[Oliver Tweed]

I've noticed that with regard to Canada's part in all of this, one school of thought credits only the high commodity and energy prices, while the other tends to emphasise balanced budgets and general fiscal responsibility.

I tend to think that the fiscal restraint exercised in the past is paying off in terms of Canada's reputation internationally, but this is not the reason we are seeing such a surge in the dollar.

 

[Oliver Tweed]

Also, I just did a search of historical exchange rates charting our dollar vs. the Japanese Yen and it has gone from about .80 to about 1.01 in the past 5 years. By comparison, versus the US dollar over the same timeframe, the CAD has gone from about .64 to about .90. It's not just the US sucking, as someone put it.

 

[beaconer]

Japan is also sucking..

CAD Compares favourably but less so over the last five years with the

British Pound:
finance.yahoo.com/currenc...amt=1&t=5y

and flat or gone down with respect to the:

Euro:
finance.yahoo.com/currenc...amt=1&t=5y

Austrailian Dollar:
finance.yahoo.com/currenc...amt=1&t=5y

 

[andreapalladio]

But sadly, the dollar is still very low compared to the Pound and the Euro.

 

[ganjavih]

Remember that CAD has appreciated w.r.t USD only, not other currencies. So, it's more of a sign of the US sucking than a sign of Canada kicking ass.

It's mostly from the USD's decline but the CAD has appreciated somewhat vs. the Pound and the Euro. The Euro exchange rate is 1.4, it was almost 1.6 when I was in Europe last year. The Pound's exchange rate is just over 2, it hasn't been that good for years. It was 2.6 when I spent a few months in the UK back in '98... that was painful.

 

[ganjavih]

Whoops, double post... boo ya.

 

[building babel]

You can buy a quid for a toonie now. A year or two ago it cost $2.40.

 

[cdl42]

Toonie? It closed at $1.84 today. I'm off to England in two weeks and am considering if I should go on about how cheap everything is, as my relatives have when they visited in the past decade.

 

[building babel]

Somewhere around 1984/85 the Pound was weak, I think even a bit lower than it is now.

 

[Observer Walt]

cdl42: If you find things to be cheap in England, please bring back detailed reports. Some of us are so used to hearing how expensive everything is over there, it discourages us from going. :\

 

[ganjavih]

Toonie? It closed at $1.84 today.

I think that's the US dollar figure. Anyhoo, the UK is expensive but it's not that bad... it certainly doesn't seem as scary now with the improving exchange rate.

 

[cdl42]

*Goes and actually looks it up*

£1=$2.04

Well, there go the bargains. That's what I get for having watched CTV News tonight. At least I know it isn't just in my head because I wasn't the only one in the room who took note.

It certainly doesn't cost $1.84 to buy a US dollar, otherwise that would be pretty shocking as well (currently at $1.11).

 

[afransen TO]

$1.84 US / BPound

 

[cdl42]

Well done CTV... confusing USD with CDN$. Does fact checking exist in broadcast media?

Thanks for solving the mystery, afransen.

 

[afransen TO]

Not solving, just clarifying what ganja said.