From maple leaf tattoos to stitching flags onto backpacks, Canadians are obsessed with not being American. Strange then to cheer reaching parity with the US dollar, which happened briefly last week. Canada’s currency last reached a one-to-one exchange rate against the greenback just before the wheels fell off the world in late 2007. It then plunged by about one-third as so-called risk currencies were shunned – and enjoyed a resumed northward advance once markets hit bottom.