A female customer is forcibly removed from a restaurant and strip-searched for getting into an argument with staff. Many others have come forward with similar tales. One police precinct admits they strip-search everyone they arrest, even if the offence is minor. Newspaper editorials have called for an end to these wholesale strip searches, forcing local officials to promise a review of the policy. This enables Canadians to feel secure the matter is being addressed.
Democracy is once again safe.
But reviewing the policy doesn t explain why it happens. Well, if the nation can momentarily overcome its low self-esteem and face up to a little straight analysis, we d have to admit a history of unwillingness to assert our independence. When our American cousins decided they d had enough of an unreasonable British government and its unhinged monarch, King George III, the Yanks took matters into their own hands, establishing a country that, first and foremost, constitutionally outlined and protected the rights of individuals. And just to ensure their future governments respected that constitution, every American had the right to keep his weapons. Because at the heart of the American revolution is the notion that governments cannot be trusted to do the right thing.