Celebrating Canada

 The Canada Confederation, which took place on July 1, 1867, united the British colonies (which became Quebec and Ontario) with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.  The United States was just a couple years past the end of the Civil War, Lincoln had been assassinated, and things were in a bit of a mess for us then.  It is a good perspective, because as bad a things are now with our government, back at the beginning of Canada it was considerably worse.  The United States then, and to a lesser degree now, disagreed about race and what equal protection of the law meant.
One difference between us is that the enslavement of Africans brought against their will largely did not occur in Canada.  There were no routes between Canada and Africa.  There was some slave ownership, both of native people and of Africans, but nowhere near as common as it was for their southern neighbor.  Canada outlawed slavery in 1833, and it was a safe final destination on the Underground Railroad from the 1841 through to the end of the Civil War.  They ended up on both the moral side of the war, and the winning side.
Canada is 151 years old now, and it looks remarkably good these days.  Why we are picking a fight with them, I do not understand.  They have been a  good ally for us, but who could blame them if they got mad about their southern neighbor's behavior.