Scammed and Accepting It

We Canadians really are something else. We’re nearing the end of an election campaign, the cost of living is up like a rocket, yet barely a murmur is heard from the electorate.

In the U.S., complaints have forced Obama to start speaking publicly about the insanity of gasoline prices. His government has ordered an investigation of energy markets. They’re looking for evidence of manipulation, fraud and collusion. Shouldn't have to look very hard.

In Canada, pretty much silence. Of course, our governments gain every time gas prices go up. They take a percentage, through taxes, of every price increase. Taxes account for 30 to 40 per cent of the price of a litre of gas, depending on where you live.

The harsh effects of gas price gouging by industry and government are starting to show. Consumer prices rose 2.2 per cent in February, 3.3 per cent in March. Higher gas costs now are seen in almost all consumer purchases.

Some cost increases reported in March: food 3.7 per cent, water 6.3, electricity 4.3, home and mortgage insurance 4.9, postal services 8, car insurance premiums 4.7, parking fees 8.2, taxis 3.9, air transportation 12.2, non-prescribed medicines 5.8, cable and satellite services 7.1, tuition fees 3.8 per cent.

Up, Up and Away!

The Americans are speaking out because they are hurting. Surveys show six in 10 have reduced driving and have cut spending. Obama likely will not be re-elected partly because of this. They pay a buck or so less a gallon than we do.

All this is happening because Libya, which supplies about two per cent of the oil market, is in civil war. Before that it was a well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. When Libya cools, another reason will be invented and hyped.

North America without question holds the world’s largest energy supplies. Saudi Arabia might be seen as the world's major oil producer, but all energy considered, nothing comes close to North America. So why is this happening?

Some day Canadians will tire of being scammed and screwed, and demand a fair and transparent system for how governments and industries take their money.

Crap from Abroad

ABC TV News had a campaign earlier this year to show viewers they should be buying more goods made in America. They stripped from one family’s house everything that was made abroad and replaced it with furniture and other goods made in America. They showed how doing this would put more Americans to work.

Canadians also buy too much stuff from overseas. And, as all of us have discovered, much of it is cheap crap.

My wife and I looked for months for a small towel cabinet for our cottage. We needed it to be white and a very specific size. Finally, we found one last week at a big box store. The display model had a broken leg, which I assumed was from having been dropped.

Assembly of such things can be a nightmare. Instructions are poorly done, the engineering sometimes is rough and things never go together as easily as expected.

Don't Buy It

This piece was a nightmare. The English instructions were not too bad. However, one step was missing. The leg broke just like the one at the store. Hairline cracks developed on the glossy enamel paint whenever I went near the thing. The problem was the wood was total crap. What appeared to be solid wood was pieces glued together. The screws were slightly too big and caused the heavily lacquered finish to crack where the pieces were glued. I improvised and got the thing together, somewhat scarred. Wood filler and paint did the rest.

Normally I would have bundled up the pieces and brought them back to the store for a refund. However, I persevered because the piece was not expected to be fine furniture for the living room, and we had not been able to find anything like it in weeks of searching.

The piece was a small towel tower made by Jen Lea Inc. Model number PB40000ZWHF. Imported by Soskin and Gordon. Don’t buy it.

The experience showed me three things:

1. Big store buyers consult only their calculators when bulk buying abroad. They don’t spent one second on quality issues or anything else.

2.  Consumer protection agencies can do little considering the amount of stuff coming in from abroad. Yeah, they catch little toys that contain lead that harms babies, but that’s about it.

3. We buy way too much stuff from overseas and should start looking for more of our goods closer to home.

Yes, we do need to import for balance of trade etc. etc. Yes, there is demand for lower-price stuff that people can afford. But we do need to back off imports, create more jobs here, and demand better quality on goods coming into the country.