HMMM. Now this is interesting. A half-page ad in my morning paper, paid for by the Government of Canada (me, in other words), extolling the virtues of the Charter of Rights. Well, not the Charter: Section 15 of the Charter, which as the text of the ad informs us, "guarantees that everyone in Canada is equal under the law." It doesn't, actually: it's subject to a long list of exceptions and interpretive clauses -- Section 15 itself makes an exception for reverse discrimination -- not to say the notwithstanding clause. But let that pass. The ad goes on: "Since April 1985, it has protected each of us, and continues to define the country we want to be." And concludes: "The Charter. It's Ours. It's Us." Now, I don't actually have much objection to most of this. I like the Charter, with all its faults, and I do think it plays, and should play, that kind of nation-defining role. Or rather, we define ourselves in the course of enacting laws like the Charter. And obviously I'm in favour of equal rights -- for example, just to pick an issue at random, with regard to gay marriage. But the timing is, shall we say, interesting. Yes, it's the 20th anniversary of the section coming into effect. But it's also right in the middle of the debate on gay marriage, and just before an election in which the Liberals will once again try to pretend that Liberal=Canada. And, well-founded conspiracy theories aside, why is my money being spent to tell me who I am?