Go West Young Man

Nov 2, 2007
I woke up this morning to a Canadian dollar, jobless rate, oil price, and gold price that have all flirted with all time records. The pace of Canadian currency ascent has absolutely shocked all. Recruiters are holding seminars in Toronto encouraging folks hit by the manufacturing sector to jump on the commodity boom and go west while shoppers boycott stores reluctant to match U.S prices. Suddenly, Canada is becoming something more of an economic footnote with expertise, capital markets, and reserves of energy and materials available for exploitation. Governments appear prudent and reliable notwithstanding some peculiar posturing on non-economic matters. Indeed, it’s a different kind of environment from the recession of 81-82 (my senior high school year). Young workers are walking from job to job nowadays with ever increasing rates of pay in the industrial parks of Calgary. Brand new commercial condo bays are under development in the vast city outskirts as are office towers downtown (twelve in all). Good luck finding parking in the cities’ core. Apparently, it’s among the richest parking spaces in North America. Last week’s news of a royalty rate increase in the oil patch is all but forgotten in lieu of awe inspiring economic indicators.