Canadian Plastic

Canadian Actor John Candy: "What kind of plastic you carry?"

(CALGARY, Alberta) - In the 1987 movie Trains, Planes and Automobiles John Candy and Steve Martin end up yoked together in their attempt to get to Chicago just before Thanksgiving. Staying in the same room and the same bed, they are robbed by a small town burglar. When they discover they are broke they have this conversation in front of the hotel:

Candy: “What kind of plastic you carry?”

Martin: “Visa and a gasoline card. Oh, and I’ve got a Neiman Marcus card in case we want to buy a gift for someone. What have you got?”

John Candy: “Chalmer’s Big and Tall men’s shop. A seven outlet chain in the Pacific Northwest. Great stuff. Unfortunately, it does us no good here.”

Until recently the question, “what kind of plastic you carry?” was a question about the credit cards in your wallet.

In Canada, that is no longer the case. In June 2011, newly designed notes printed on a polymer substrate (plastic), as opposed to cotton fibre, were announced; the first of these polymer notes, the $100 bill, began circulation in November 2011, the $50 bill began circulation in March 2012, and the other denominations will follow before 2013.

So, by 2014, virtually every Canadian will be carrying some sort of plastic--cash or credit cards.

The twenty dollar bill is the most common, making up about half of all $1.6 billion Canadian bills in circulation. Each new bill costs 19 cents to make and, in addition to being harder to fake, will last two and a half times longer.

While the new money has an obviously different feel to it, it’s about the most secure money made. Since 2004, counterfeiting in Canada has fallen by 90%.

Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Daniel Johnson as a teenager aspired to be a writer. Always a voracious reader, he reads more books in a month than many people read in a lifetime. He also reads 100+ online articles per week. He knew early that in order to be a writer, you have to be a reader.

He has always been concerned about fairness in the world and the plight of the underprivileged/underdog.

As a professional writer he sold his first paid article in 1974 and, while employed at other jobs, started selling a few pieces in assorted places.

Over the next 15 years, Daniel eked out a living as a writer doing, among other things, national writing and both radio and TV broadcasting for the CBC, Maclean’s (the national newsmagazine) and a wide variety of smaller publications. Interweaved throughout this period was soul-killing corporate and public relations writing.

It was through the 1960s and 1970s that he got his university experience. In his first year at the University of Calgary, he majored in psychology/mathematics; in his second year he switched to physics/mathematics. He then learned of an independent study program at the University of Lethbridge where he attended the next two years, studying philosophy and economics. In the end he attended university over nine years (four full time) but never qualified for a degree because he didn't have the right number of courses in any particular field.

In 1990 he published his first (and so far, only) book: Practical History: A guide to Will and Ariel Durant’s “The Story of Civilization” (Polymath Press, Calgary)

Newly appointed as the Deputy Executive Editor in August 2011, he has been writing exclusively for Salem-News.com since March 2009 and, as of spring 2012, has published more than 190 stories.

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