Why do Canadians keep getting charged more???

[Mooseman]

Why do we keep getting raped for just about all goods we buy here? Case in point, I got major sticker shock when I was quoted $350 for a Camshaft actuator available from GMPartsDirect in the US for $103.44 (MSRP $174.50). A CPAS is going here for $150 (discounted price, reg. ~$200), GMPartsDirect is $35. WTF!?! And when I tried to explain the the parts counter guy that I can get them cheaper in the US, he started arguing that they are cheaper inferior parts. Hello? The actuator is only available from GM, made by Delphi! CPAS I got from GMPD came in the same oily box. I basically told him to shove them. With all else being equal and the exchange rate being on-par for a while now, I just can't understand this huge discrepancy in prices. Not just from GM, but aftermarket as well. Car parts, snowmobile parts, even those MADE IN CANADA, we pay more here than in the US. The GST (Goods and Services Tax) can't account for this, nor can the cost of transport.

I'm all for helping the Canadian economy and jobs by buying locally but why is it my responsibility when it's MY money? I bought a truckload of parts from RockAuto last year and plan on buying more from them and GMPD. Unfortunately, the only parts that I can get locally that prices are the same are cheap Chinese crap, which are better used as boat anchors. Unfortunately, I will be getting raped today since I need to find a wheel hub as one I bought from RockAuto (Raybestos) last October grenaded yesterday. Guess where they were made? Two boat anchors going back...

Edit: Just got off the phone with several local parts suppliers. I can get a Timken for $235 (RockAuto $147). Moog $280 (RockAuto $156). Although not available by the supplier today, the SKF was at $274 (RockAuto $198).

 

[harmless]

We're too polite, have stupidly greedy business owners and have spineless, slimy politicians.

We're too polite to actually revolt against the companies and politicians that screw us. Two weeks (minimum) of 100% boycotting would get our point across. The prices would come down, some businesses would falter, nerves would get rattled. But nooooo, we take it up the pooper and keep grumbling to ourselves that life sucks. We need to take a hint from them Arab nations across the pond. Piss us off enough, we'll either oust you or kill you. Maybe both, if it's a good day.

Stupidly greedy business owners. This applies to anyone running a business or is in a position of power actually. (Take the recent babble of governement spending cuts to front line workers as fine example of gross mis-management...) Having a money crunch? Cool. Raise prices or taxes, cut your front line staff then wonder why no one buys your shit and you no longer have employees. Business has got it wrong IMO. You need to trim the fat? Start from the TOP down, not the BOTTOM up. You'll save MORE by cutting your stupidly over-padded salary and perks per quarter than you would cutting the jobs of whowever many low-level employees. You don't need to make over a million bucks a year, you don't need the stupid bonuses you get. When you DIE, you can't take that shit with you. Those guys you just fired or layed off, yeah, the ones who ACTUALLY SEE your clients and help them along, yeah, they're the ones who rely on that 30K a year you pay them to slave away making your slimy ass shine and keep their families fed and housed. Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE to make 1 million a year and have a cushy corner office and tell others what to do all day, but what you gonna do when you've gotten rid of all your low-level employees? Do you even remember HOW to run a cash register, answer to an irate client or wrap up a Big-Mac? Your big assed salary won't mean squat when your business sinks or you no longer have anyone working for you. I hate paying for that 14th Maseratti and those fake tits you just bought for your wife, so I'm going to buy from someone who's got REALISTIC MARKET prices for the product I want. Unless you start letting me use the Maseratti or your wife... then maybe I'd stay as a loyal customer.

Spineless, slimy politicians. Yeah, they're at the top of the shit pile. Getting greased by the business owners I spoke of above to "play the game". Lying to the population to get votes so you can get a golden pension and eventually screw over everyone you know and care about. Carelessly spending money that isn't even yours to start with and making up (or enforcing) laws that stifle new business, creativity, productivity, growth, diversification, FAIR competition, common sense, and any other intelligent thing out there. It's all about the kick-backs that you're not supposed to be getting or helping out a highly-ranked business bury the competition in red tape or screw clients over to furthur pad your already fat wallet. Religion and politics shouldn't be mixed. Politics and business shouldn't be in bed with each other either. Forget brokering deals with foriegn companies for your greedy CEO friends who'll take our raw material at a discounted price and then re-sell us a finished product at a 3000% markup. Whatever happened to making shit ourselves?!? I don't mind a global economy, but for christ's sake, let's not hang ourselves in the process! You can't even manage a town/province/country properly, please don't meddle in business or foreign affairs. You'll just screw that up too. Keep in mind who put you in that job... If you can't do it right, we'll expect you to leave or we can always go carnal and do it like they did in the middle east...

Oh. Wait. We're Canadians. We're too polite for that kind of action. Guess I'll just keep drinking my Timmy's and go read the paper. Gotta find out where the next sale on LUBE is for the next time I gotta take it up the keister.






K I'm done. Sorry for the ranty post.

 

[Jkust]

Do you really understand the differences between the U.S. system and yours? I always think of the Canadians as the nice neighbors with a crappy, socialist system. We're getting there quickly with our current administration. If there is a right way and a completley uninformed, spread the wealth to the lazy people way, our admin chooses the latter every time in order to garner votes at the expense of the country. I don't know how it is in Canada but in the U.S only half of the people pay tax to the federal government then half of that 50% get extra money so tax time is a net gain. That 50% number includes kids but gives you an idea of how lopsided everything is. Is that the case for you or do most citizens pay something? Whenever I hear of higher prices on things like gas or even cars, boats or parts in Canada, I always think that the reason is tarriffs and taxes but I don't know. I know your minimum wage is very high depending on location but a minimum wage is counterproductive bringing up the cost of everything.

 

[harmless]

Do you really understand the differences between the U.S. system and yours? I always think of the Canadians as the nice neighbors with a crappy, socialist system. We're getting there quickly with our current administration. If there is a right way and a completley uninformed, spread the wealth to the lazy people way, our admin chooses the latter every time in order to garner votes at the expense of the country. I don't know how it is in Canada but in the U.S only half of the people pay tax to the federal government then half of that 50% get extra money so tax time is a net gain. That 50% number includes kids but gives you an idea of how lopsided everything is. Is that the case for you or do most citizens pay something? Whenever I hear of higher prices on things like gas or even cars, boats or parts in Canada, I always think that the reason is tarriffs and taxes but I don't know. I know your minimum wage is very high depending on location but a minimum wage is counterproductive bringing up the cost of everything.

It's not just the difference between the US and Canada. It's a difference GLOBALLY now. Everyting is just blended together and it's leaving a big ugly smear on the blackboard. Take a step back and look at it this way for a sec...

Business is run on a basic principal - and THIS doesn't matter where you are on the planet. Gather resources, make a product, sell it. In theory, the vendor with the best product for the lowest price will generate a larger profit margin than the one selling fewer items at a higher premium. The law of quality over quantity is sometimes squewed this way.

Now, to answer your question, all Canadian citizens over the age of 16 pay taxes if they have any form of income. The infamous "income tax". Now, we also pay a crapload of other taxes & fees too: municipal, federal, sales (HST), etc... All these, depending where applied, do help to bump up the price. Historically though and for the sake of argument in this thread, I don't think it's the "final price" that's being bitched about. It's the CORE price - before all taxes, levies, duties and gotyoubytheballs fees.

Take for example, my latest win. A GM ACDELCO part, an actuator for my HVAC system. Ironically, made in CHINA. Retails for about 60 bucks in the US. Up here, dealers want $100+ for it. I bought it on ebay from a dealership in the US for 20 bucks. $32.95 shipped. Now, help me figure out the math here. Anyone can see that there is a very LARGE discrepancy in prices there - even when taking into account our near-par dollar. Big business & government up here have decided that once an item crosses those imaginary lines called "borders", there is wiggle room to create an inflated markup. Mass population, as good little sheeple, overlook this evil fact and pay for the items anyways because "life goes on and we need them". Now, your markup for this same part may not be as large as ours is, but I am willing to bet that it's still very, very significant considering where the part is sourced from.

I disagree with you about the minimum wage bit being a major factor in price increases. Even with minimum wage legistlation ($10.25/hr here in Ontario), if you do the math, that's still only a yearly salary of $21,340/year. Factor in taxes and shit and take home pay is about $16,000. Anyone starting at the bottom run of the ladder will tell you that this is still not a hell of a lot of money considering the price of rent/mortgage, food, vehicles, insurance, medication, utilities... You need a household of two working parents to have anything resembling a normal life or any form of furniture/toys. Add daycare costs or any other costs related to having any number of kids and you're now eating KD and weiners 6 of 7 days a week - and that's even becoming a luxury meal for some. Even when the legislated "raise" happened, the price of product didn't substancially go up. I'll use Tim Horton's as an example only because I remember the hubbub they tried to cause with it. Price of their products went up an average of 5 to 10 cents. Whoopdeedoo. A similar increase across the board for all other products. I'll happily suck up that kind of increase to pay the masses who pump my gas, give my me Big-Macs or bag my groceries - all jobs I won't do anymore.

The BIG increase happened when gas prices shot through the roof and the cost for shipping things followed suit (to recover gas costs). It was most noticible in food products. Regular groceries. I've seen prices on products constantly go up every year since a certain event... Gas prices shot up and so did everything else in the world. Someone got greedy, someone got defensive, some things blew up and the whole world changed for it. This kind of increase bugs me.

Trust me, I long for the days where I paid 56 cents a litre for gas... But back then, I also worked for a minimum wage of $6.85/hr in a chip stand and I lived at home. I now have a family and a sick wife, rent, food, bills and a TBSS payment. $6.85/hr would just won't cut it anymore.

Hell, my current wage doesn't cut it anymore.

 

[Jkust]

It's not just the difference between the US and Canada. It's a difference GLOBALLY now. Everyting is just blended together and it's leaving a big ugly smear on the blackboard. Take a step back and look at it this way for a sec...

Business is run on a basic principal - and THIS doesn't matter where you are on the planet. Gather resources, make a product, sell it. In theory, the vendor with the best product for the lowest price will generate a larger profit margin than the one selling fewer items at a higher premium. The law of quality over quantity is sometimes squewed this way.

Now, to answer your question, all Canadian citizens over the age of 16 pay taxes if they have any form of income. The infamous "income tax". Now, we also pay a crapload of other taxes & fees too: municipal, federal, sales (HST), etc... All these, depending where applied, do help to bump up the price. Historically though and for the sake of argument in this thread, I don't think it's the "final price" that's being bitched about. It's the CORE price - before all taxes, levies, duties and gotyoubytheballs fees.

Take for example, my latest win. A GM ACDELCO part, an actuator for my HVAC system. Ironically, made in CHINA. Retails for about 60 bucks in the US. Up here, dealers want $100+ for it. I bought it on ebay from a dealership in the US for 20 bucks. $32.95 shipped. Now, help me figure out the math here. Anyone can see that there is a very LARGE discrepancy in prices there - even when taking into account our near-par dollar. Big business & government up here have decided that once an item crosses those imaginary lines called "borders", there is wiggle room to create an inflated markup. Mass population, as good little sheeple, overlook this evil fact and pay for the items anyways because "life goes on and we need them". Now, your markup for this same part may not be as large as ours is, but I am willing to bet that it's still very, very significant considering where the part is sourced from.

I disagree with you about the minimum wage bit being a major factor in price increases. Even with minimum wage legistlation ($10.25/hr here in Ontario), if you do the math, that's still only a yearly salary of $21,340/year. Factor in taxes and shit and take home pay is about $16,000. Anyone starting at the bottom run of the ladder will tell you that this is still not a hell of a lot of money considering the price of rent/mortgage, food, vehicles, insurance, medication, utilities... You need a household of two working parents to have anything resembling a normal life or any form of furniture/toys. Add daycare costs or any other costs related to having any number of kids and you're now eating KD and weiners 6 of 7 days a week - and that's even becoming a luxury meal for some. Even when the legislated "raise" happened, the price of product didn't substancially go up. I'll use Tim Horton's as an example only because I remember the hubbub they tried to cause with it. Price of their products went up an average of 5 to 10 cents. Whoopdeedoo. A similar increase across the board for all other products. I'll happily suck up that kind of increase to pay the masses who pump my gas, give my me Big-Macs or bag my groceries - all jobs I won't do anymore.

The BIG increase happened when gas prices shot through the roof and the cost for shipping things followed suit (to recover gas costs). It was most noticible in food products. Regular groceries. I've seen prices on products constantly go up every year since a certain event... Gas prices shot up and so did everything else in the world. Someone got greedy, someone got defensive, some things blew up and the whole world changed for it. This kind of increase bugs me.

Trust me, I long for the days where I paid 56 cents a litre for gas... But back then, I also worked for a minimum wage of $6.85/hr in a chip stand and I lived at home. I now have a family and a sick wife, rent, food, bills and a TBSS payment. $6.85/hr would just won't cut it anymore.

Hell, my current wage doesn't cut it anymore.

So let me understand this, if you buy a part for say 100$ in CA, you can still buy it from the U.S., have it shipped and save money? In other words you can beat the system? From a macroeconomics standpoint, unfortunatly a minimum wage is a negative feature that is a detriment to the economy. Our minimum wage here in MN is $6.15/hour. Where I differ from your outlook is that until, I can truly afford kids and cars and stuff, I won't get them, so as not to struggle to pay the bills. Of course if someone only earned a minimum wage, then had kids, they'd struggle. To me that is easy to forsee. In other words personal choice but I realize that is sort of a platitude and the world doesn't really work like that. My order of operations was...brought up poor when times were much more difficult, went to college, got into lucrative field/good job, got married, waited several years, got stabil then had kids, pay off college loans over 25 years. This is the way it is done for most folks I know. If I skipped all the middle steps and had the two kids I have now I can only imagine the monumental struggle.
It's funny that you mention auto parts in your example though. Our retail, brick and mortar auto parts stores have some of the highest mark up around. 300% or more depending. When the economy went in the tank, one of my monthly magazines did a write up on how they are a spot to park some money because people are fixing their cars not buying new and the margins are astronomical. Having to actually buy something from an auto parts store leaves me feeling completely ripped off and of course buying something at a dealer is worse yet.

 

[Jkust]

Oops forgot to mention the federal minimum wage is $7.25 and so only small MN employers meeting certain criteria can pay the lower minimum wage mentioned above. Funny I earned I think $4.25/hour 24 years ago as the minimum wage at a pizza place when I was 15 and $4.00 in cash when I was 14.

 

[n0kfb]

In my opinion, higher prices in Canada are mostly due to the higher cost of doing business in Canada. I'm going to guess that this is mostly because of the hidden costs of doing business there (read: taxes).

I found the following on wikipedia about how much various coountries pay in taxes. This page shows US taxpayers pay about 27 percent of their income in taxes, and Canadians pay about 42 percent of their income in taxes. Tax Freedom Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'll refrain from saying anything more about politics... this could get ugly.

-- Dan Meyer

 

[RayVoy]

I found the following on wikipedia about how much various coountries pay in taxes. This page shows US taxpayers pay about 27 percent of their income in taxes, and Canadians pay about 42 percent of their income in taxes.

Dan, you are correct, we DO pay a much higher rate of income tax (it varies, depending upon provenance of residence).
Our minimum wage is higher (New Brunswick's is going up to $10.50/hr and we are one of the lowest in the country).
Our gas prices are higher (additional taxes).
Our heating fuel is higher (and our winters are longer)'.
We have a Canadian Pension Plan, all employers pay into this.
We have Workers Comp, all employers pay into this.
We have Unemployment Insurance, all employers pay into this.
Maternity leave is 12 months (employers MUST keep your job available).
It is not uncommon to receive 6, or 8, weeks of paid vacation.
It is not uncommon to receive 12 months of paid sick leave.

A lot of reasons that increase the cost of items.

Any product manufactured in Norht America does not incur duty tariffs (NAFTA); however, off shore imports do incur tariffs.

I can't compare other taxes, property taxes are a very complex issue.

Now, what do we get for the increased cost of living in Canada: the above employment benefits, free (?) health care, free education (to grade 12)

 

[Sparky]

I wouldn't say any of that is "free" as you most certainly do pay for them

We have the same K-12 "free" education.

I don't want your health care system and am resisting the push to drive us that direction here Partly because it really is unconstitutional for the fed to do any of that sort of thing (not that it has stopped those darn politicians before, ugh).

 

[Mooseman]

I'm not so sure that taxes play a big part in this discrepancy in prices. It is pure and simple GREED. Case in point, snowmobiles. US dealers are prohibited from selling to Canadians for penalty of losing their dealership. Even those made in Canada and sold in the States are cheaper. You would think that transportation charges and fuel would add to the price but no. Same thing for parts. Somebody asked one of the makers why they do that and the response was "to protect the resale value of used sleds in Canada". Why the hell would they care about that? In fact, they would pay less on trade ins so it's at their disadvantage.

People are starting to wake up though and complaining. The Internet makes it so much easier to compare prices and buy at the lowest cost possible. Even books and magazines are still priced higher in Canada even though we have been at par with the US$ for over a year.

Things keep getting more expensive and salaries don't keep up. The Government (aka: the legalized mafia) keep raising taxes and fees and we keep electing them back in. Look at Squinty McGuinty. Even though he jacked our hydro and taxes (excuse me, not tax but a health "premium"), we keep putting him back in office (albeit in a minority government).

 

[RayVoy]

Mooseman, I'm not making excuses for our high prices, but I can assure you the underlying reason is not greed.

If it was greed, Air Canada would be the wealthiest air line in the world (they have the highest fares).

No, it is operating overhead, everything in Canada is more expensive.

All of the employee costs that I previously mentioned, and all of the other costs associated with running a business.
Things like shipping, postage, maintenance, contract work, computers, coffee, toilet paper, etc, it goes on and on and on.

If everything you need to operate a Canadian business cost more than the corresponding service in a US business, you have no choice, you must charge more.

Along with that, we have a very small customer base, except for 6, or 8, large urban areas, we do not have the volume of customers.
A US parts business might sell 1000, same SKU, in a week, we might be a year selling the same 1000 in Canada. You need to increase the profit margin, just to make a small profit.

No, it is not greed, I wish it was, I'd be very wealthy

 

[Sparky]

Or maybe it is greed of everyone else that causes the operating costs to be so high

 

[harmless]

I also agree that "taxes" in general don't inflate the prices as much as it's made out to be - except for gasoline up here. The FEDs make a very pretty penny (or more) every time you fill the tank then they add HST to the damn mix. Double dipping. THAT shouldn't be allowed.

Overhead costs are just one of many little factors that help jack up the price. GREED is the biggie. Greed is the grease that makes the wheel go round sadly. Ironically, greed is also a motivating factor in retail space rental prices. =) This cost is most certainly passed down to the consumer - as with any other cost.

I don't fully agree with Rayvoy's line of thought about the spread of the customer base... This is why:

You can go to ANY FutureShop or BestBuy or Sears or Brick or Leon's or Canadian Tire within the same province (or country) and pay the same price for the same item. You can even expect to pay nearly the same thing for items in convinience stores across the province. For sake of this conversation, I'm excluding the province of Nunavut as ANYTHING there has a 80,000,000% markup.

IF RayVoy's theory was correct, then prices for the same items would VARY from location to location, within this country. Things would be stupidly cheaper in, say, Toronto, ON, compared to St. John's, NFL. This isn't the case for most things - I can go into any big box store and expect the prices to be the same over there as they are here. I can also expect to go to just about any auto parts store or dealership and get raped.

Someone did mention that we still pay higher prices for thing that are even MADE IN CANADA. This is true. Why? I have no damn idea. You'd figure we'd save on shipping, currency conversion and all that other crap that they use as excuses.

So now, I can get cheaper parts shipped to me from the US or CHINA.

I can buy a NEW CAMARO in the US for $23,280 (MSRP, Base) compared to $27,965 (MSRP, Base) here in Canada - and we build the damn things in Oshawa, Ontario!!!! Really?!?!

We ship our crude oil, lumber and minerals to the US and others and they re-sell it to us at a higher premium, in a finished format then our resellers add their greedy markups to it all.

We can try to hash out any and every type of logic and apply it to this scenario but we'll never get any of it to fit.

Plain and simple, IMHO, it's greed. Pure, unadulterated, 100% saturated greed. From all sides.

 

[Mooseman]

There is some logic to the supply and demand thing. I would understand a reasonable difference in price and also if a remote area is more expensive than a major city due to transportation and logistical costs. But it's not reasonable. As far as salaries are concerned, we had to have higher salaries at the time since our dollar had less buying power on imports but this is no longer the case. Salaries have not been keeping up with inflation though, fueled mostly by increasing energy costs. So many factors, just makes my head spin. All I see is the price tag.

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Ogdensburg NY to pick up an alternator because my cheap Chinese crap one that I bought in CANADA died for the second time. Canadian Tire only had Bosch reman for $360 but I will be getting a brand new Remy with a lifetime warranty for $160. Advance Auto even made it possible for me to get a $30 online rebate. Because I couldn't use my Canadian credit card, I couldn't order and pick up in store but I called them up and the rep bent over backwards to put in that order for me and get me that rebate. :wootwoot:

 

[The_Roadie]

In the 1700s, the Colonies were feeling the same way about England. Raw materials could only be processed in England, and they were shipped back to the Colonies burdened by huge taxes. A revolt ensued.

If Canadians don't want to be our colony, they're perfectly free to revolt. Oh, except these taxes aren't imposed by the evil overlord south of the border. They're self-imposed by your own system. Even if you subscribe to the greed and not the tax explanation, it's still your fellow countrymen at the heart of the conspiracy.

Got a Second Amendment?

 

[06Envoy]

In the 1700s, the Colonies were feeling the same way about England. Raw materials could only be processed in England, and they were shipped back to the Colonies burdened by huge taxes. A revolt ensued.

If Canadians don't want to be our colony, they're perfectly free to revolt. Oh, except these taxes aren't imposed by the evil overlord south of the border. They're self-imposed by your own system. Even if you subscribe to the greed and not the tax explanation, it's still your fellow countrymen at the heart of the conspiracy.

Got a Second Amendment?

Hehehe...
Ok, I have to comment now...

If I ever was elected to the position of PM. Oh there would be a revolt alright.
The first thing I would do is stop the flow of our Natural Resources to south of the border.

The good ol USA imports more oil from Canada than any other single nation in the world. LINK.
Where is my share of that wealth?
What about our lumber?
Water? Who do you think keeps the Great Lakes from drying up?
My city exports over 30% of the world's nickel, yet our roads are ranked third worst in province.

Why???

Roadie is correct.
We have allowed our NR to be owned privately, thus we citizens are just as responsible for our being raped as anyone else.

I would immediately nationalize ALL of our Natural Resources and then negotiate new contracts with whomever wants them bad enough to pay the highest $$.
What you say? Nobody down south wants to pay my new highly inflated prices?
No worries.
Our oil, trees and water won't go anywhere.
We can just sit on it until the US decides they want it bad enough.

Hows that for a revolt?

 

[Mooseman]

The only problem with not exporting anything, we can't control what private companies do with the resources they exploit. If they want to sell it to anyone else, that's their prerogative. And why wouldn't they? Why limit yourself to just a small market when we have the largest consumer market in the world just south of us? And if we did limit exports, the market would be so small that the price would have to be increased to be able to make any kind of profit. And closing borders is not a solution neither as this was one of the precipitators of the great depression. Nobody could buy or sell anything.

I can see that some sort of unforseen event, either man made or natural, could change all this and prectectionism will kick in regardless.

 

[Short Bus]

Hehehe...
Ok, I have to comment now...

If I ever was elected to the position of PM. Oh there would be a revolt alright.
The first thing I would do is stop the flow of our Natural Resources to south of the border.

The good ol USA imports more oil from Canada than any other single nation in the world. LINK.
Where is my share of that wealth?
What about our lumber?
Water? Who do you think keeps the Great Lakes from drying up?
My city exports over 30% of the world's nickel, yet our roads are ranked third worst in province.

Why???

Roadie is correct.
We have allowed our NR to be owned privately, thus we citizens are just as responsible for our being raped as anyone else.

I would immediately nationalize ALL of our Natural Resources and then negotiate new contracts with whomever wants them bad enough to pay the highest $$.
What you say? Nobody down south wants to pay my new highly inflated prices?
No worries.
Our oil, trees and water won't go anywhere.
We can just sit on it until the US decides they want it bad enough.

Hows that for a revolt?

I see a problem with that, Can your military back it up?

 

[harmless]

I see a problem with that, Can your military back it up?

You need our minerals to make your circuit boards and weapons.

All we need to do is hold out until you run out of ammo then we slaughter you with our coffee, donuts and rampaging beavers.

We won't need to fire a shot.

You can pretend to siege us all you want. We're northeners. You have NOTHING on the shitty winters we're used to getting here. We can hole up forever.

 

[RedEnvoyDenali]

I see a problem with that, Can your military back it up?

NOPE But we are part of NATO so we will ask them for help and then YOU will have to come and help US. LOL.

Boy has this thread hit a nerve. I will have to digest this a little more before a 3 page commentary. But since I have a little experience here I have wondered about this for years. I used to work for a company that made product in Canada and exported some to the USA. Our Canadian price was about 50% higher than the US price (our $ was 25% lower in those days). Taxes and other things do have an affect but it appears to me that large Multinationals do it because they can. Us peons just have to do our best to subvert them. We also need to get on ALL of our politicians (Both Canadian and USA) to stop leading the parade into HELL.

Love the discussion lets keep it going.

 

[Jkust]

Dan, you are correct, we DO pay a much higher rate of income tax (it varies, depending upon provenance of residence).
Our minimum wage is higher (New Brunswick's is going up to $10.50/hr and we are one of the lowest in the country).
Our gas prices are higher (additional taxes).
Our heating fuel is higher (and our winters are longer)'.
We have a Canadian Pension Plan, all employers pay into this.
We have Workers Comp, all employers pay into this.
We have Unemployment Insurance, all employers pay into this.
Maternity leave is 12 months (employers MUST keep your job available).
It is not uncommon to receive 6, or 8, weeks of paid vacation.
It is not uncommon to receive 12 months of paid sick leave.

A lot of reasons that increase the cost of items.

Any product manufactured in Norht America does not incur duty tariffs (NAFTA); however, off shore imports do incur tariffs.

I can't compare other taxes, property taxes are a very complex issue.

Now, what do we get for the increased cost of living in Canada: the above employment benefits, free (?) health care, free education (to grade 12)

I work with a lot of English, Lloyds of London brokers and I like having these kinds of frank discussions when i'm with them. They reinsure a lot of U.S. business and so they understand our system better than most in England because they have to. In the U.S.A. we are only in the last three years really starting to dip our toes into the socialist pond because of our socialist leaning president while the English are several generations into it already. Most of the things relating to high prices are related to government intervention into the marketplace. It is layer upon layer upon layer with taxes and fees and schemes on top. Combine it with generational entitlement and the U.S looks attractive even with our socialist president. I work with several Canadian markets as well and the interesting thing is the Lloyds guys see their massive government and entitlement as a problem but my Canadian friends defend their entitlement system vigorously then in the same conversation complain about their egregious tax burdon. Well have dinner and they will overtly insult the U.S and I bite my tounge. I get the sense there is a lot of frustration from the Canadians on here but I wonder who has a degree in economics or actually understands what a socialist system turns into. Here, the worst Democratic offenders keep getting elected into office because half of society gets a free ride by continuing to vote for them. It is easy in the states to truly be as lazy as you want and still live a surpisingly ok life as compared to the rest of the world. If in Canada, nobody gets a free ride, why don't conservative candidates get elected. It sounds like you are all frustrated. The closer we are pushed to being like Canada, the more frustrated and angry people who aren't on the dole get, I can only imagine being generations deep into it.

 

[Sparky]

Water? Who do you think keeps the Great Lakes from drying up?

Hang on, you mean you'd plug up all the rivers and stuff, screwing up entire ecosystems? I'm no greenie environmentalist (obviously, I drive an evil SUV ) But I can't see anything good coming out of plugging rivers to "keep" your water. Where would it all go anyway if you did that? Oh, you'd flood out entire areas because the water would keep on flowing...

As far as the rest, well, nationalizing entire industries sounds an awful lot like communism to me

 

[DucatiSS]

All we need to do is hold out until you run out of ammo then we slaughter you with our coffee, donuts and rampaging beavers..

Please send me coffee, donuts and your beavers. I have a pretty good idea what to do with all of them. :wootwoot:



Now, back to your regularly scheduled programing.

 

[RayVoy]

Please send me coffee, donuts and your beavers. I have a pretty good idea what to do with all of them. :wootwoot:



Now, back to your regularly scheduled programing.

Drew, if I follow the way your mind is working, you mis-spelled beavers....................should be just beaver


And, we'll continue to send our Moosehead beer, but you'll pay a premium price

 

[06Envoy]

Hang on, you mean you'd plug up all the rivers and stuff, screwing up entire ecosystems? I'm no greenie environmentalist (obviously, I drive an evil SUV ) But I can't see anything good coming out of plugging rivers to "keep" your water. Where would it all go anyway if you did that? Oh, you'd flood out entire areas because the water would keep on flowing...

As far as the rest, well, nationalizing entire industries sounds an awful lot like communism to me

Ya, I know. I was just ranting...
It's lucky for Canada that I'll never be elected PM then eh?

 

[Short Bus]

Drew, if I follow the way your mind is working, you mis-spelled beavers....................should be just beaver


And, we'll continue to send our Moosehead beer, but you'll pay a premium price

We'll take your beaver, but.......

[video=youtube_share;2HGPh8Hjyg8]http://youtu.be/2HGPh8Hjyg8[/video]

 

[harmless]

Please send me coffee, donuts and your beavers. I have a pretty good idea what to do with all of them. :wootwoot:



Now, back to your regularly scheduled programing.

Here's your Beaver.

And I'm not sure the rest will make it through customs...