Yes, that about sums it up.

I don’t know whether our laws reflect more naivete or hypocrisy, but they are fascinating.

Also, there was a time some years ago I actually had to walk with a cane for a couple years. I could have stood and even walked without, but it was a stability and pain reducing tool.

In winter, it needed the flip down attachment that grips icy sidewalks. Pointy. I kept it on and flipped up all year.

I guess that’s the mindset needed for Canada.

I admit, I’d feel weird carrying the thing around now when not necessary. But one can get those canes that fold up and pop together quickly. Interesting.

You are corrrect, you can use anything including a firearm to defend yourself in Canada, but can’t “prepare” to do so.

Hence you carry pepper spray against “dogs” or “coyotes” you may encounter while walking or jogging, and the big D cell Maglite flashlight in the door pocket of your car is for finding house numbers or if you get a flat at night.

Since you happen to have these items with you for perfectly legitimate reasons, it would therefore be perfectly legal to, for example, use the flashlight as an impact weapon if caught up in a road rage incident…….

Likewise, having a cane with you for the occasional flare up of your trick knee is also perfectly legitimate. There are some excellent youtube videos showing easy self defence techniques using a cane or walking stick, and even better, you can carry one on a plane.

It’s all in the interpretation. And if you use deadly force you will be charged with a crime and it’ll have to be adjudicated.

Among other things, a Canadian on Quora caught my eye with phrasing that noted that Canadian law takes account of a lot of factors including whether or not a weapon was used by the defender and whether that weapon was something that could only have been carried for personal defence against a human, which is illegal. The writer summed up by suggesting that this factor could be described as “whether the defender was prepared for the attack” and notes that Canadian law “does not allow a Canadian citizen to be prepared for an attack in any way”, except generally by training in unarmed combat/martial arts.

It’s rather a survival charter for the young and fit. The rest of us would more likely be thrown on the offender’s tender mercies.

If Canadian cities weren’t rather safe by any standard, I’d be more concerned.

This is good advice for blacks, too. Blacks are the main victims of black gangs.

The second rule is carry a gun you can operate. Get a permit. Get training. Practice.

The third rule is to get out of the city, any city. There are plenty of peaceful, white, rural communities. You don’t have to become Amish.