This January, the dropping Canadian dollar has been dominating the news.
It seems poised to continue to do both (make the news and drop) into the next few months of the new year.
So what does it all mean when it comes down to it here in Cowichan?
For those travelling outside of the country, it sucks. There’s really no other word for it.
The Euro and the American dollar are both considerably higher, which means we don’t get much for our money overseas, or south of the border — two favourite destinations.
But there are undeniably opportunities as well.
More budget-conscious Canadians may take the opportunity to look at what’s available for them here at home. Hopping over the border for shopping doesn’t look so tempting anymore.
And tourists from other places face the opposite of what Canadian travellers do in terms of value for their money. Tourism is big here on Vancouver Island and in Cowichan and we can really benefit from those extra bodies.
There is also an opportunity for our farmers.
We’ve been hearing dire warnings about the future price of various fruits and vegetables with California in the midst of a multi-year drought.
Now the rubber is meeting the road, with the advent of double-digit prices for a head of cauliflower.
The prices being charged by our local small farmers suddenly don’t look out of the way at all anymore. And there are all the other benefits of buying fresh, local food as well.
In fact, our low dollar creates a great reason to buy local on a lot of levels.
Maybe we’ll even start to make a few things here again.
So far, manufacturing has not ticked up like many hoped it would to help offset some of the pain being felt in the resource industries like oil and gas and mining. We’d really like to see some growth happening there, as relying on natural resource industries — usually the selling of non-renewable resources — is never a long-term plan for a sustainable economy.
So let’s think local, and sustainable.