It's worth the drive to the border ...

When the Canadian dollar was a dismal looney to Uncle Sams strong dollar , it was understandable that goods and services on the Canuck side of the border cost too many peso's. Automobiles, food, clothing, electronics , books and just about everything cost about 30-40 percent more in Canada than south of the border. Mulroney's Conservatives swore that ditching the manufacturers tax in favour of the G.S.T. would reduce the price of goods and give Canadian manufacturers the edge needed to be competitive with the yanks post free trade.
Twenty years later and now at or above par with the Americans, our goods are still more expensive. I'm not going to blame free trade or swallow the line of marlarky that it took more dollars to manufacture the goods when our dollar wasn't as strong.
Our dollar has been creeping up to the greenback for the last year and most of the goods we buy are imported from China or India.
The blame must be pointed inward at the consumer.If we don't protest the high price of consumer goods , business will continue to charge exorbitant prices for goods and services.
After the reccession hit in 2008 , Walmart in anticipation of huge drop in consumer confidence made strategic cuts in retail pricing. I'm sure they found it was a wise move. Canadians want fair prices not more bullshit.
I'm going to venture out on a limb and suggest Retailers take a page out of Walmarts evil bag of tricks and jump into the unknown as a shrewd retailer move.
Cut prices to reflect the value of our dollar. We want American prices on our consumer goods. Canadians are sick and tired of the excuses from retailers.
Think of the marketing angle. It's no longer worth the drive to the border. At par prices for the stuff you need and the items you want in Canada...
The options are endless and the opportunity to claim a greater share of the Canadian retail market is just waiting for a clever company to make the jump.
If you're a retailer reading this , please feel free to use my suggestion to make money and Canadians even happier. As a thank you, send me an i-pad, link to me or follow me on twitter. Dare you.

TWITTER - Unconvmummy

Food Tampering is a Terrorist Act

http://bit.ly/ah794P



I sometimes think I'm Cassandra.
The daughter of Hecuba and Priam dallied around with Apollo who granted her the gift of prophecy. Legend has it when she spurned him, he twisted his gift so that she would continue to foresee the future except no one would pay attention to her.
Last year, I blogged about Mastoora Qezil, a Muslim woman who laced pork sausages with needles. Her case took over a year and we still have no idea about why she did the deed.She plead guilty and was slapped on the hand with 18 months house arrest to be followed by six months on parole.
Under Canadian law, her sentence could not extend beyond two years as our legislation labels food tampering as mischief.
Now, if some poor child bit into a laced hot dog and died from such an act, the charge would have escalated into a murder charge.
In Canada,the law seems to be based on the result of the criminal act, not the intent or the act itself.
In the United States and other countries around the world, food tampering is labelled for what it is, terrorism.
It's happened again, this time in Calgary.
Another woman has been charged and the other so called " Copy Cat" food tampering incidents have occured in the city. Many people have forgotten after Qezil was charged, there was another " copycat" food tampering incident in Guelph. The term "copycat" downplays the heinous intent of each incident, and very few copycat terrorists ever get caught.
I do find it interesting that the two most publicized recently charged criminals are women in their early forties. People forget that the first widescale media event surrounding food tampering rose to prominance in the mid 1970's - does anyone remember Tylenol tampering ?
These young budding criminal minds may have noted the widespread fear various incidents caused through out a continent and it must have made an impact.
Since the original Calgary incident, eight other incidents have occurred throughout the city.
It's time for the government to tighten up our food tampering law before someone gets killed. Don't support it and then bury it in a budget or omnibus bill to use it for political spin.
Introduce new legislation this term, don't bring it in as a private members bill,just get it passed - it's your responsibility to protect the citizens of Canada... before it's too late.