Response to Little Hawk:

I agree with virtually every word you say, and you show some keen insights into the survivor mentality. Canada has always had a survivor mentality as well (see Margaret Atwood's analysis of Canadian literature, entitled "Survival"), but Canadians have always had to survive climate, a common enemy that brought them together.

One issue you could have explored further re "Bowling for Columbine":
you ask:

"...there are a hell of a lot of guns in Canada too...and very little gun-related violence. So what's the story on that?"

Part of the story on that, which should have been made crystal clear by Moore, dammit, is the TYPE of guns that Canadians own. Most gun-owning Canadians have rifles for hunting. There are some (registered) handguns, mostly for shooting clubs, sports type stuff, etc. But -- and this is a huge but -- assault weapons, automatic machine pistols, all the heavy attack weapons that are permitted in the US, are illegal in Canada. (I don't even know the names of most of them, but you can figure out what I mean.) What are those guns for? Shooting deer? Target practice? I think not. They really serve only one purpose.

I think this is a pertinent distinction which should be emphasized.