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To: tyc:> who wrote (52843)	11/13/2007 2:47:12 PM
From: roto	Respond to of 78405

$ works both ways. ft.com maybe we will get EC's picture of someplace south of the 49th loosening up on the Loonies. found out problem with my FT..had to add the wordage> Canadians find dollar goes further in US Published: November 2 2007 21:29 \| Last updated: November 2 2007 21:29 Florida’s tourism agency will bombard Canadians with radio ads in the next few weeks suggesting they sign an online petition to turn the Sunshine state into Canada’s 11th province. The tongue-in-cheek campaign is one of a lengthening list of initiatives by Americans aiming to cash in on their northern neighbours’ soaring currency and booming economy. The Canadian dollar on Friday hit record highs against the US currency after surging above parity in September (see box), and the federal government stoked the economy further this week with an array of tax cuts. Fanned by oil, gold and other commodities, the Toronto stock exchange is closing in on a record high. “This is about as good as it gets” for Canadian banks seeking acquisitions in the US, says Ed Clark, chief executive of Toronto-Dominion Bank, which is in the midst of paying US$8.6bn (£4.1bn, €5.9bn) for New Jersey-based Commerce Bank. He cites the strong currency, as well as the banks’ high stock-market valuations and sturdy capital compared with their US counterparts. Besides the banks, Canadian shoppers, tourists and businesses are also being pulled southward. “They’re getting tremendous value here,” says Christopher Heywood, an official at NYC & Company, New York’s marketing and tourism agency, which plans to set up an office in Toronto soon. Canadians already make up the second-biggest group of foreign visitors to New York, after the British. The city is encouraging more to drive down so that, in Mr Heywood’s words, “they will leave, hopefully, with carloads of shopping bags”. Canada’s pull is strongest in communities close to the border. The National Football League’s Buffalo Bills have proposed playing at least one “home” game a year in Toronto, a two-hour drive from the team’s usual base in Buffalo, New York. The team sees expansion into?heavily populated southern Ontario as the best way of drawing bigger crowds and improving its finances. Canadians already make up more than 10 per cent of its season-ticket holders. WNED, Buffalo’s non-profit public broadcasting station, is also increasingly looking north. With almost three-quarters of its subscribers across the border, “the strength of the Canadian dollar enables us to continue what we’re doing, and to expand”, says Ron Santora, vice-president for broadcasting. WNED opened a small studio in Toronto last year. Across the continent, Pete Kremen, county executive for Whatcom County, Washington, says Canadian interest in the area is picking up after a long lull. Whatcom adjoins the border, a short drive from Vancouver. Canadians are buying more properties in the county and Canadian distributors have set up satellite offices to service their US customers. Shoppers are flocking to the Bellisfair Mall in Bellingham, the county’s main city. Tighter border controls since September 2001 have become as big a concern for Whatcom businesses as for those north of the border. “We’re spending more time on [border issues] because our members want us to,” says Ken Oplinger, president of the local chamber of commerce and industry. Mr Oplinger was in Washington DC this week to drive home the message to federal politicians and officials. Whatcom is banking on another boost when the 2010 Winter Olympics are held in Vancouver and the nearby ski resort of Whistler. Many Americans decided to settle in the area in the years following the 1986 World Expo in Vancouver after driving through on their way there. Similarly, predicts Mr Oplinger, “the big benefit is going to be in the year or two after the Olympics”. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007