Column for July 9, 2009

On the 4th of July, I got the pleasure of hosting a Canadian family for an evening. Since they are residents of a foreign country, they have never had the pleasure of experiencing an American Independence Day celebration. The sad part is that as a family, they all knew more about American politics and history than most Americans I know.

I must admit that I am not up to speed on Canadian history and politics as much as they are American. I do know a little since Canada and the United States share a lot of common heritage. The first LaPlante set foot in North America in what is now the province of Quebec. My ancestors on my father's side eventually came across the border into New England. Because I was reared near the Canadian border, I have had the pleasure of visiting Canada several times, have been around a lot of Canadians, and have enjoyed a lot of common heritage. After being here in North Carolina over half my life now, I am still finding myself deemed by Southerners as a Yankee. The odd thing is that I was actually born a lot further south than most here in North Carolina.

While my Canadian friends were here, we squeezed in a lot of discussion topics, including politics and religion. My friend, Timothy, has a lot of opinions on both topics. He is the author of several books, newsletters, does speaking engagements, and was even on his way to a conference to discuss such issues when he graced me with his family's presence.

His wife is from Trinidad, and she brings yet another perspective besides either Canadian or American. We all are staunch conservatives both in our political and in our religious views. Subjects were discussed such as the proposed health care system, liberal religious views, education, taxation, governmental control, gun control, welfare, representation, and different forms of government. We discussed how Canada was supposed to originally have a Constitutional Monarchy and how America is heading towards being one. I quipped that in order to afford the proposed health care system, the United States would have to annex all of Canada to widen the tax base enough to fund the system. After all, we could probably invade Canada using just The Salvation Army, much less our nation's standing army. I was informed that Canadian annexation probably would not help in that matter since they have a higher percentage of people on government assistance than we do here in the U.S. Canada is ahead of the U.S. in becoming more and more socialist.

I was informed about the problems Canada has with their health care system, the issues they had in getting family members treated by a doctor, and how they would have better health care if they were simply allowed to pay for services with their own money rather than waiting for government approval and payment. I was also told how horribly similar the American government is morphing into another Canadian systems of economics, form of government, and health care. Wow, I can hardly wait (I type while rolling my eyes).

My friend and his wife, along with the two teenagers were amazed at the firearms that a free American can accumulate if he desires. He expressed how difficult the permitting process was to obtain a single firearm, much less amass a collection of guns and ammunition. They had never had the opportunity to handle someone's rifles and look at handguns quite like they did last weekend and had fun doing so. Unfortunately, we as a state and nation are heading towards the same sorts of restrictions as other nations. I constantly get newsletters and email alerts, and read about various legislative efforts to bring gun control to America.

If you ever watched Schoolhouse Rock in the 1970's and 80's, then you at least have a slight clue as to the American Revolution and the Constitution preamble. I am hoping that people will dig a little deeper and learn more about American history and the reasons behind the politics they see every night on television newscasts. I also pray that people who claim a Judeo-Christian belief system will take their beliefs seriously and apply them to their beliefs towards the world. After all, why let some Canadian know more about your government and history than you do, eh?