: Vote the bastards out who are responsible for this! Ordering from Canada to
: the US is no hassle at all and it can save a bundle on some things. NAFTA
: was supposed to work both ways, but apparently Canadians are getting
: screwed by their government. I don't mean to be critical, but when you
: embrace socialism to the degree that Canada has, intrusive government is
: what you have to live with.

...I didn't mean any disrespect to Canadians or for this to turn into a Canada vs. USA debate. You've got a lovely country and I've enjoyed the opportunities I've had to travel in it...and the great exchange rate.

My point was that complaining about problems like shipping and duties and taxes and such in this forum is not going to accomplish anything. Any reform will have to start with you, at home, working within your system to effect positive change. If complacency has brought you to the point you're at now, then it will take advocacy and involvement to change things.

That may be one of the biggest differences between our peoples; in the US, when the government does something we don't like, we rebel against it. We haven't had the need to actually overthrow a government by force (and hopefully never will), but we regularly remove and replace parts of it through our electoral system, at the local and national levels. Although having only two major parties has proven to be somewhat of a liability, recent elections have shown that third party movements CAN have a substantial impact on elections and on the platforms of the major parties. Our system is no more perfect than many others, but it DOES work and CAN work relatively quickly, if necessary. I don't see any reason why your system can't, too.

All the best to our neighbors to the north!

Brian