Canadians are neck-deep in lies just like everyone else in the world. Lying about what’s happening has become the only non-denominational activity all Canadians share. The lies come from our politics, our commercial system, our media and press. The lies come from the political right, where the power lies, but they’re also coming from our fast-shrinking centre and left. The lies come from our collective and individual greed and intolerance, from our public and private myopia, and they come from an education system so overwhelmed with correctness-crazed safety freaks it’s only willing to teach our kids to have a nice day. Some of the lies are planned and deliberate futurehype, others are designed to habituate us to products (or lately, to the absence and uneven distribution of product) and some are designed to overload and disable our critical faculties so more lies can be stuffed down our craws. These kinds of lies are a testament to the growing fear of democracy and openness that is the dark side of the information revolution we are experiencing. The more powerful the engine of lying, the greater the wastage and debris and polution.