Well, that was different. And interesting. And thought provoking. The interview on news talk radio CKOM originating from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada, that is. Seems Canadians have a fair interest in what Americans are thinking. Or, in this case, blogging.

Canada and America share a great deal of common history. Common in the sense of likeness, similarity. For instance, the dustbowl days of the depression were experienced by the farmers of both countries. Living in the Detroit area with Windsor just across the river, I receive CBC television and on occasion watch some of their programs. A few years ago on one such presentation, a farmer from one of the western provinces recalled the dust storms that plagued the Canadian as well as American plains. He and his fellow sod busters had wryly termed the transfer of all that soil from one place to another 'trading farms.'

We laugh at the same things. Just think of all the comedians that have come from Canada. Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Jim Carey, Mike Meyers and Martin Short being among the better known. More famous people who also happen to be Canadian can be found here.

We get some of our news from Canadians. There is, of course, the recently departed Peter Jennings of ABC, as well as Morley Safer of '60 Minutes' and Robert MacNeil of 'MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour' fame.

I must confess that my favorite Canadian is the inimitable and uniquely perceptive Mark Steyn. He is self—trained and 'barely made it through high school' as he willingly acknowledged while appearing on C—span. More than one caller asked why he should consider himself qualified to write about politics and world affairs when he had not least training to do so. He simply smiled and said that it was his interest and curiosity that pushed him in that direction. Totally unflappable. Come to think of it, Jennings didn't even finish high school. Must be something in the water from those Canadian springs.

But the Liberals seem to be doing Canada no favors. The recent revelation of rampant corruption within the Liberal party must give many living in our northern neighbor a severe case of pocket—burn. Canadian health care, as portrayed by Quebecois director Denys Arcand in 'The Barbarian Invasions' (Les Invasions Barbares), gives one pause regarding Hillary Clinton's sanity for having ever suggested that we imitate it.

Perhaps Canadians, and Western Canadians in particular, are thinking that their country is going to the dogs now that Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin has signed the legislation making gay marriage the law of the land. If these same Westerners would prefer to retain more conventional social structures, pay lower taxes, pay more for better health care, and recapture some of that pioneering spirit that once permeated both North and South of 49 degrees — come on over!

We can use all the help we can get!

Dennis Sevakis   8 09 05