The Editor,
Until approximately 2:15 p.m. on Monday, May 2, I was a firm believer that as a Canadian, I should buy products from Canadian suppliers that, like me, are presumably Canadian taxpayers and also support the Canadian economy. I never quite supported my fellow citizens who slip across the border on a regular basis to buy their gas, food, clothing, electronics, etc. at cheaper U.S. prices.
But now you can definitely count me one of them.
I wanted to buy a paperback book at the a book store in Coquitlam: printed U.S. price $7.99, Canadian price $10.99 - a premium of 37.5%, not even factoring in the current exchange rate in favour of our Canadian dollar.
The manager, when asked if he could make a decision regarding pricing, said he could but would not as he supported the printed Canadian price. His reasoning: The publisher sets the retail price when the book is printed plus the exchange rate was different then.
It then became abundantly clear to me that he understood so little of reality that any discussion or argument would be utterly useless. Effect: one customer lost (although I bought about $60 worth of books at his store the previous week).
No later than the end of this month, I shall travel south across the border and see what else I can buy there to make the trip not only enjoyable but, also, really worthwhile.
Konstantin Bernaschek, Coquitlam