September 15th, 2007
The Canadian dollar, after many years trading as low as 62 cents on the American dollar, has now reached a point of near-parity: closing just above 97 cents yesterday.
In an article in the Globe and Mail, BMO Nesbitt Burns deputy chief economist Douglas Porter said “The latest run in the Loonie has been fuelled by $80 oil, $700 gold and $9 wheat,†Mr. Porter said. “Aside from lumber, newsprint and Celine Dion, practically everything Canada produces is now in piping hot demand.†(The “Loonie†is a Canadianism for the dollar itself, as Canada offers single dollars in the form of a gold-colored, bronze-plated coin bearing the image of the Loon, a bird strongly and romantically associated with Canada’s northern wilderness.)
Note that lumber and newsprint are among the few commodities not thriving, suffering in Canada as they are worldwide. Mr. Porter might also have mentioned that Canadian printing exports have dropped drastically in the last several years, victim both to the rapidly changing exchange rates and to increased competition from offshore, primarily China.
This site is not primarily concerned with world macro-economic issues. But the fundamental strength of the Canadian dollar, as much as it may cheer some nationalists and politicians, is not a boon to the future of printing and publishing in Canada.