Loonie back at par

Last Updated: Thursday, December 20, 2007 | 11:18 AM ET
CBC News
The Canadian dollar was trading above par with the U.S. dollar for the first time in more than two weeks on Thursday.

The loonie was quoted at $1.0018 US in mid-morning trading, up just over half a cent from Wednesday's close. It went as high as $1.0045 US in earlier trading.

"It doesn't appear that there was any news to fuel the move, likely just a big buyer," said BMO Capital Markets economist Benjamin Reitzes.

The loonie hit a modern day high of $1.1030 US in early November before it began a steady retreat as investors sold off positions in the Canadian dollar as commodity prices slipped from record highs.

The dollar fell below 98 cents US on Dec. 13 before slowly recovering to parity.

Since early 2002, when the Canadian dollar was worth 61.79 cents US, the currency has seen a steady increase in value as prices of oil and other commodities Canada surged and the U.S. dollar weakened against a wide range of currencies.

Lofty loonie named Time's top Canadian newsmaker

Last Updated: Thursday, December 20, 2007 | 6:41 AM ET
CBC News
The Canadian dollar made headlines throughout 2007, and its turn from lacklustre to lofty secured its fame Thursday as Time magazine's Canadian Newsmaker of the Year.

Over the past 12 months, the loonie has flirted with parity and smashed record highs against the U.S. greenback.

It began the year at 87 cents and for the first third of the year seemed to be a currency that had peaked.

Then in April, the loonie's value began to climb. It was trading at 96 cents by July.

"And suddenly what seemed unthinkable was entirely possible — that we could have a Canadian dollar worth the same as the U.S. dollar," said CBC's business host Danielle Bochove.

In late summer, though, the explosion of the subprime debt crisis south of the border created a bit of a setback as global investors scrambled, abandoning the Canadian loonie.

But as markets stabilized, the loonie resumed its climb and hit parity in September.

The Canadian dollar rose to $1.10 US in early November before falling in the middle of that month.

Michael Elliott, international editor of Time, said there were other candidates for the title, such as former media baron Conrad Black, but the loonie interested him because it represented a wider issue.

"The currency of Canada is not solely a Canadian story. It's a global story that has to do with changing balances in the international economy and significantly … a weakening of the American economy," he told CBC News.

Time's Canadian Newsmaker of the Year is an annual editorial special that began more than 10 years ago.

Time defines the newsmaker as the person, place, group or thing that has the most impact — for better or for worse — on the news in Canada.