Vive La Difference

In the US, libertarians constantly complain about the erosion of individual freedoms -- and with good reason, as police routinely violate those rights every chance they get. Despite a court that contributes to that erosion, though, the Constitution still provides a bedrock of freedom that is, historically and politically, the envy of people worldwide.

Meanwhile, in Canada, the Constitution is much less hearty when it comes to enshrining individual freedoms, and the court up here continues to hack away at what freedoms do exist:

“What now appears to be licensed is that a presumed innocent individual may be detained and isolated by the police for at least five or six hours without reasonable recourse to a lawyer – during which time the officers can brush aside assertions of the right to silence or demands to be returned to his or her cell in an endurance contest in which the police interrogators, taking turns with one another, hold all the important legal cards.”

Yet, the police do not have a reputation in Canada for rampant abuse. And if you polled people in both countries, I'd be shocked if the average Canadian didn't say they felt freer than the average American, despite the fact that from a legal standpoint the opposite is surely true.

Not really taking sides on which country is "better". Just find it interesting that the pinko commie soshulist stronghold of Canada does, on paper, have fewer freedoms than the US... and yet in reality, it's the freer, more permissive society.