OTTAWA - It remains to be seen whether Canada will benefit from its strengthening currency, as the Loonie soared today to a three year high of $1.02 US. Of course, a strong Loonie can hurt the prospects of importers/exporters - but Canadian consumers are hoping that it might, at the very least, impact prices favourably.

Many Canadians are extremely tired, and increasingly wary, of cross-border price disparities now that our dollar has reach par with the greenback. Several industries are of central concern - as their price points are often well publicized. Book printing/sales are often a sore point for consumers, who often see a Canadian dollar price listed much higher (often 30% higher) than the American dollar price. Such is also the case with vehicles, which can be found for several thousand dollars cheaper south of the border in the US than in our home and native land. In the case of luxury or performance vehicles, this disparity can be up to $10,000 or more.

This is a serious concern, as prices have had more than two years to equalize, as our dollar approached par. Furthermore, the Bank of Canada has repeatedly stated that this parity is not a temporary phenomenon. Rather, with the structural debt problems in the US, and Canada's increasing production of oil, our strong currency is here to stay - at least for some time. In fact, the Bank of Canada has cautioned business owners to form their business models based on this stronger currency, and not to expect a revertion anytime soon.

Canadians have always watched our currency apprach par with the greenback and then retreat in a rather cyclical fashion - but perhaps those days are over. We have always embraced a somewhat smug and self-satisfied demeanour when our dollar was the higher of the two - but should we? It seems like having a stronger dollar has only brought mrore difficulty to businesses and little relief to consumers.

Now, the Bank of Canada will seemingly struggle with the decision to maintain interest rates as they are or to raise their benchmark rates. The consensus appears to be that the Bank should hold its rate at least for the first quarter of 2011, and only then consider an increase - which is welcome news to business owners just starting to see profit and growth this year.