So, Canada’s largest book retail chain, which by the way pratically owned a monopoly before it failed to eject Amazon.ca from its home turf, has effectively decided to ban Mark Steyn’s latest book, America Alone. You can check their site and it indeed indicates “Temporarily Unavailable to Order” and the number ‘0’ comes up a little too frequently when you try to figure out its in-store availability in a number of locations.

Suppression of free speech? Or is Heather Reisman, the chain's proprietor, exercising her basic right to economic freedom and store her shelves selectively? Sure, there is no law compelling her to put Steyn there, but her moral obligation as Canada’s largest book retailer to do so with any current bestseller in North America is obvious. Her actions fall exactly into what I yesterday called the ‘sophistication and stealth’ with which ‘debates are framed’. Few will notice it and even fewer will probably attempt to use regular media outlets to openly challenge the retail polices at Indigo-Chapters. It is hard to have a decent and informed debate when its boundaries are arbitrarily set by self-appointed media elites.

The chain’s mean-spirited attempts to ban Amazon from the Canadian market are testament to Reisman’s dated view of the new media world and her inability to artificially insulate Canada from it. The latest chapter - no pun intended - is evidence that nothing has really changed at her own Indigo-Chapters book empire.

Steyn, the cultural pessimist is however the optimist when he looks at the attempts to suppress him: it may yet sell him more books. You can order the book here, in Canada here and of course in Steyn's own little bookshop. Enjoy.

NOTE: John Hawkins has excerpted the most salient quotes from the book, here. I will, once I have read it, add my review in due course.

RELATED: There was a time when we had high hopes for Reisman ... but even then, skepticism ruled the day.