LISA LAFLAMME: Not much you can do about a natural disaster but ride it out. That's something Ottawa is not prepared to do when it comes to the huge difference in price on identical items in the US and Canada. A review is underway. Relief, well, that could still take a while. CTV's Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife has more.
ROBERT FIFE (Reporter): Buying a bicycle in this shop will cost 45 percent more than it would in the US. WILL BLACKWELL (Customer): It definitely frustrates me the price differences between stuff in America and Canada.
FIFE: With the loonie worth as much or more than the greenback, the price of most products in Canada should be the same as south of the border. That isn't the case, and retailers are blaming high tariffs. JOSE BRAY (Joe Mamma Cycles): In the US on-line it retails at $299. Because of duties and tariffs in Canada, our retail price is $429.99.
FIFE: Large price discrepancies are also found on the grocery shelves. One pound of unsalted butter in Bellingham, Washington, goes for $3.69 compared to $5.49 in Canada. A 4 litre jug of milk is $2.99 in the US, $4.39 here. A block of cheese is priced at $4.99 in the US and a whopping $16.25 in Canada. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty knows Canadians are upset. He's asked a senate committee to study the price gap.
JIM FLAHERTY (Finance Minister): I'm responsible for tariffs, and sometimes people in the retail business blame tariffs and so on, so I want to see. FIFE: The finance minister wants the senate committee to report back before the Christmas shopping season begins. Robert Fife, CTV News, Ottawa.
The companies involved will quote economies of scale which, of course, is a pile of steaming bullsh*t. Sure, I could understand stuff being more expensive in the hinterlands, but Windsor, Niagara, Toronto, they are just as much a part of the north east and mid west as Detroit, Niagara and Buffalo.
Throw in the higher sales tax and we be getting it up the poopersnappermeister.
WFDS
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