HOUSTON – When Michael Reeves of Ports-to-Plains gives the grand finale of his presentation to the Rotary Club in Dumas, Texas, he shows Rotarians two pictures.
The first, of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez hugging Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Then, a Canadian Mountie and Alberta Premier Alison Redford, decked out for the Calgary Stampede.
Who, he asks, would America rather do business with?
"Not only does (Redford) have a big cowboy hat on but she has a big belt buckle. In Texas, a big belt buckle has credibility -- it means you've either won a stock show, a rodeo or a wrestling championship of some sort," he says.
The point, Reeves says, is it's more stable and secure for the U.S. to trade with Canada than to rely on crude from the Middle East or Venezuela.
