We were two hours into our second day of the annual spring cleanup in Tsawwassen when my companion noticed the change.
“There’s no convoy,” she remarked, as she turned her pickup truck into a neighbourhood of nice homes, looking for “good junk” that is usable – as opposed what she describes as “junk junk.”
Usually by day two, there would be line-ups of trucks and cars queuing up along the streets, looking for the good stuff.
For those who don’t know, Delta’s spring cleanup is an annual thing, a mass recycling event where everything from furniture to clothing and books to electronics is left on the curb a few days before the waste pickup people come by and haul anything unclaimed to the dump.
Through the years, rules of engagement have evolved, where you wait for someone to finish looking through things at a particular curbside location before picking through it yourself. Manners matter.
As many as three or four vehicles will end up in convoys, lined up to look over an especially appealing pile.
This year, there weren’t as many vehicles, and the piles were smaller, with more “junk junk,” which, while totally allowed, was still annoying.
It appears some people were waiting longer to replace their stuff, which means there was less to leave by the side of the road – and what was there, was generally older.
Unlike previous cleanups, there were almost no flat-screen TVs with notes saying “it works” left curbside, but plenty of books and older furniture could be seen.
Likely, the change was the knock-on effect of events some 10,550 to 10,615 kilometres away from South Delta, in Tehran, Iran, where the Strait of Hormuz was shut down as a result of the war with the U.S. and Israel.
People are dying on all sides of the conflict, so Canadians can consider ourselves lucky that the impact here has been primarily financial.
As a result of the war, the world price of oil soared, taking fuel prices with it.
At its high so far, more than $100 a barrel for the benchmark Brent crude trading classification worked out to more than $2 a litre at the pump and more expense during spring cleanup tours.
Tsawwassen happens to bump up against the U.S. border and the tiny Washington State community of Point Roberts, a place where a line-up of gas stations is waiting to serve fuel at below-Canadian rates.
Before the U.S.-Canada trade war, long lineups, especially on a weekend, were common, with drivers snaking their way up 56 Street to U.S. customs to cross over for cheap gas and maybe some U.S. grocery products and wine that aren’t available north of the line.
That was before the trade war and talk of making Canada the 51st state.
On a day when rising gas prices might be expected to lure more Canadians across the border to save on gas, cars making the crossing appeared few and far between.
That’s the things about international politics: often, there is a local impact.
If you’re fortunate, it isn’t anything more than inconvenience: reducing travel to conserve gas, changing holiday travel plans, checking labels on imported grocery items, or waiting a little longer to upgrade stuff.