Now I know it's unfashionable to refer to colonialism in anything other than negative terms. And certainly, no part of the world is unscarred by the excesses of empires. But in the Canadian context, the actions of the British Empire were largely benign and occasionally brilliant... This genius for governance shown by the mother country at the time no doubt explains in part why Canada's path to independence was so long, patient and peaceful.

Address to the Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce July 14, 2006 http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=2&id=1247 : On Canada - 2005-09