I am looking forward to a month inn Avocado country, Mexico to be exact. While the sea and the sun have health benefits, so does the leisure and the extensive time spent with friends. I do wonder if I need to wear my citizenship (Canadian) on my hat or sleeve.
The reason: the president of the U.S.A. and his army will have been returning undocumented Mexican immigrants to the U.S. I remember the last time Trump was in power, Americans were disdained in Mexico, one neighbour in a small hotel wore a Canadian hockey team’s hat as a disguise of his American citizenship.
In the recent past, we have been called the “Mexicans of the North” usually by Americans i.e. U.S. citizens. Now we are cheekily or maliciously called the 51st state of the U.S. by this same president.
I like to think that Canadians will not want to export large wholesale amounts of water to the U.S. via big diversions. We already have a water management treaty (Columbia River Treaty) in B.C. and there are other water storage and sharing with rivers originating in Canada and flowing South Across the border.
I argue that any consideration of sharing of water needs to presuppose that it would be a last resort after conservation and efficiency measures are undertaken on farms, ranches and in local governments. Fortunately, most water runs north in Canada. The rivers that run south have various conservation and management agreements of some kind.
We may soon know if the flow of goods and resources are going to have tariffs placed on them. I raise the topic of cattle crossing the border alive or dead. The U.S. already buys huge numbers of cattle because with the difference in the Canadian and US dollar, cattle in Canada are a bargain.
A 25 per cent tariff would significantly raise the price to U.S. buyers. Cattlemen on both sides of the border have for the most part been “free traders," but such unilateral actions would depress our market prices.
A recent cursory examination of costs and revenues on ranches indicate that at current “record high” prices, ranchers might just be covering all their cash costs, paying themselves a wage, covering depreciation, making mortgage payments, and covering opportunity costs (what earning there might be if the value of the ranch was invested in something like savings bonds).
The legacy of ranching has been in the value of the ranch with its attendant assets such as water and access to open range. All considered, then, there is a return on the investments in assets, especially if one sells the land.
If one is buying land, it probably will be that at least one family member will need to work off the place. If may have been “ever thus”, as the saying goes. On our holiday we will think about these things, but not worry. Fortunately, we have a good succession plan in place and it is being rolled out.
