This is great (Score 1, Insightful)

This is nothing to worry about. Canada a police state? Canada is perhaps the most free country in the world. An identity simply provides a mechansim for the government to be relatively sure they are dealing with whom they think they are for online transactions -- much like you have to show some ID in some circumstances. No one has to use their digital ID if they don't want to engage in online transactions. For those interested in trying free digital ids, Thawte has a web of trust program for free x.509 certificates. I think they run the program as a loss leader -- they hope people will upgrade to paid-for certs.