Back in the day--when I was moving here three years ago--I complained a lot about the relative values of the loonie (Canadian dollar) and the U.S. dollar (sometimes called the greenback but often just called "the dollar," with the "U.S." part understood). At that time, the loonie was worth about 80 cents U.S.
Oh, woe was me. I longed for the days when the loonie was worth 60 to 70 cents and hovered conveniently around 66 cents for several years. Back then, I got very good at the mental arithmetic for converting loonies to dollars--divide the Canadian price by three and multiply by two, and you have the comparable price in U.S. dollars.
Three years ago, I was even nostalgic for a loonie worth 75 cents. The arithmetic was tricker--divide by four and multiply by three--but I adapted. And I still felt that I could get incredible deals in Canada, on the rare occasions I shopped for something.
Now I'm nostalgic for the 80 cent loonie of three years ago! Yesterday, the loonie and the U.S. dollar were equal in value--for a few minutes--for the first time since 1976. The loonie ended the day yesterday at 99.something cents. Today, the currency opened at par and has pretty much stayed there. Pundits have been predicting this state of affairs for the past few months, but most thought parity would happen by Christmas. Few thought it would come this early in the year.
Many people up here are enjoying this moment. The TV stations show those "what were we thinking?" moments in hair and clothing fashion from the last time the loonie was so valuable. However, not everyone is tickled by this news. Canada exports so much to the U.S. that the high loonie actually hurts much of the Canadian economy; U.S. companies have much less incentive to buy Canadian when Canadian costs as much as buying American and carries shipping charges, too.
I have a slightly different concern, aside from my own selfish concerns about my financial situation. (It requires incredible juggling to be sure that I have enough money in each country to cover the bills in that country.) My concern is two-fold, and both folds are those nebulous cultural things.
First, the Canadian minister of finance said yesterday that it's not so much that the Canadian dollar is worth more; the situation has arisen because the U.S. dollar is worth that much less. (Note: not "worthless"; just "worth less.") The dollar has dropped in value compared to the Euro, the yen, and the British pound. So the U.S. dollar is a lower target than it used to be. Achieving parity might actually mean that both dollars will buy what 90 cents U.S. bought a month ago.
It's like deciding you can't get to Mars, so you'll stop at the moon. There's nothing wrong with getting to the moon; it just isn't Mars.
Here's the second fold: Dollar-loonie parity doesn't mean anything about the relative value of the cultures or peoples. (I would say that parity also doesn't mean that much about the relative values of the economies, since they have such different bases, but I really don't know what I'm talking about, so I won't.) Last night, news programs showed Canadians celebrating their loonie and Americans blue that their greenback is less valuable. It's personal. But why?
Canadians are not now somehow "more equal" to Americans than they were last week. Parity doesn't mean that last week, any Canadian was worth only 95% of any American, but now--hoo boy, look out, buddy, we're just as good as you. Huh?
And here's my bottom line: the Canadian economy needs to aim higher than a loonie at par with the U.S. dollar. And the Canadian cultural psyche needs to aim higher than a feeling of "equivalence" to Americans. In both cases, I hope Canada and Canadians find different yardsticks, or metre-sticks, to measure themselves against.
