When the September 11th terrorist attacks happened, many in this country were astonished at how quickly it took for many Canadians to reveal they secretly believed America had it coming. In fact, it seems anti-Americanism is our civic religion that we can barely conceal any longer. For instance, when it was revealed last election that BC Green Party candidate, Kevin Potvin, had written a column confessing that he cheered as the Twin Towers collapsed, many ran to his defence. Potvin was eventually denied the Green candidacy, but this episode revealed how close to the surface these feelings are. Anti-Americanism has become our last acceptable form of bigotry and xenophobia.
