Today, as Matt Yglesias earlier reminded us amnesiac Americans, is Canada Day--the Canadian parallel, though not exact, to our Independence Day.

I confess that I am an inveterate Canadaphile, and not for such ideological reasons as its health care system or the striking fact that even its current conservative leaders have chosen to mark this Canada Day with apologies to its aboriginal population. No, it's the basic decency, civility, and sense of humor of most Canadians that has long attracted me. And their highly sophisticated knowledge of our own political system has always put us to shame.

Back in 2000, our then-Ambassador to Canada Gordon Giffin (an old friend) arranged for me to speak about Al Gore's policy views to an Ottawa meeting of deputy ministers--the people who more or less ran the Canadian government. They asked far better questions--and not just on issues affecting Canada--than you'd probably get from anything like a similar audience in the U.S.

It's been a few years since I've had an opportunity to go north of the border, but I miss it, from PEI to BC. I wish all our friends and neighbors there a very happy Canada Day.