Centuries ago, the British navy utilized the tactic of impressment to fill the crews of its ships. Men who stumbled drunk out of waterfront bars often woke up with not only a splitting hangover, but a new career as a British seaman (whether they liked it or not). Americans in particular objected to this practice, which was a contributing factor to the War of 1812. Not to start any conspiracy theories, but can this centuries-old grievance be behind the recent spate of U.S. authorities bringing criminal prosecutions against citizens from all over the Commonwealth?
Let’s see… There’s the famous case of Brit David Carruthers, the arrest a few weeks ago of Australia’s Daniel Tzvetkoff and the ongoing vendetta against Canadian Marc Emery. Now Canuck Douglas Rennick has entered a plea of guilty to processing gambling transactions for U.S. citizens.
Alternate theory: Perhaps the U.S. is still smarting from its loss to the Canucks in Olympic hockey and is simply trying to deplete the Canadian talent pool by attrition? Bit of a stretch, perhaps, but after all, they’ve tried everything else without success.
