Retail Price Controls Vanish
Finance Canada has quietly dropped plans for retail price controls. Promised legislation to abolish “discrimination” in cross-border pricing is omitted from a 459-page omnibus budget bill, the last of the year. Authorities had said the bill would detail the measure.
“I am disappointed there is nothing in here because they made such a big deal about it,” said MP Judy Sgro, Liberal industry critic; “They do a lot of talking about what they’re going ...to do for this problem, but when it comes to actually doing something there is very little.”
Finance Canada has quietly dropped plans for retail price controls. Promised legislation to abolish “discrimination” in cross-border pricing is omitted from a 459-page omnibus budget bill, the last of the year. Authorities had said the bill would detail the measure.
“I am disappointed there is nothing in here because they made such a big deal about it,” said MP Judy Sgro, Liberal industry critic; “They do a lot of talking about what they’re going ...to do for this problem, but when it comes to actually doing something there is very little.”
Cabinet promised in its last budget speech last February 11: “The government intends to introduce legislation to address price discrimination that is not justified by higher operating costs in Canada and to empower the Commissioner of Competition to enforce the new framework. Details will be announced in the coming months.”
They weren’t. Industry Minister James Moore did not respond to a request for comment.
“We’ve not heard anything except how terrible it is,” said Sgro, MP for York West, Ont. Sgro said she was told by one constituent of a generator that sells for US$450 south of the border, and $899 in Canada: “Somebody is gouging somebody, but how do you control that?”
Finance Canada wrote in its February budget, “It is well documented that Canadians pay more than non-Canadians for many identical goods”, citing Statistics Canada data that the so-called price gap averages 25 percent. Then-Finance Minister Jim Flaherty attributed price differences to “something called country pricing” – a practice whereby manufacturers maximize profits by selling identical products at different prices by market.
Asked what action he contemplated against retailers, Flaherty told reporters: “They better have some sort of explanation, other than they are targeting Canada because our people are relatively affluent and will pay it – and there is some evidence of that.”
Flaherty died of a heart attack last April 10. The finance department has since proposed no legislation on cross-border pricing.
“We do expect the government is going to be coming forward with proposals on that, and it’s our impression and indication that the Minister of Industry would be doing that over the course of the next couple of weeks,” said David Wilkes, senior vice president of government relations with the Retail Council of Canada. “It’s a very complex issue and of course there are justifiable differences between prices between the markets; our tax system is different, for example.”
“The root causes of that are understood, and there would be recommendations and approaches to address it,” Wilkes added. “We don’t believe that there has been any backing away from that commitment.”
Analysts earlier noted the Competition Act already restricts unfair trade practices, and questioned the practicality of enforcing price controls on retailers.
By Dale Smith
http://www.blacklocks.ca/retail-price-controls-vanish/
They weren’t. Industry Minister James Moore did not respond to a request for comment.
“We’ve not heard anything except how terrible it is,” said Sgro, MP for York West, Ont. Sgro said she was told by one constituent of a generator that sells for US$450 south of the border, and $899 in Canada: “Somebody is gouging somebody, but how do you control that?”
Finance Canada wrote in its February budget, “It is well documented that Canadians pay more than non-Canadians for many identical goods”, citing Statistics Canada data that the so-called price gap averages 25 percent. Then-Finance Minister Jim Flaherty attributed price differences to “something called country pricing” – a practice whereby manufacturers maximize profits by selling identical products at different prices by market.
Asked what action he contemplated against retailers, Flaherty told reporters: “They better have some sort of explanation, other than they are targeting Canada because our people are relatively affluent and will pay it – and there is some evidence of that.”
Flaherty died of a heart attack last April 10. The finance department has since proposed no legislation on cross-border pricing.
“We do expect the government is going to be coming forward with proposals on that, and it’s our impression and indication that the Minister of Industry would be doing that over the course of the next couple of weeks,” said David Wilkes, senior vice president of government relations with the Retail Council of Canada. “It’s a very complex issue and of course there are justifiable differences between prices between the markets; our tax system is different, for example.”
“The root causes of that are understood, and there would be recommendations and approaches to address it,” Wilkes added. “We don’t believe that there has been any backing away from that commitment.”
Analysts earlier noted the Competition Act already restricts unfair trade practices, and questioned the practicality of enforcing price controls on retailers.
By Dale Smith
http://www.blacklocks.ca/retail-price-controls-vanish/
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