‘We are no longer a nation of thinkers’ Re: Book excerpt: The Canada I fell in love with is gone, Lydia Perovic, May 8 Lydia Perovic is absolutely right in her lament for a lost Canada. I am convinced the many immigrants from former Communist nations in Europe have arrived at the same conclusion, perhaps even sooner than Lydia. My life in Canada started in 1968 after leaving Czechoslovakia. For people living behind the Iron Curtain, the West had an undeniable appeal. It was the part of the world teeming with opportunity, freedom of thought and plenty of reasons for individual betterment. The greatest discovery for me was that I could finally think on my own, without the thought police and the pressure for conformity experienced under the totalitarian regime. The spectre of political correctness did not even exist and free speech was enshrined in the Charter of Rights signed by the elder prime minister Trudeau. Now, for the past 50 years I have witnessed the loss of identity Canada once boasted. We are divided not because we have accepted people from all corners of the Earth. We are divided because some shout louder than others, not caring whether their shouting makes any sense. We are no longer a nation of thinkers because we are not allowed to think for ourselves. If we deviate from those who want to think on our behalf, we are racists, swastika-waving people and openly anti-state. These were precisely the conditions I left behind to come to Canada 53 years ago. Alas, to quote Ms. Perovic, “The Canada I fell in love with is gone.” Zdenek Kutac, Calgary