While the Country Music Capital of Canada push seems to have fallen on deaf ears for some in this town, the residents of Salt Spring and Squamish have come up with something that might work well in Merritt.

Imagine walking into a downtown merchant shop with a fistful of “moonies” and a burning desire to purchase the latest gadget, gizmo, or service.

The moonies, or some other more desirable name for a local Merritt currency, would be designed to only be used in Merritt, in order to create a sense of pride, to round out more of an identity in the town, and to perhaps provide tourists with a little featherweight souvenir to go back with when they return home. On Salt Spring Island, a B.C. community with an already established local currency, tourists reportedly keep with them up to 30 per cent of the bills printed.

Sound far fetched?

The concept could involve some community group printing out currency paper, designed by one or more local artists, and making it available for purchase. The money could only be spent in town and could be traded in for Canadian currency at any bank in town willing to participate.

The concept is not only perfectly legal, but it also apparently revives community spirit.

The Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation (SSIMF) says their local currency helps in two ways: by having a local currency that attracts world-wide attention to the island and its artists, and locals get to enjoy keeping their business local. It says that tourists also “love” to make purchases using the local bucks.

Additionally, the SSIMF system involves a trust fund that earns interest on the Canadian dollar, and reaps the benefits of increases in the market value of both gold and silver holdings—unlike common fractional reserve banking practices, which have little if any metal backings.

Interest earned through the trust fund helps to offset operating costs and is used to fund local projects on Salt Spring Island.
It sounds like not such a bad idea to me, and it might just retain its value should the Canadian dollar ever collapse along with the U.S. greenback.

Of course, it would be a challenge to prevent counterfeiting, and it would take some careful persuasion to get businesses to agree to accept the currency.

Regardless, it would probably encourage people to spend locally and it would be yet another promising attempt to bolster tourism. And who knows, it may end up instilling some kind of identity in the town.

Squamish's Business Improvement Association president Eric Armour said, in an interview with the Squamish Chief, that the idea is a “no brainer,” and that it's going to be set up in a way that's easy to use so that one could exchange it at different banks, “so it's not a burden on the retailer.”

—John O'Connor