My wife, Pat, says I never give her any idea of what I want for Christmas. I reply that each day we're together is a gift, and enjoying this special season with family and friends is all I could possibly wish for.
"Well then" she replies, "what are your Christmas wishes for Canada?" It's then that I know what this Christmas Eve column will be about. Here is my collection of wishes for 2008:
A stable Loonie
Our currency's rise from weakling to muscle builder makes iPods, foreign vacations and almost everything else cheaper. But the downside is devastating for exporters, including the auto and forest industries. It's not just the amount that our currency has risen against that of our major trading partner, but that the breathtaking rate of the rise makes adjustment difficult. I wish for a much-less volatile loonie in 2008.
An 'open for business'
Canada-U.S. border
The Scrooge-like case of U.S. border guards turning back a Canadian on his annual mission to sell Christmas trees in Manhattan is a symptom of a more-serious problem. International Trade Minister David Emerson recently highlighted the huge threat to Canada of the ever-increasing morass of border-security measures. Our country has been a big winner from the free flow of goods across the U.S. border - but it is also highly dependent upon that flow. The joint business/government North American Security and Prosperity Partnership talks are a crucial element in finding solutions. Part of the challenge will be to convince American lawmakers that Canada's borders are as secure as their own against terrorist threats. My wish for 2008 is for Ottawa and Washington to elevate these talks to the highest priority and recommit to the mutually beneficial relationship between two countries that have long enjoyed a unique friendship.
A Canadian common market
The past week brought news that the number of European Economic Union countries allowing unrestricted travel among them had risen to 24. For these fervently nationalistic countries to dismantle cross-border controls, the prize must be a large one indeed. It comes in the form of a more efficient, more productive and more powerful trading bloc. If restrictions to movement of goods and people between counties are destructive to prosperity, then imagine the economic loss when parts of the same country erect barriers. Yet, there are all sorts of barriers to the free movement of goods and workers between Canadian provinces. Alberta and British Columbia have taken a big step in the right direction through their bilateral TILMA initiative. My wish for 2008 is that provincial leaders realize that protectionism makes us all poorer.
Stable financial markets
Except for the problem with asset-backed commercial paper, Canada's financial markets have weathered the credit meltdown rather well. But, as sports fans know, it's not over till it's over. And, on a global scale, it's definitely not over. Financial markets have just ended the longest period of good news and strong returns in modern memory. To those who cautioned that all good things must end, the pundits replied that it really is different this time. Well, the pundits were right in one sense. Investors in a bull market have always worried about a stock market meltdown, but not about losing value in bond or money market funds. Now we learn that what we thought was the most secure part of our portfolios may be the most insecure, and that those higher-yield securities were a murky brew, including loans we wouldn't dream of making on our own. We learn that the big bonuses paid to those clever brewsters drove behaviour counter to investor interests. My wish is that these and other lessons drive a return to transparent, accountable debt markets where the winners are those investment dealers and fund managers who align their own rewards with those of investors.
A national securities
regulator
Canada's financial markets represent only 2 per cent of global trade, yet we have 13 securities regulators. Arguments against national securities regulation range from: "we need a regulator which understands the special needs of local businesses" to "we don't want Ontario to run everything." Some provinces have adopted an unwieldy "passport" system which supposedly prevents overlapping regulation. Contrast this with the unified securities regulation present in the much larger economies where Canadians compete for capital. My wish is that this symbol of Canadian parochialism be replaced by a national securities regulator in 2008.
I close with a more personal wish. I wish that all Canadians making up our rich religious and cultural mosaic feel empowered to celebrate their special times of year without apologizing to those who follow other traditions. Like many Canadians, my family treasures this time of year as special to us.
Merry Christmas.