has more of its population
>living in urban areas and accepts more immigrants per capita than the
>United States. These are all things we've been told will wreck our society
> But I guess Canadians are different, because theirs seems oddly sound.
>
> Like teenagers, we fiercely idolize individual freedom but really demand
>that everyone be the same. But the Canadians seem more adult -- more
>secure.
>
> They aren't afraid of foreigners. They aren't afraid of homosexuality.
> Most of all, they're not afraid of each other.
>
> I wonder if America will ever be that cool.
>
> Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
> Author: Samantha Bennett
> Published: Wednesday, July 30, 2003
This was actually written by a American so don't complain to me if you don't agree...
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