They would not buy our passenger jet, or Avro Arrow, our MacGlaughlin Buick, etc.. but they buy our power and raw materials because they have to. Wood, copper, gold. We is hewers of wood and drawers of polluted water for the financial Paul Bunyan to the sud.
All of that is true. However, the thing that strikes me as
interesting is, that when I've travelled through Quebec
east of Montreal on the way to Quebec City, the highway
is lined with factories pumping out manufactured goods
made of wood -- furniture, windows, doors, prefab kitchen units.. .
You name it, if it can be made from wood, they're making
it there. And a lot of what they're making is heading due south.
Now, it may be debated that the "investment in self" came from
outside of La Belle Province -- but that really doesn't matter
all that much. The point is, somebody had enough brains and guts
to invest in a value-added way of selling wood harvested in
the Canadian forest.
The other thing that goes on there is anything made of
fibreglass and plastics -- PVC windows, travel trailers,
and all kinds of products. Probably being made with
Canadian petrochemicals.
Around 2000, we had some friends over from Amsterdam.
They run a house renovation contracting company there.
They were much impressed by the Bonneville windows
that I was installing in my place at the time. They
said that there was *nothing* comparable being sold
in Europe at that time. In fact, they dropped in at
the store where I ordered these and picked up brochures
to see if they could find a way of importing them.
Missing opportunities? Yeah, I think so.
What other value-added products made from
Canadian resources could we be selling overseas?
~croc |
