Interesting take on Canada - U.S. relations

A recent article on Toronto's Cable Pulse 24 web site points up the increasing estrangement between Canada and the U.S., mostly over the war in Iraq. However, I was struck by what the article described as the good news -- the things both countries have in common:

Some of the stances shared by both countries include: marijuana possession should not automatically result in a criminal record, elderly care should be a responsibility of the state, the expansion of police authority has gone too far – threatening individuals’ civil rights, and the government has a responsibility to protect the poor.

I'd say that the people of the U.S. in general may agree with all these things, but our government (at the Federal level in particular) sure doesn't. Yet more evidence that the government has become unresponsive to the needs and desires of its people.