C. S. Lewis wrote, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point.” Similarly, democracy is not simply one of the forms of government, but every form of government at its testing point.

The USA is an independent constitutional republic with a written Constitution that dates back to 1789 and is difficult to amend. Canada has a parliamentary government and is part of the Commonwealth. Canada has a Charter of Rights, but it dates only from 1982 and is an act of parliament that can be amended or repealed by a simple majority vote.

But regardless of the US Constitution or the Canadian Charter of Rights, how did these nations act at their testing points? Not too well, actually. At the outbreak of World War II, both nations forcibly removed from the Pacific coast persons of Japanese ethnicity, including US or  Canadian citizens. That was a testing point, and we flunked.

Now comes another testing point, the Freedom Truckers. Trudeau is either too frightened or too conceited to meet with them and hear their grievances. So he invokes the Emergencies Act, in effect declaring martial law. Truckers can be arrested without a warrant, their rigs can be seized, their licenses revoked, and their bank accounts frozen – in effect impoverishing their families. Even bank accounts of their backers can be frozen.

And what if Freedom Truckers come to the US? Biden, or whoever is actually in charge, can do all those things and more. Unlike Trudeau, Biden doesn’t have to ask the legislature to empower him. He simply issues executive orders – that is, rules by decree.

Like the ethnic Japanese during World War II, the Freedom Truckers are a testing point. Canadians are flunking badly. And if put to the test, we Americans may flunk even worse.

Like isn’t like school. There are no scheduled exams. There are only snap quizzes. This is a big one. The future of democracy may depend on how well we score.