Well, we are just a northern branch plant of the Great Oligarchy, Rapaire. Our politicians get their marching orders from essentially the same people as your politicians do.

Still and all, it definitely is a bit safer and more reasonable up here in a number of respects. A bit kinder. I put that down to the inertial weight of our past social traditions...and the fact that we are located a bit farther away from "Ground Zero", so to speak, where the "rough beast" crouches over its daily meal of broken human lives.

If you do decide to skip north I will put it a good word for you. And you could even get to meet Shane. ;-)