Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site unicus.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!yetti!unicus!craig From: craig@unicus.UUCP (Craig D. Hubley) Newsgroups: can.general Subject: Re: uunet access from Canada Message-ID: <729@unicus.UUCP> Date: Sun, 5-Jul-87 22:07:04 EDT Article-I.D.: unicus.729 Posted: Sun Jul 5 22:07:04 1987 Date-Received: Tue, 7-Jul-87 01:14:27 EDT References: <954@van-bc.UUCP> <824@looking.UUCP> <132@bby-bc.UUCP> Reply-To: craig@unicus.UUCP (Craig D. Hubley) Distribution: can Organization: Unicus Software Inc., Toronto, Ont. Lines: 52 >> You underestimate the capacity of the Canadian government for getting >> in the way of people trying to do cross-border business. > >I think you could more reasonably put this down to the desire to make >what the traffic will bear than governmental interference. If what >you are saying was true I wouldn't have been able to send a 5kg package >from Vancouver to Texas by UPS for $8, or a 24kg package from LA to >Vancouver for $45 (by UPS), or get a return airfare from Vancouver >to LAX for $285 on CP Air. > >It is not the Canadian government it is business that results in the >higher prices. Nonsense. Drivel. Trash. If it weren't for government regulations and tariffs and other sorts of interference, I could buy the thing from the States myself for $1270+shipping. They'd sell it to me, too. Right now, Canadian business doesn't have to compete with that. That is clearly the fault of the government, who makes the rules. If various incompentent Canadian businessmen make a lot of money because they aren't really forced to compete properly, whose fault is that? Wouldn't you do the same? And they have to deal with borders as well, plus smaller volumes, high shipping costs, higher taxes and labour costs. Add it all up, and it doesn't leave much. > Why does a Sony CDP1302 list for $1900 at a time when the US list is > approx. $1270 ($950 US) - they both have to come from Japan. This is particularly vile as applied to imports, since the ONLY place those extra bucks will go is into the hands of government and the 'free-riders' who know we don't have a choice. The only "Canadian jobs" it protects are those who have to work that much harder to sell the stuff at inflated prices. If some industries are subjected less than others to this abuse, and manage to deliver goods cheaper, more power to 'em. As for the rest, open up the borders. Outdated trivia like separate CSA vs UL standards ought to be cleared out along with it. If the "free trade" flap does that much, it'll be to the better. The more attention I pay to this stuff, the more I think that these regulations exist only to foul the traffic. How much better off would the Canadian economy be if Canadians paid US scale for capital goods? "Tax Reform", Wilson style, only throws more sand in the gears. >This sort of stuff really pisses me off but I don't think you can >lay the blame at the government's door. I do. The only thing between me and that $1270 Sony is the border. Government manages the border, not business. If they don't let me take it across, or void my warranties when I do, or charge me tariffs, it's them doing it, not business. Business just deals with the red tape itself and charges us for the trouble. And then you pay taxes on the trouble.