Uncandid Canada

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Yet the harder Canadian officials struggle to hold back the tide, the more ridiculous the battle seems. "People are only talking about Teale because of the ban," says Bob Levin, an American journalist who is an assistant managing editor at the Toronto newsweekly MacLean's. "The ban has backfired." Some Canadian journalists think a review of such restrictions is long overdue. Jim Coyle of the Ottawa Citizen says the ban is "based on the insulting assumption that the public is a pack of morons who would be irretrievably tainted should they know certain facts."

But many Canadians point to differences between the two court systems. Brian Greenspan of the Canadian Council of Criminal Defense Lawyers observes that Canadian lawyers cannot vet prospective jurors as rigorously as U.S. attorneys, "so we tend to be more concerned about what people know."

Several news organizations plan to appeal the ban on Jan. 31. Meanwhile, Canadians will have to wait to learn the extent of Teale's alleged depravities -- or stay tuned to points south.