Loonie = greenback: Who wins and loses

Longing for the happy days of bargain meals, rooms and ski slopes in British Columbia? Get over it.

Today the U.S. and Canadian dollars reached parity for the first time since 1976. The greenback has slid more than 60 percent against the loonie in the last five years and there's every reason to think the trend will continue.

It's already clear that the situation is tricky for anyone who is easily confused by U.S. and Canadian coins. I remember using Queen Elizabeth quarters and bills at Safeway in south Seattle as late as the early '80s. Those days may be back.

So who wins? Businesses in the U.S. that cater to Canadian customers. With their increased buying power, more Canadians will be traveling around Cascadia. The Victoria Clipper says traffic from Canada is up 25 percent this year. Things are surely looking up for discount shops and Costco stores just south of the U.S. border.

Potential losers come to mind more easily:

-- Anyone in Canada who depends on U.S. tourists. On Wednesday organizers of the 2010 Olympics unpersuasively insisted they won't be hurt because they've hedged their budget against currency changes. Too bad U.S. tourists haven't.

-- Anyone who depends on sales of Canadian lumber -- a huge slice of the B.C. economy, in other words. The current slump in demand from U.S. housing combined with the strong loonie will do what years of softwood tariffs couldn't: protect uncompetitive U.S. lumber producers.