Rapidly rising Canadian dollar alarming

TORONTO, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Quebec Premier Jean Charest has asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper for an urgent meeting to discuss the sharp rise in value of the Canadian dollar.

"It's having a major impact on exporters in Canada, certainly in Quebec," he told reporters at a hastily called news conference in Toronto. "And I believe it's very important that we be able to sit down and try to better measure the impact."

"Canada is bearing about one-third of the brunt of the depreciation of the U.S. dollar, and we're only 33 million people."

The dollar, known in Canada as the loonie, closed Thursday at $1.07 against the U.S. dollar after hitting $1.10 earlier in the week. Charest estimated it has risen by 74 percent since 2002 with 28 percent of that increase this year alone, the Montreal Gazette said.

"It's one thing to see the dollar increase in value; it's another thing to see it increase at such a rapid rate," the premier said.