OTTAWA (AFP) — The Canadian dollar was named newsmaker of the year on Thursday by Time magazine, for its spectacular rise and surpassing parity with the US greenback in 2007 for the first time in more than 30 years.
"When currencies start breaking records, it's usually a sign that something big is happening," the magazine's Canadian edition said. "And something big was happening in Canada in 2007.
The Canadian economy boomed even though its southern neighbor and biggest trading partner's economy seemed to cool. And engines of Canada's economy shifted from the nation's traditional manufacturing heartland in central Ontario and Quebec provinces to the resource-rich West and Atlantic Coast.
The loonie, a sobriquet given to the Canadian dollar, meanwhile, traded for more than 1.1000 US dollars in November, climbing from 87 cents US at the beginning of the year, and from a historic low of 61.79 cents US in January 2002.
The loon became a symbol of the Canadian dollar in 1987, the year Canada first minted a dollar coin with the black and white water bird on its face.
This year, it was buoyed by strong oil and metals prices, of which Canada is a major exporter.
Reaching an all-time high on November 7, the loonie had appreciated 14 percent against the euro since the start of the year, 16 percent against the pound and 21 percent against the yen.
Ordinary Canadians benefited from cheaper imports, but Canadian exports, 75 percent of which typically head south to the United States, were hit, nearly 100,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in 12 months, and tourist hubs such as Niagara Falls and Whistler saw a sharp drop in foreign visitors.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he was "concerned" about the dollar's "unprecedented" rise.
But Canadians "handily" handled it, and even thrived as the Canadian economy remarkably adjusted to the soaring loonie, said Time magazine.
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