Fear not, Canada will get through it

It’s enough to make you stock up on tinned meat and ammo, isn’t it?

One day it’s a prediction from CIBC gasoline will reach $2.25 a litre. The next it’s an urgent warning from the United Nations that the world is entering a period of soaring food prices.


And don’t forget the U.S. economy, which appears to be dropping off a cliff, a manufacturing recession, slumping real estate prices, climate change and the continuing turmoil and tension in the Middle East.

These are challenging times. The food crisis is real: Large numbers of people in developing countries are in dire straits. In Thailand the price of rice has reached $1,000 a tonne. India has curbed rice exports and Pakistan plans to follow suit.

Likewise, the energy crisis is real. Crude oil at $120 a barrel and above, let alone a predicted $200, will fundamentally change how we live. There’s a danger reduced travel could make us more insular. There’s a threat to global trade, and therefore to our collective prosperity.

All that said, let’s not panic. Society has undergone seismic shifts in the past. We have adapted. We will again.

Given $200-a-barrel oil, the 100-mile diet suddenly gets a lot more practical. Rail transport, on a massive scale, comes back into vogue. Hybrid cars shift from being a niche product, to being a mass-market one.

Backyard vegetable gardens are niche interests in Canada now. They weren’t always. In wartime most Canadian backyards had a little plot for growing potatoes and other staples. If food prices go high and stay high, these will become common once again.

Edmonton Sun