The Canadian Smoke Problem

It’s time we got serious about this Canadian smoke problem. Every summer it gets worse, to the point where in recent weeks the air quality over a large area of the United States has been almost as unhealthy as it was in the Barry family living room on any given Saturday night in the 1950s, when my parents hosted cocktail parties during which every single adult was always smoking at least one cigarette. (Some of them were smoking two cigarettes, having lost track after their fourth martini.)Let me begin by stressing that I don’t hold Canada personally responsible for the smoke. Granted, Canada has been responsible for some deeply troubling things, such as the 1974 song “(You’re) Having My Baby,” which was written by Paul Anka — a known Canadian — and which features these lyrics:The need inside you, I see it showin’Whoa the seed inside ya baby do ya feel it growin’?That is considered by most music experts to be the second-worst song couplet written in the entire Seventies, exceeded in…