Subject: Re: OT: Canada
Speaking of fraught relationships north and south of the 49th parallel...

I am visiting Canada at the moment and popped into a liquor store. In Ontario this means the LCBO, Liquor Control Board of Ontario. This might sound obscure, but it's not: they are the monopoly importer and buyer of all alcoholic beverages for over 16 million people, so they are the largest single buyer of booze in the world. Virtually all producers of any size anywhere in the world have a special production run for the LCBO as they have traditionally (and unreasonably) required that their six-digit stock number be pre-printed on labels. Not sure if that's still true, I hope not.

Now, some Canadians and Canadian politicians were not very keen on the idea of being involuntarily annexed by a neighbouring country, so I had heard that the LCBO took all US alcohol off the shelves a while back on the orders of the provincial government. But to see it in person was quite interesting. Rather than the bare shelves (perhaps with tiny Canadian flags) that I had expected, the US wines section is simply gone. The section signs are gone, and the stock has been rearranged, and new shelves and coolers are in that place that are fitted and match the rest of the place seamlessly. It's as if the US had never existed. Everybody going about their business, nobody commenting, just the new normal.

That's all simple to say, but it was almost science-fictionish to see it in person. Reminds me of the book "Finity" by John Barnes, wherein the US and pretty much all memory of it vanishes. (off topic, but an excellent book).

Most of my friends are foregoing US products, and one of them mentioned that when they stopped and thought about it, there wasn't actually any American consumer product that they really wanted. The US strengths and resilience are more in the hidden things without branding, like turbines. This has investing implications.

Jim