What is going on?
Who would have thought we'd see the Loonie approaching par with the American dollar when it was as recent as January 2002 when the Canuck Buck reached an all-time low of US$0.6192. How many of you, like myself, were left muttering and cursing under our breath as we went to the bank to get some US cash for a trip south?
When I think of how much money I lost just so I could enjoy some time away from the winter cold and snow in Canada, I almost shed tears.
The last time the Canadian loonie was actually worth more than the dollar of our southern neighbours was 1976 and the highest it reached was US$1.0614 in 1957. The Canadian dollar fell considerably after 1960, and this contributed to Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's defeat in the 1963 election.
The question now is will we actually get back to even par or better? Depending on who you talk or listen to, the answer is "yes" and it could happen as early as late summer. I guess we'll just have to wait to see.Of course this is happy news for those of us who vacation south of the border but for certain industries and business folks I'm sure it could pose a problem. And lets not forget tourism. I'm sure there will be fewer Americans making the trip north this summer to holiday.
Now my brother, although born Canadian, is now a U.S. Citizen and after several conversations with him regarding his impending trip back home this summer is none too pleased with this turn of events. He can't...no wait..., he refuses to see my logic and the upside from my point. He would love to still be getting 40-cents on every U.S. dollar when he comes north but he doesn't like the idea of it working the other way for me for a change.
As of the time that I'm writing this, instead of 40 cents he'll be getting 4 cents on every dollar and I don't think that makes him happy. All I can say is wait until the dollar really takes off and he starts losing money. I can't wait to tell him about that!
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