THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 5, 1995 TAG: 9511040018
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
Staff writer Bill Sizemore's story in the Business News section Wednesday answers the oft-asked question, ``Why are so many Oceanfront signs in both French and English?''
It notes that Virginia Beach attracts up to 200,000 Canadian visitors in a good year, 60 percent of them from French-speaking Quebec. In Virginia as a whole, 500,000 Canadians spent $57 million last year. Virginia exported $1 billion worth of goods to Canada in 1994.
Those are the kinds of friendly numbers that can cause a person to hum a few bars of ``O Canada!'' Suddenly we feel better about the two recent years that Toronto won the baseball World Series.
Sizemore's report further notes that the Hampton Roads economy dodged a bullet when Quebec citizens voted Monday not to secede from the Canadian federation. It was widely thought that a vote to secede would cause the Canadian dollar, now trading at about 75 U.S. cents, to drop to about 65 cents - making a vacation in America far more expensive for Canadians.
They are infamously low tippers but famously polite. They would be sorely missed if a drop in their dollar kept them home.
Often foreign affairs can seem murky, but it's clear Virginia benefited from the Quebec vote not to secede. May Canadian politicians find a way to heal old wounds and keep their great nation whole - and not just for Virginia's sake. by CNB