"Everybody is cheesed off at the Americans," said one Montreal resident, summing up Canadians' response to a recent national story about the USA's homeland security gone mad.

Michel Jalbert of Quebec drove 15 yards into the US to buy gas on October 11, and spent 35 days in jail before finally being released on November 15. The gas station Jalbert pulled into is so close to the border that its driveway is in Quebec while the pumps are in Maine. The US border post is another kilometer down the road. The community is so close to the border that some houses have rooms both in the US and in Canada. The gas station is only accessible from Canada and virtually all of its customers are Canadian. The Border Patrol even issued a written statement in 1990 that Canadian locals didn't have to check in at the border before pumping. So Jalbert didn't.

But the vigilant US border agent lurking in the woods spotted the shotgun in Jalbert's vehicle and arrested him for being an armed illegal alien. Jalbert was on his way bird hunting. He also has a twelve year old criminal record, apparently making him ineligible to enter the US. After spending more than a month in a US jail, Jalbert posted $5,000 bail, over the objections of the Prosecutors who said it would be illegal to release an illegal alien on bail. The judge disagreed, saying he ordered bail for Canadians all the time. As soon as he posted bail Jalbert was immediately rearrested by the INS, before he ever got out of jail--for still being in the country illegally. Finally Colin Powell expressed concern over the "unfortunate incident" and intervened after getting an earful from Canadian officials.

Jalbert still has to return to the US for trial in January on the weapons charges and for failing to report to the border station. Observers say his treatment represents a new hard line by the Federal Government. "They wanted to make an example of me and I think it worked," said Jalbert.

Recently the Canadian Government issued a travel advisory recommending that its citizens from Mideastern countries to avoid travelling to the US because of rampant racial profiling. Canada withdrew this alert after getting assurances from the US that all Canadians would be treated equally. Not well necessarily, but equal.

Adding to the unease afflicting our northern neighbor is their perception of "mounting hostility by the US toward Canada," as Barbara Yaffe wrote in the Vancouver Sun recently. She referred to the cover article of a recent issue of the National Review, called "Wimps; Canada's whiny and weak anti-Americanism." The article itself insists that "Canada is, quite simply, not a serious country any more. It has internalized the assumptions of UN-ology; not just anti Americanism but also the belief that Western nations don't need military might....A little invasion is precisely what Canada needs." Yaffe imagines, as no doubt do many Canadians, that the article "likely reflects a current of US opinion."

And our law enforcement officials are doing their part to reinforce that message. Canadians will likely be cheesed off at the USA for a good while to come.