The only thing in this genre that has the curve in the 'a' is Helvetica, but it's not nearly as square. How old is this sample?

It's a modified Helvetica Ultra Compressed. Look at the 'o' -- it's round on the top and flat on the bottom.

http://new.myfonts.com/search/(helvetica+ultra+compressed)/fonts/?testdrive=dock%3Dfalse%26size%3D194%26w%3D600%26src%3Dcustom%26text%3DCanola%26fg%3D000000%26bg%3Dffffff%26goodies%3D%26seed%3D43

I don't actually know how old the sample is, I believe it's been passed around and tweaked form designer to designer for some time now. You're right "originally" it was helvetica ultra compressed.

thanks for the help.