There is a lively discussion on Slashdot about which countries are best for civil liberties and privacy. It all started when someone from the UK said s/he was unhappy with growing restrictions and wanted to emigrate.
It struck me how little Canada came up in the discussion. Why? We have the Charter; reasonable, independent, strong courts; decent privacy laws; evidence of the judiciary keeping the government on its toes. I guess the world just doesn’t know Canada that well.
Do you have other ideas why Canada is not mentioned? Any other countries you think are better?
In answer to your question, we have a government made up of autocrats that are unable to respect the law of the land. Yes, we have moved forward in a number of areas, but we’re slipping back in most others:
1. voting (lowest turnouts, blurred landscape and differences between parties, lack of proportional representation);
2. media (one of the most tightly held media communities on the planet with excessive limitations to what we can see online or via TV);
3. growing police state (more than $50 billion spent per year on defense when we barely even have an army. Where is it all going?);
4. ineffective trade policies; gag orders on public information coming directly from the PMO.
5. No respect for small businesses.
Let’s face it: Canada is a banana republic backwater and we’re failing on most counts.