I love your beautiful landscape and kind people. I have traveled throughout your countryside, to nearly every province, and created wonderful memories along with countless photographs. In times of need, whether injured, stranded or lost, your selfless people helped me; their example elevated me to be as generous and compassionate. I am not finished with places to explore; I can live two lifetimes and not be finished enjoying you.
Straight to the point: please restore your democracy; please cancel all emergency powers (including the ones made permanent!); please stop deciding which opinions are unacceptable; please reinstate freedoms my country, the United States, takes for granted; please set an example for the United States, because I fear we are not far behind your descent into the totalitarian abyss. Bottom line: dictating what people can or cannot think is a dictatorship.
Your Prime Minister’s declaration of “unacceptable opinions” terrified me. How can I visit and patronize you after that? What if he deems my opinions unfit? Your emergency powers act, to bludgeon the trucker protests, contrary to the same PM’s encouragement of different protests a year earlier, reek of politics and tyranny. Opinions he does not like are diminished, scorned and assigned horrific labels i.e., racist. Your good people do not need to be restrained by hate speech laws or silenced by a Marie-Antoinette-PM. Oh, Canada, how did you get here?
I was always aware you never had true free speech, not in the sense as we have it here in the US. Nonetheless, I respect your laws.
I never questioned your $7 gasoline (I silently wondered why, since you are the fifth largest producer of oil). However, I respect your economics.
I endured the rigorous personal searches every time I crossed the border and I gladly complied with every regulation. Regardless, I respect your need for security.
It has been a long two years since I visited you last; yes, COVID19 closed our borders, a draconian decision in hindsight; I miss you and want to see you again.