I remember in my Strategic Management class about a fundamental flaw with one of the hallmark Canadian economies - pulp and paper.

To summarise the case (analysed by Porter, I believe), while we are a market leader in the global industry (poductivity and profitability)), our strength rests in the weak Canadian dollar. Artificially set our exchange rate to C$0.85 = US$1, and we rank in the bottom quartile in these categories, mostly because when the loonie was weak the companies couldn't afford to import leading technologies.

So, I'm all for a stronger Canadian dollar, but our Industry needs to catch up too.