CALGARY, AB, May 16, 2011/ Troy Media/ – Anyone over the age of 30 will remember how a trip to the United States was once a painful experience for the wallet. Think back to how often the Canadian dollar was low relative to the U.S. currency. For much of the 1980s and 1990s, the Canadian buck often traded at a substantial discount to its American counterpart. The all-time low came in the new millennium. In early 2002, one Canadian dollar could buy just 62-and-a-half American cents.

Our currency has been better off as of late. One reason is our relatively more prudent federal budgets since the mid-1990s. (I say only relative because budgets are still stuffed with unnecessary and wasteful spending). It also helps we had no banking crisis, have better control of our debt, and Canada’s natural resources are highly sought after. The loonie hit an all-time high in November 2007, at U.S. $1.10, or now as I write, about U.S.$1.04.

U.S. trip more pleasant now

Shopping and vacationing south of the border is far more pleasant when it comes to cost for Canadians but the caveat is that such bliss only lasts until you return to the border.

That is when the long line-ups and eventual interrogations over how many bottles of beer and other purchases begin. Free trade at the macro-level between Canada and the United States began officially in 1989 but, 22 years later, consumers at the border still get hassled on the smallest of purchases.

For Canadians, any time we cross the 49th parallel and return within 24 hours, we can be dinged for duties and taxes right away because the federal government has no exemption for short visits, unlike Americans who, in the first two days, can buy and bring back $200 worth of Canadian goods before they must hand over their credit card to U.S. customs. Over two days, the exemption is $800.

It’s a different border experience for us. Not only do Canadians get hit with duties and taxes on same-day trips, we’re also subject to lower exemption limits on longer stints abroad. After one day, our “exemption” at the border is a mere $50; between two and seven days, Canadians can bring back $400 worth of goods before the customs cash register begins to ring.

After one week, Canadians have a $750 exemption on most goods. (The exception, as always, is for beer, wine and spirits where different rules apply; Ottawa and the provinces insist on their pound of tax and duty flesh for anything beyond a few bottles of wine and slightly more beer.)

Even American policymakers have noticed how badly Canadians are treated on these miserly exemptions. When I last wrote on this in January, I suggested both the U.S. and Canadian governments stop hassling shoppers for total purchases of less than $1,000. (It would be nice to have an unlimited exemption but perhaps we should expect the government to start with baby steps.) Moreover, that tax-and-duty free amount should apply regardless of the time spent abroad.

In a wonderful coincidence, someone down south was already thinking the same thing.

Two American politicians, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressman Bill Owens wrote federal Finance minister Jim Flaherty last July requesting a $1,000 exemption for consumers on both side of the border.

Gillibrand and Owens promise to press the U.S. government to let visiting Americans buy $1,000 worth of Canadian “stuff” duty and tax-free if Ottawa does the same for Canadians. But the hold-up is Flaherty, who resists and cites “competitiveness issues.”

That’s weak. Two decades after Ottawa and Washington signed a free trade agreement, it’s long overdue to bring consumers directly in on the deal. Ottawa can start by not engaging in penny-pinching border protectionism. Canadian retailers can and will survive and compete. It’s not as if they didn’t benefit from American shoppers when the Canadian dollar was low.

End the protectionism

It’s always a bad idea for governments to dampen trade by getting protectionist with consumers via pesky and chintzy border exemptions. It’s a tad ironic the best advocates for Canadian consumers are two American politicians and not Canada’s own federal finance minister. Conservatives in Ottawa preach competition and free trade around the world; they might step up to the policy plate at home and respond positively to the American overture.

There’s one last and not inconsequential angle to all this: border security. The point of border guards in 2011, on both sides of the 49th parallel, should be to focus on threats to both countries, and not on my 80-year-old mother’s minor purchases in Bellingham. Or someone’s six-pack.

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The Department of Finance announced today that Canada’s official international reserves increased by an amount equivalent to US$2,412 million during April to US$63,018 million.

Details on the level and composition of Canada’s reserves as of April 29, 2011, as well as the major factors underlying the change in reserves, are provided below. All figures are in millions of US dollars unless otherwise noted.

During a visit to Washington, D.C., the Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today highlighted Canada’s economic advantages and future fiscal plans at a Council of the Americas conference and in meetings with high-ranking Congressional leaders.

“Canada had a number of advantages going into the global economic crisis that helped our country recover better than most,” said Minister Flaherty. “Canada is the only G-7 country to have fully recouped both output and employment losses experienced during the recession. Now that the economic recovery is strengthening, our Government’s economic focus is shifting from protecting jobs and output through temporary direct stimulus, to creating the right conditions for greater long-term jobs and economic growth while at the same time steadily eliminating the deficit. We have taken significant measures to make Canada a better place to do business, and we will continue to enhance our international competitiveness.”

While in Washington, Minister Flaherty met with Senator Jeff Sessions, the Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, Representative Spencer Bachus, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Representative Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Budget Committee. The Minister also participated in a luncheon roundtable hosted by Ambassador Gary Doer on the U.S. fiscal situation and outlook.

During his appearance at the 41^st Washington Conference on the Americas, Minister Flaherty highlighted a number of measures the Government of Canada has taken to promote long-term economic growth, including lower taxes, the elimination of import tariffs on manufacturing inputs and machinery and equipment, historic investments in public infrastructure, increased support for research and an ambitious free trade agenda. The Minister also met with Luis Alberto Moreno, the President of the Inter-American Development Bank.