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I emigrated from Canada and became a US citizen 10 years ago. I love to visit Vancouver, but I would never go back to live. The differences are subtle, but real. Canadians are less free than we are, and accept a level of government intrusion into their lives that Americans would find intolerable. Unfortunately, nearly 2 generations of socialism had bred an apathy and acceptance of their situation. It frightens me to think that Dean, Hitlery, and the other commie left here in the US want to make us more like our socialist northern neighbors. We must be ever vigilant to make sure our freedom stays intact, despite our politicians.

I am thankful every day that I live here. God Bless America.

Anyone who has lived on both sides of the border might be interested in a great book about Canadian history. It's called Caesars of the Wilderness, and it chronicles the parallel growth of Canada as a nation and the Hudson's Bay Company as the oldest corporate presence on the continent.

I found this to be a remarkable book, because I think it helps explain why the underlying attitudes of Canadians towards people in positions of authority are so different than the attitudes of Americans in this regard.

Canadians are less free than we are, and accept a level of government intrusion into their lives that Americans would find intolerable.

By some of the replies on this thread, it appears that more and more Americans will tolerate increasingly more gubbamint - even FReepers.
O, how long will our free republic survive?

Thanks for your comments: "I emigrated from Canada and became a US citizen 10 years ago. I love to visit Vancouver, but I would never go back to live. The differences are subtle, but real. Canadians are less free than we are, and accept a level of government intrusion into their lives that Americans would find intolerable. Unfortunately, nearly 2 generations of socialism had bred an apathy and acceptance of their situation. It frightens me to think that Dean, Hitlery, and the other commie left here in the US want to make us more like our socialist northern neighbors. We must be ever vigilant to make sure our freedom stays intact, despite our politicians."

Yes, we need to re-elect President Bush. It is imperative that we do. And we need to keep our eye on Canada, because not only do they show us what we do not want to do, they are so lax on immigration and terrorism that they pose a danger to us.

I lived in British Columbia for about six months and the one major impression I took from it was the degree of intrusiveness not only from the government but from the people, young and old. A few anecdotes:

I'm sitting in a restaurant having breakfast and reading the newspaper and a man comes up and asks me if he could have a section of the paper. I said politely no, I'm not done with it yet. He goes away and comes back and asks a little more stridently, "Did you buy that paper or does it belong to the restaurant?" "Yes, I bought it, sir", I replied. He goes away all huffy.

One day I answer the door and a teenage girl asks me if I want to subscribe to the daily paper. "No, thank you," I said. She looks at me like she couldn't believe her ears, "May I ask WHY?!" I had to defend my case before she would go away.

One reason I didn't want a newspaper subscriptions is because they have a local law mandating recycling. All trash had to be separated into categories before it could be disposed of. The apartment complex where I lived could no longer afford to pay for the recycling service and so I had to drive my trash half a mile up the road to the city disposal area where they had about twenty different types of dumpsters for glass, paper, and the dozen or so types of plastic.

It just seemed that I encountered a lot pushy busybodies who were willing to go way out of their way to tell me how to live my life. It was interesting.

Not ALL of us accept government intrusion. You have no idea how DIFFERENT the West is from Central Canada. Quebec could be blown off the map tomorrow and it would suit me fine. Ontario, imo is a liberal cesspool. What is really wrong, is the fact that the majority of the seats in this country are in Ontario and Quebec. I would like to see the West separate and be run by Ralph Klein. He regularly tells Ottawa to screw off!!