As you might imagine, when I travel I especially enjoy reading local newspapers.

Maybe it's because I don't have to worry about the journalistic problems I see, or maybe it's that I can enjoy the human circus more when I'm not directly involved in covering it.

I thought a few articles I encountered on a recent trip to visit my family in Canada would give you a perspective that we don't always hear south of the border. Anti-Americanism seemed to be commonplace.

Take the first bizarre story I ran into, the resignation of a British Columbia Cabinet minister over an e-mail response he sent to a constituent who runs a gun club. Maarten Hart wrote Bill Bennett, minister of mines in the Liberal government, accusing him of favoring big-money game outfitters over ordinary hunters, according to The Vancouver Sun. Hart said Bennett's party "bows to the almighty dollar and faces east three times each day (not to Mecca, but to Wall Street.)"

Bennett, the Sun reported, called Hart "dumb" for not knowing who his friends are, labeled him an "American spy" and said: "Let me be very direct with you, as you were with me. It is my understanding that you are an American, so I don't give a s--- what your opinion is on Canada."

The Sun's editorial on the matter didn't address the substance of Bennett's e-mail, instead focusing on what Emily Post might have advised: "Think before you hit the send button."

Maybe it took that approach because it was so obvious that Bennett was way over the line. But it also struck me that perhaps there are some groups that are more acceptable than others to denigrate in Canada - Americans, for one.

Meanwhile, the same newspaper had a news story that might have made its readers feel good about themselves: "Canadians among world's least bigoted," was the headline.

It reported on a survey of attitudes toward Muslims, Jews, homosexuals or persons of another race.

The day after the survey was published, one of the Sun's columnists gave a good indication of how Canadians compare themselves with Americans in such matters.

"Americans are almost twice as likely as Canadians to not want Muslims in the neighborhood," wrote Daphne Branham. "But even Americans (emphasis added) are more tolerant than Greeks, Norwegians, Belgians and Finns - one in five of whom don't want Muslims next door."

Her writing apparently didn't even raise an eyebrow with her editors. As a columnist she is given much greater license, but still, why would "even" belong in that sentence unless you and your editors looked down on Americans?

At best, hers represents an attitude prevalent in Canada of pride over what makes the country unique, mainly things that make it different from the USA. That's what I'd like to think. After all, the two nations have so much in common. But, at worst, it represents a smug sense of superiority toward Canada's neighbors to the south - us.

That smugness may not always be deserved. Buried in the bigotry survey story was background about a recent event that might contradict its sunny headline. The town of Herouxville in Quebec adopted a code of conduct that denigrated the wearing of veils, vegetarianism and such cultural practices as arranged marriages. Toronto's Globe & Mail reported "several other small municipalities have already followed its example."

To the credit of the Globe's editorial page, its writers denounced the code head-on as "an attack on freedom of religion and conscience."

My brother tells me I'm over-sensitive to this Canadian bias. But the way I see it, the attitude is not part of my everyday life so it really stands out when I run into it.

Of course, Canadians' feelings can't be simply characterized. Take this screaming, two line, all-capital-letter banner headline on the front page of the Sun: "California model for Campbell's green plan." The story previewed the equivalent of our State of the State address by British Columbia's premier.

In this case, following the Terminator's lead on global warming was clearly seen as OK by the paper, even laudatory. But by this time I had to ask whether that's because maybe they don't consider him really an American.

That's when I knew it was time to say "Hasta la vista, baby."

At least until the next time I visit my family and the land where I grew up.

John Temple can be reached at editor@RockyMountainNews.com or by mail at 101 W. Colfax, Suite 500, Denver, CO 80202.