Why Do Americans Think Canada Is So Pure? – Bloomberg

Today’s arrest of the mayor of Montreal, Michael Applebaum, on conspiracy and fraud charges, coming on the heels of Toronto’s mayor apparently smoking something he shouldn’t, is prompting some tut-tutting on the south side of the border.

“The mayor of a Canadian city was arrested early this morning and it wasn’t even the guy who smoked crack on video,” Gawker tweeted. Reuters ran the headline “Montreal Mayor Arrested in Latest Canadian Scandal.” “Canada Mayor Crisis Spreads,” wrote Josh Barro at Business Insider.

Canadians, or at least this Canadian, would like to note that American mayors aren’t all choir boys either. Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is set to go on trial for bribery, money laundering, conspiracy and tax fraud. Kwame Kilpatrick, the former mayor of Detroit, was found guilty in March of bribery, extortion and other charges.

And of course, Mayor Marion Barry was arrested in a Washington hotel room after being videotaped using crack cocaine. Canadians like to say that we follow the same trends as Americans — it just takes them a little longer to reach us.

via Why Do Americans Think Canada Is So Pure? – Bloomberg.