Oh, Canada! 

Shredder had fun in his column, "What the hell, America?" (Nov. 15), referencing malcontents (Republicans, I assume) who are threatening to move to Canada.

While this may be a just stick-it-in-your eye rant, I'd like to point out that Canada as a country does seem to work a lot better than the United States. And this is coming from someone whose ancestors arrived from England in the first boats in 1632! For one thing, my wife is Canadian, though she is completely Americanized. (I bought property there and she won't live there). She retains her citizenship, I think, for sentimental reasons, since her folks had a farm before bringing her to North Hollywood when she was 5.

But there are good reasons (except the weather!) to think of Canada as a much more manageable and welcoming country. They encourage immigration, honor their native cultures, have much less onerous drug laws, hold elections where even the losers get to share the podium with the winners (last premier), didn't have a subprime mortgage crisis (just a little downturn), have reasonably priced higher education institutions, have abundant resources they haven't squandered (oil, water, timber, gold), have a quite workable socialized medical system, and their people by and large are much more civil than we are (there is a lot less gun violence.) Canadians are not trying to be the bullies of the world, so therefore do not have bullseyes on their chests. (In other words, they feel safe.)

It's also been ranked one of the best countries in the world. Americans know so little about Canada it's shameful. They are our strongest allies, share much more of our border than we do even with Mexico, and yet we ignore them most of time.

If you want to know at least a little more about Canada, get the Wall Street Journal. Best international news in print.