It's only to be expected, now that Colby Cosh has a column in the National Post (congratulations are in order) that he's degenerated into publishing half-truths. But don't take them personally.

Colby writes, on the subject of Canadian-American differences:

One of these institutions, of course, being tolerance of the laws and habits of the French enclave within Canada--a tolerance that was Intolerable to the American founders.

It's true that when Parliament passed the Quebec Act, hard on the heels of the punishment package known to England as the Coercive Acts (passed in retaliation for the Boston Tea Party), the Quebec Act was not intended as a punishment. Rather, the Quebec Act addressed the British difficulties in ruling the territory of Quebec won in the French and Indian War (1753-1763). And it's true that, notwithstanding Parliament's intention, the Quebec Act considered "Intolerable" by Americans.

But this was not because the Americans were small-minded boors opposed to the broad-minded tolerance shown by the British masters of Quebec. At least, not merely because of that.

It may have had something to do with the land grab, where Parliament defined Quebec as everything extending south to the Ohio River. That would include the territory of present-day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, land which was part of claims by several American colonies.

It may have had something to do with the imposition on Quebec of a governing and legislative council appointed by the crown.

It may even have had something to do with the queer religion of the majority of Quebec residents. The Quebec Act guaranteed

free Exercise of the Religion of the Church of Rome, subject to the King's Supremacy, declared and established by an Act made in the First Year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth

which is to say, subject to a declaration of loyalty to the crown. I presume that this was consistent with then-current law in Maryland, the American colony founded by Catholics.

It's telling to note that two of the things those intolerant Americans did when writing their Constitution were first, to prohibit religious tests (Article VI Section 3: but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States) and second, to extend the right to bear arms even to non-Protestants. (Compare the English Bill of Rights, 1689: That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law)