Canada, at least the part of it that I live in (the southwest coast of BC), is pretty sweet. It's not perfect, but it's pretty great. I'm reasonably well travelled, especially within Canada and the US, and I've never been to any other place I'd rather call home.
In general, I think we are better governed than the US, and I feel like we are socially better off. That said, we tend to exhibit a number of the same governmental and social problems as seen in the US, just on a smaller scale.
Don't expect to come to canada and escape all the social ills that are plaguing the US.
We too were complicit in human rights violations during the afghanistan war.
We too have a ridiculous religious conservative voice in politics.
We too fail to meet our environmental obligations in favour of big oil.
We too allow corporations to have too much political influence and get away wioth too much.
We too have absurd copyright legislation and internet privacy bills go before parliament.
We just do all of the above on a smaller scale, and we tend to morderate and regulate ourselves enough that when we do these things, they don't get nearly as out of hand.
So it's not perfect. But I think, taken on the whole, it's pretty good.
-m
