The United States has a strategic oil reserve that is buried in underground salt caves to meet a national emergency. One province in our neighbor to the north has what some might consider an equally if not more important strategic reserve. It has been hit with a serious setback.
The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers reports that thieves have made off with more than a million gallons of syrup from their stockpile. That is nearly a one quarter of the reserve and is worth almost $30 million.
Canada produces almost 75% of the world’s maple syrup, which makes it, apparently, a serious situation. Who were the thieves? The National Review muses, with tongue firmly in cheek, that it might be Quebec’s separatist Parti Quebecois seeking the upper hand, possibly by causing a spike in the cost of pancake breakfasts and thus creating an internatioal crisis. The Atlantic, however, suspect these guys:
It is reported that the Mounties are on it.
