T(r)olls

I remember while on vacation in Nepal, at various points around the country you would encounter (often makeshift) roadblocks, at which a toll would be demanded, sometimes by the government, sometimes not.

I was reminded of those tolls by this story in the Globe and Mail about the Government considering a purchase of the privately owned Ambassador Bridge (one of the busiest border crossings in the world). In Nepal, the tolls were demanded basically at gunpoint, although the guns were usually implicit (often only a 'voluntary donation' was asked for), albeit not quite as implicit as they are here at home.