reality cheque

The excellent people of Tennessee Guerilla Women have honoured me (and some other Canadian bloggers) with a visit. They have a question, which I am turning over to you.

Back before I moved, when this blog was a lightning rod for wingnuts, friends of wmtc heard a lot of myths and misperceptions lies about Canada. I'm not talking igloos and dogsleds here.

You may recall the nut-bar who said it's illegal to disparage the Queen - and if you do, the Mounties will knock on your door in the middle of the night and haul your ass to the prison. (Projection, anyone?)

I was told my children would be forced to speak French (poor Cody, she barely speaks English!), and I'd be forced to submit to sharia law - that is, if I didn't die first, while waiting for medical treatment.

The Tennessee feminists have unearthed another claim, and I can't say whether or not it's true.

When the events that eventually came to be known as the Sponsorship Scandal first occurred, was there a media blackout?

You know I don't need convincing that the Canadian media is heads and shoulders better than the US media. Relative to the US, media in Canada is more free of government interference, less biased, reports with more context, and represents more points of view. (Not as much as we'd all like to see, perhaps, but way better than the US.) Anyone who holds up the media as an example of the US's "freedom" and "liberty" is beyond misinformed - they're insane.

However, I want to get my facts straight. Was there a media blackout, and if so, why?

UPDATE: We've been quoted. Wmtc readers are the best.