[Snooker]

I really dislike the amercian companies that come to our country and control the retail market ... What i have notice these so call amercian companies enter here with the idea of just shutting down are canadian companies , then afterward charge ridiculous prices ... Good example Best Buy goes to future shop and more or less said sell your company over to us or we will put you out of business ... Best Buy was willing to sell whatever futureshop has at a lower price causing then to more or less close or sell there business .... Once futureshop is out of there way they ( Best Buy ) start bring there prices much higher then what futureshop would of had it at ... This is happening more and more with these so call amercian companies... And for those that believe we couldn't live without them being here is a bunch a crap ... Canada can provide for itself ... Boy did we get screw with this freetrade .... I am hearing that gas prices will be in the dollar range in the summer ... What next higher auto insurance ... I am though still happy that this is the greatest country to live in , but for how long ??? the way things are going ... Is it just me or what ???

[AdamNF]

Why must you try to start fights. I mean there are enough on this forum as it is, but with you trying to start more...well it doesnt help.

[Edit]
Screwed on free trade you say. Food is cheaper, cars are cheaper, clothes are cheaper wood is cheaper, electriciyy is cheaper, phone service is cheaper...Yes we got screwed on that

[Snooker]

I'm curious as how you figure that what my intention were ... I in no way i'm trying to start anything ... First i was asking a question ,,, Secondly my post is based on facts ... I have no problems with the amercian ... I am saying why can't they do there business in there country and allow else to do business in ours... So this way we could still have a canadian country... Which makes us different from then

[AbeLincoln]

Sorry snooker, but both countries need each other, almost equally. No country in today's market can provide for itself. The US population is 10 times that of Canada, that's 300 million customers that need Canadian goods and resources and no one is gonna pass up that kind of consumer base especially with the way Americans use things. It is possible to cut us off and start trade with Japan or Russia etc. but you also would have to look into the long term costs of that. I look at so called "American" products that say manufactured in Canada almost everyday, and to be honest with you I don't think twice about it because I know America cannot be a viable economic force without Canada and vice-versa. The US is a capitalist consumer driven society, some see it as bad and some good. It's just the type of world we live in.

[RoyalHighlander]

AdamNF wrote:

Why must you try to start fights. I mean there are enough on this forum as it is, but with you trying to start more...well it doesnt help.

[Edit]
Screwed on free trade you say. Food is cheaper, cars are cheaper, clothes are cheaper wood is cheaper, electriciyy is cheaper, phone service is cheaper...Yes we got screwed on that

1St of all Adamk you should tyalk about starting fights LOL>. and he wasnt looking to start a fight he was stating facts that slowly but surely American Companies ARE taking over our retail market.. Just look at Wal mart.. we have no more Woolco or Woolwortsh here any more, K mart is gone too.. We have the Hudson Bay Group ( Zellers ) and Wal mart and thats about all.. He made a valid point... let it go...

[Rev_Blair]

The large American retail chains are very predatory. So are some of the Canadian ones. Some of that is the result of free trade, some is just the result of our reluctance to force corporations to act responsibly.

There is a growing movement in the US to keep Wal-Marts and other mega-retailers, those who are predatory, out of some towns. Where they are already present people are beginning to refuse to shop there. Since our governments refuse to do anything to protect us from these places I suggest we all do vote with our dollars. Don't shop at these places. Give your money to local retailers.

Did we get screwed on free trade though? Yeah, big time. We never should have signed the deal and we should have backed out of it years ago. The US middle and working classes got screwed too. When NAFTA came along the Mexicans also got screwed. The only people not getting screwed are those who run huge corporations. Our governments had a chance for the people they represent or the corporations that give them kickbacks. They chose the corporations.

[AdamNF]

Quote:

Did we get screwed on free trade though? Yeah, big time. We never should have signed the deal and we should have backed out of it years ago. The US middle and working classes got screwed too.

How can you say that? Like i said before, everything is cheaper and there is more competition. Free trade also stops wars. Yes freetrade benifts compaines, but it also helps people, more jobs, and CHEAPER GOODS!

[karra]

Quote:

The large American retail chains are very predatory.

Here's the dictionary definition:

"pred·a·to·ry, adj.

Living by preying on other organisms: a predatory mammal; a predatory insect.

Of, relating to, or characterized by plundering, pillaging, or marauding.
Living by or given to exploiting or destroying others for one's own gain."

If it's not too much trouble would you please be kind enough explain your use of the word 'predatory' to describe the number one retail chain? Preferably without the usual rapacious, raptoral, ravening and vulturous drivel.

Thank you very much and have a really great day.

[Rev_Blair]

They pressure suppliers into supplying goods at ever-lower prices, to the point where those suppliers are forced to move to countries that have virtually no labour standards or laws. They underpay their employees. They evade labour laws. They close stores to avoid having unions. They force smaller companies out of business, leaving consumers without an option.

They are predatory. Still having problems understanding, Karra? Too many steroids perhaps.

No Adam. Free trade could be good for all involved. The deals we have signed are not though. There is more to life than cheap goods. Those cheap goods come at a price, you see. Wage erosion, a lessening of environmental and labour standards, a lessening of the quality of life. In some places trade deals come with a very high price indeed, the deaths of those working to supply you with those cheap goods.

Doubt that? Look at the MMT scandal. MMT kills. Look at the suicide rates among farmers. Look at the increased death rates of Mexican workers in the US.

The opposition to free trade isn't opposition to trade, Adam. It's opposition to bad trade deals that put the rights of corporations ahead of the rights of people. That's why that opposition comes from so many different places.

[RoyalHighlander]

karra I understood exactly what he meant by predatory, so quit pulling out your dictionary every second post to try to make some one look bad.. its just making you look bad.. that has been a term used to describe them for a long while now.. and yes walmart DOES use that tactic, by demanding lower prices or they will take their business some place else.. They have done it here in Canada too..... You should do a google search on Wal mart and youd be surprised to see how many anti walmart sites there are out there.....

[AdamNF]

Rev those are all valid points but i think with it boils down, free trade is better for the consumer and the worker then if you put terifs on everything.

[othello]

We can complain that American companies are destroying the Canadian ones, but unless you talk with your $, it won't make a lick of difference.

Personally, I don't buy the Future Shop / Best Buy argument. Future Shop had a solid position in the Canadian market and Best Buy had no stores here...not even an on-line store. So, Future Shop, if it believed in its strategy and resources, had every reason to believe that it could fight off Best Buy in the Canadian market, at least for some period of time. My guess is that they realized that they had been able to take advantage of a window of opportunity in the Canadian market and that competition was going to get more fierce, regardless of the source. So, why not sell to someone offering a lot of money, on the basis of today's market, rather than wait for the market to get more challenging before selling.

Now, Wal-Mart is, of course, a different case. Wal-Mart's supplier strategies have been well articulated in the past and do indicate a willingness to use global size and presence to obtain favourable terms. This is very hard for a Canadian company to compete against, although companies such as Zellers (well, HBC, technically) and Real Canadian Superstore (well, Loblaws, technically) are fighting.

On a broad basis, the investment in Canada by American companies is a good thing. It creates jobs and supports our economy. There will always be specific examples where global businesses have used their size to create unfair advantage over local players. Canadian companies are as guilty as American ones for this kind of behaviour. Has the emergence of Chapters/Indigo been good for the small bookstore owner? Has the operations of the large grocery chains (Loblaws, Sobey's) helped the local market survive?

[electricbuford]

Something I'm curious about-Do Walmarts in Canada pay their employees wages as low as the ones in the states? Are they unionized?

[Snooker]

Hey i love the american people , I even have some of the nicest friends that are amercian , they can't help that lol... I don't have a problem with dealing with the americans or better yet the world ... What i meant was i don't care for the american manufactory that are in canada , they should stay out of canada and let canada run there own manufactory that isn't own by the americans but own by canadian...

[Snooker]

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