Canada is a trading nation. In 2023, Canada's exports totalled $965.1 billion. The world wants to buy our goods and services. This will not change simply because we switch to a new currency. The introduction of the Euro did not prevent any of the Euro countries from trading internationally. The disappearance of the German mark did not disrupt Germany's ability to trade. Foreign nations will still want to buy our goods and services. Our selling prices will simply be expressed using a different currency. Foreign exchange rates will adjust. Life will go on.
The greatest weakness that Canada has had up to now is that it has always been dependent on foreign capital for investment. No longer will that be the case. With a labour-based currency, our own public capital will be created automatically by our people going to work. Foreigners will no longer decide what industries we should operate, or what goods we should manufacture. Canadians will be free to make these decisions for themselves. Canada could once again become a manufacturing nation, a world-class producer of high-value durable goods, equipment and machinery. Canada could once again strive towards economic independence, instead of merely submitting to the commands of the financial predators who now control the economies of the entire globe.
As to the value of the Canadian hour, this is an entirely separate issue. Of course, international currency traders and financial speculators will not like what Canada is doing. To them, profit and interest are the bread of life. Yes they will try to punish us by lowering the exchange rate of the Canadian hour. Historically, counterfeiting has been the technique of choice (with American greenbacks, German marks, etc.) to destabilize a currency. If you read the Credit page on this web site you will understand why that technique won't work with the hour-based currency we propose.
However, in today's complex, speculative financial trading jungle, there may be ways to manipulate the value of the Canadian hour on international markets. If this were to occur, Canada would have to insist on pricing its exports in the currencies of its trading partners. Many companies in Canada already price their exports in American dollars. Foreigners wishing to purchase Canadian exports would continue to pay current world prices, thereby establishing the corresponding current exchange value of an hour of Canadian productivity in a particular industry-specific sector. Using world commodity prices, and the exchange rates of its trading partners, Canada could acquire the foreign currencies that it needs to continue trading fairly on world markets. The need for such defensive techniques would be short-lived however, for the citizens of the world would quickly recognize that the Canadian experiment had brought such relief to the people of Canada, that they would demand similar changes from their own governments.
