Link: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/31052006/6/n-canada-canadian-dollar-hits-strongest-level-since-1978.html

As a certain uncle of mine likes to point out whenever he visits his former homeland, there's nothing Canadians like to do more than talk about money. That's why I feel it's my patriotic duty to bitch about today's currency exchange rate between Canada and Japan. When I came to Japan three years ago one Canadian dollar was worth roughly eighty-six Japanese yen. Now as the title suggests, the balance of power has shifted and the CAD is worth more than the JPY.


The Canadian dollar keeps getting stronger and stronger, and since most of my wealth is in Japanese yen, I'm not all that pleased about it. By my calculations it now costs about $35$160 more for each 100,000 yen ($1000) I bring back home from Japan than it would have cost when I first came here. In fact the Canadian dollar is at its strongest level since 1978! Unlike my brilliant economist cousin, I don't know much about money stuff, but I'm willing to bet this has something to do with oil prices. Canada is a huge exporter of oil, while Japan on the other hand imports over 99% of its oil. If oil prices continue to go up, soon everyone in Alberta will be driving around in Cadillacs and wearing Rolex watches (unless of course they already are).



With many economist types predicting that oil prices may soon go as high as 80 or even 100 dollars a barrel, I guess it's good that I'm getting out of here with my yen before it becomes as worthless as my pile of Vietnamese dong. I suppose instead of wishing for some natural disaster to strike Alberta as I've been doing, I really should just be happy for the economic success of my homeland. If things continue the way they are going, maybe soon I'll be able to get a gold rimmed Caddilac of my own. That is of course assuming Alberta doesn't separate from Canada and keep all its oil money for itself.