CANADA LIGHTS UP

Vancouver, British Columbia - When people ask me, an American expat,
what it's like living in Canada, I tell them, "It's kind of like
living in the States, if the States were on lithium."

This is the price of living in the land of "Peace, Order and Good
Government." With the notable exceptions of Arcade Fire fans and the
Alberta tar sands developers, there's just not a lot of mania to be
found north of the border. But for a few weeks last February, all
that changed: Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympics, and Canada went
off its meds.

From that heartbreaking opening bell sounded by the Republic of
Georgia's Nodar Kumaritashvili when he collided with an unpadded
stanchion to become the first Olympic luge fatality in nearly 50
years, to Sidney Crosby's epic tiebreaker in the men's hockey final,
Canadians rode out the lows along with the highs. For two weirdly
warm and sunny weeks in the middle of what was supposed to be winter,
even the doomsayers - who saw the Games as a commercial boondoggle -
were swayed by the excitement.

Gone was the usual gaze-averting reserve, and in its place was an
ecstatic, high-fiving street party the likes of which Vancouver had
never seen. The roar of the crowds cheering a Canadian goal against
the United States was audible even through the walls of a house
sealed for winter. For a brief moment, Canada embraced its inner
patriot, and it felt pretty good.

"Canada isn't one of those countries that wears its flag all the
time," one of my friends said, "but when I rode the SkyTrain, every
single person was wearing red and white." Another described it as a
"gradual building of red energy," adding, "Wherever you went,
suddenly people were talking to you, laughing, joyful."

Vancouver's Olympic high took other forms as well: the lineup for
free bong hits outside Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture Headquarters was
relentless, and there were some unfortunate run-ins with the
billion-dollar security apparatus. During the torch relay, one
free-spirited Canadian reached toward the Olympic Torch and tried to
light ... what? A cigarette, a firecracker, his finger? only to find
himself wrestled to the ground by the police.

By March, Vancouver had come back down to earth as well and, by June,
our red wave had been replaced by a "yellow zone" on the other side
of the country - the security perimeter around the Group of 20
meeting in Toronto. Canada was back to its old self again - reserved,
responsible, safe.

But deep in Vancouver's heart, the memory of that manic red reprieve
will be treasured for a long time.