Over the last few years, I’ve seen Canada as being something of a beacon of hope in the western world. I knew it wasn’t perfect – nowhere is – but I thought of it as a progressive nation that combined the best parts of the U.S. with the best of U.K. and Europe, while having few of the bad bits. It was a country I wanted to visit (I have relatives and friends there whom I’ve never met), and have, on more than one occasion considered emigrating there. A good record for human rights, friendly people, lots of space all made it a kind of wonderland. I saw it through the same kind of tinted lenses that draws people from Eastern Europe to the U.K., or from Central America to the U.S.A. Obviously, I was wrong, as Palpatine† would have put it, about a great many things. (more…)