The Canadian dollar's disappearing act Add to ...

It may be a good thing that the Royal Canadian Geographical Society has chosen the gray jay as our national bird.

Because you wouldn’t want a sickly loon.

The Canadian dollar is now down to about 74 cents (U.S.) and is forecast to sink further.

There’s a lot behind this, including the strength of the U.S. dollar and the fact that markets believe the Federal Reserve will raise its benchmark rate in December, automatically making the loonie less attractive as the Bank of Canada holds its fire.

“In addition to higher rates in the U.S., there is also the fact that a more insular American economy is negative for growth in its largest trading parts,” Toronto-Dominion Bank chief economist Beata Caranci and economist James Orlando said in a recent report.

“For this reason, the Canadian dollar, Mexican peso, euro and Chinese renminbi have been four of the worst-performing currencies.”

More on this topic

• Speculators raise their bets against the loonie in 'capitulation'
• What haunts the loonie: Suddenly, a 74-cent dollar
• Scott Barlow: Reasons for post-election, short-term loonie optimism
• David Parkinson: Yellen's job complicated by Trump win
• U.S. firms could move billions out of Canada
• Rob Carrick: How snowbirds can buy U.S. dollars on the cheap
• Loonie a 'double loser' as Trump turmoil takes hold

Ottawa is overhauling the mental-health system for treating military personnel and veterans, bringing in a new system that will run from boot camp through retirement, my colleagues Les Perreaux and Renata D’Aliesio report.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan didn’t disclose details in an interview, but he did pledge a “new structure that’s going to not just look after the veteran at the end but start with keeping our soldiers healthy when they’re in the military.

An ongoing investigation by The Globe has found that more than 70 Afghanistan war vets have taken their own lives.

More on this topic

• Les Perreaux and Renata D'Aliesio: Ottawa promises to overhaul mental-health services for military
• The Unremembered: Follow our investigation

Is the North America free-trade agreement as much of a threat to the U.S. economy as Donald Trump claims?

At least one economist suggests not.

As my colleague Steven Chase reported this week, Mr. Trump’s transition team is advising him to target Canadian softwood lumber and livestock.

But here are some interesting findings from BMO Nesbitt Burns chief economist Douglas Porter:

America’s trade gap with Canada over the past 12 months to September has shrunk to $8.1-billion (U.S.), or just 0.04 per cent as a share of gross domestic product. Add in trade in services, and the U.S. is actually running a surplus of roughly the same size.

The U.S. trade gap with Mexico is obviously much fatter. But, Mr. Porter found, the combined shortfall with Mexico and Canada accounts for less than 10 per cent of America’s total deficit, “begging the question of why so much focus is falling on NAFTA.”

This all comes as Mr. Trump rolls out his choices for key positions, including the CIA, national security adviser and other spots.

More on this topic

• Steven Chase: Trump team flags Canadian livestock and lumber
• NAFTA no 'existential threat' to Trump's America, numbers show
• Steven Chase and Paul Waldie: Liberals play down NAFTA renegotiations
• James Bradshaw: Trump's war on trade
• Barrie McKenna: Trump's win a worst-case scenario for Canada's economy
• Robert Fife: Ottawa offers to renegotiate NAFTA
• Trump, Europe and Canada's treacherous trade waters
• Who will Trump pick for his administration?

The dress Marilyn Monroe was wearing when she sang Happy Birthday to President John F. Kennedy was sold this week to an unknown bidder at a Los Angeles auction for $4.8-million (U.S.).

As Reuters noted, the dress was so tight that her handlers had to sew her into the gown for the 1962 event at Madison Square Garden.

Harry Potter’s back. Sort of. Actually, not really.

And, as my friend Mark Medley writes in his review of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, this new spinoff movie isn’t up to the originals.

Source: Giphy.com

Starring Katherine Waterston, Eddie Redmayne and Colin Farrell, this is all about a textbook at Hogwarts. And as Mark puts it, this just may be the first movie ever based on a syllabus.

Elle, starring Isabelle Huppert and Laurent Lafitte, fares somewhat better in Kate Taylor’s review of the movie about revenge of a rape. It’s a clever film, Kate says, but less interesting than it thinks itself to be.

As for Nocturnal Animals, Barry Hertz’s review would be time well spent. Certainly time spent better than seeing the actually movie, which stars Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal. Two great actors, Barry says, but a movie that’s “irredeemably silly.”

So is there a really great movie in this weekend’s fresh crop? It wouldn’t appear so because Kate also isn’t that keen on Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, which stars Kristen Stewart and Joe Alwyn. It’s a serious film, one that’s often admirable but also awkward, Kate writes.

Which brings us to other pastimes, like TV and books. And what John Doyle has to say about the new online streaming service Shudder. It’s an all-horror outlet (though so, seemingly, are the aforementioned movies), and its first series isn’t bad, John says.

Well, there’s horror and then there’s murder. And curling up in front of the fireplace should the weekend turn cold. My friend Eric Andrew-Gee looks at three new books on some of the most infamous crimes in recent Canadian history: A Daughter’s Deadly Deception: The Jennifer Pan Story, Shadow of Doubt: The Trial of Dennis Oland, and Dark Ambition: The Shocking Crime of Dellen Millard and Mark Smich.

Definitely take some time this weekend to read the latest in the midlife series from my colleague Dave McGinn. Here’s what he says:

“One of the topics I really wanted to look at in my series on life in your 40s is career change. So many people seem to question whether or not they could try a new career, but as enticing as that may be, it’s also incredibly daunting. How do you make the shift? Thankfully, right as I was asking these questions, a bestseller came out from two former Apple employees who deal with these same questions all the time.”

Read more

• Mark Medley: Potter spin-off devoid of magical moments
• Kate Taylor: Elle less interesting than it believes itself to be
• Barry Hertz: Nocturnal Animals squanders talent on a high-camp mess
• Kate Taylor: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk admirable but awkward
• John Doyle: You want horror? Here's more and more
• Eric Andrew-Gee: Three books look back on some infamous crimes
• Dave McGinn: How to design your own midlife career change

Tune into the American Music Awards Sunday night because there’s a lot at stake for Canadians.

Let’s focus on Drake’s 13 nominations, and The Weeknd’s three, and try our best to put Justin Bieber’s four out of our minds. As in, enough of him already.

Soccer’s really a thing in Canada now, so on Tuesday night we get the Toronto FC against the Montreal Impact in the first of the MLS Eastern Conference final.

Back to U.S. presidents for a moment, and on a serious note. Monica Lewinsky is speaking to a YWCA fundraiser in Calgary Tuesday about her battle to change online culture and public shaming.