British Columbia Secret Police -- "It's your money, but you'll spend it where I say you can!"

This editorial requires no further editorializing. The situation certainly reminds me of the days when Canada was first saddled with the GST. Living in a border city, everyone I knew (including myself) flocked to the United States to spend their money. Yeah, I felt a twinge of regret for Canadians business owners, but figured if they were so hurt by the cross-border shopping they should organize themselves and address the issue that was sending so many consumers south. But no, we had undercover cops lurking in parking lots of Michigan big box stores drawing with chalk on the tires of cars with Ontario license plates -- to ensure those recalcitrant Canadians weren't buying tires in the U.S. It's great to live in a society where law enforcement personnel had so little to do, but more than once I had to ask myself if I wasn't a citizen of the United Soviet Socialist Republic of Canada.