From CBC Want a cheaper car? Sorry, you're Canadian http://www.cbc.ca/news/reportsfromabroad/macdonald/20071207.html Everybody seems to agree that the shiny new 2008 Hondas sitting in the automaker's showrooms all over the United States are superb vehicles. They are redesigned, extremely well-reviewed and a tremendous bargain, at least when compared to the virtually identical versions Honda's Canadian dealers are offering. But the cars here are off limits to Canadian consumers. Honda and the Canadian government have been seeing to that. Right now, the big car manufacturers are gouging Canadians. And pandering to Americans. That should be apparent to anyone with a computer and an internet connection. When it comes to cars, Canadians constitute a captive market, fenced in behind the world's longest economic barrier - the U.S.-Canada border. And Honda, along with most of the other big automakers, is determined to keep them there. By now, the tactics are pretty well known. Most manufacturers have told their U.S. dealers near the Canadian border to simply refuse Canadian customers. They've also warned that they'll refuse warranty service to Canadians who buy their cars in the States. Such behaviour should be no surprise. Companies exist to make money and the Canadian consumer has been a fattened cash cow for the automakers since the loonie rose to the same level as the American greenback. A Honda Accord EX, for example, starts down here at $23,060 in American dollars. The same car in Toronto costs $27,490 Canadian. Honda's Odyssey EX minivan costs $28,960 US here, as opposed to $36,990 in Canada. At this writing, the currencies are virtually at par. Where are the breaks? At the more exotic end of the new car scale, the differences are staggering. GM's Corvette coupe, for example, starts down here at $46,225 US In Canada, it's $70,920. A Cadillac sedan in the States starts at $50,350 US In Canada, $67,220 Canadian. And so on. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Back in 1988, when Brian Mulroney's government was trying to persuade the electorate that free trade was in Canada's best interest, Conservative politicians dangled the prospect of lower consumer prices to nervous, uncertain voters. Each side would get access to the other's market. The so-called playing field would be leveled. Everything would be cheaper. That voice at the end of the TV commercial that muttered: "Void where prohibited, not available in Canada" would disappear. And publicly, at least, the private sector made brave noises of support. Rugged free-enterprisers all, they'd compete in an unshackled market to the good of everyone. The fact is, though, business loves being regulated, at least when it's in their interest. So when the Canadian government promulgated a new regulation in September, stipulating a standard for anti-theft immobilizers in new cars sold in Canada, the car manufacturers, anxious to keep the two markets separate, stampeded to comply. But it's the same device! In short order, companies like Honda and GM stated that none of their new, 2008 American models complied with Canadian standards and therefore, regrettably, had to be declared inadmissible to Canada. In fact, in Honda's case at least, the immobilizers buried in the guts of its American-sold vehicles are identical to the immobilizers in the cars it sells in Canada. Precisely the same, right down to the last wire. But Canadian government was asking the manufacturers to make the casing housing the immobilizer a little more resistant to cracking. That provided the excuse to declare it inadmissible. As a result, Transport Canada banned import of the much cheaper American cars. The ones that cost thousands less. What's more, it did it, the department says, for Canadians' own good. "Where we are coming from is a safety perspective," says Patrick Charette of Transport Canada. How the immobilizer specification would make Canadians safer, Charette wasn't able to say. The bottom line, says Bruce Cran of the Consumers' Association of Canada, is that "Canadians are being victimized by the car industry, and the government is supporting it." What consumers want Who asked for this new immobilizer regulation, asks Cran? "What benefit is this to consumers? It's absolutely none. "No consumer group ever asked for it, that's for certain. We certainly weren't included in the discussions." As a result of these rules, about a thousand enterprising Canadians have been stuck with cars they've imported from the U.S. but that can't be driven in Canada. And untold thousands of prospective Canadian buyers are being told by the Transport Canada website that most new cars sold in the U.S. are barred from Canada. Cran calls it all "pretty disgusting," and he's called on consumers to write their MPs. Which, evidently, they have. Abruptly, last week, Transport Canada rewrote the immobilizer regulation. It is now open for public comment. If the new regulation makes it into law (and there's no guarantee it will), any American car with any immobilizer, or any American car that can be fitted with one, should be admissible to Canada. At least on paper. The fact is, however, the Canadian system leaves it to the car companies to certify new vehicles for admissibility into Canada. And they clearly don't see it as in their interest to have Canadians importing lower-priced vehicles from the States. Indeed, they like the immobilizer regulation as it is. Honda of Canada spokesman Jim Miller says the company's Canadian division doesn't want to have to start certifying cars meant for the American market as admissible to Canada. Honda thinks that job ought to be up to the government. "The consumer may have gotten a political break, but administratively, it's a different matter. It's a bit of a quandary." One big market Still, in the end, says a consultant hired to represent automakers, the manufacturers will probably bend, if that's what the Canadian government really wants. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he concedes that the U.S.-Canada price differential right now is ridiculous and notes that consumer anger has already forced the manufacturers to narrow the gap somewhat. But, he says, the Harper government is "in a desperate fight to win a majority government, and so populist, so consumer-driven, that nothing else matters. They are making policy on the back of an envelope, and handing it to bureaucrats to fix." Ottawa, he says, seems to want to moves things to the point where barriers are completely removed, creating a situation in which there is, effectively, complete free trade on cars. And that, he says, will have consequences. Many production costs are dropping in the U.S., particularly as its dollar declines and automakers have been able to get out from under expensive health care and pension obligations. So, he asks, why would an automaker continue to manufacture in Canada, if everything becomes one big unimpeded market? Real free trade, in other words, might mean lower prices, but it also, eventually, means Canadian factory workers might have to accept less benefits or lose their jobs. Which was the anti-free trade argument in the first place. In the end, it's a choice.

What? your shocked to find out our social dictatorship of a government is into carteling, racketeering, antitrust and extortion?? They have been that way for over a hundred years. There is not a true democracy in Earth and has never been yet. Getting asked ONE QUESTION every five years is not a democracy, by any definition of it. It isn't even democratic when the fool you vote even leaves half way through or when the elected official decides on major important issues without a vote by the people. Like going to war, entering into so called "free trade" imposing unrealistic taxes, that effect everyone every day. This car story is only one of tens of thousands of ways they find to make us the fourth most expensive nation on Earth at present. I'm glad in three years I retire and leave this NOT free and WEAK Canada forever. Don't tell me how great it is here as I travel abroad very often and I've seen with my own two eyes that it isn't. That was the era of the 60s, 70s and early 80s, a long gone era. We live in the here and now. I work many times harder and longer for the SAME quality of life here than 96% of Earth as we all do, whether you agree or not as it's a matter of record. Why would one go south to buy a brand new car with no warranty? It defeats the purpose of new. Get a car that is used and 20% and more off of the new price in the US for a new vehicle that is new in the US and the vehicle will be much closer to 50% off of the one here in pricey Canada. Last month 25,000 about vehicles were imported into Canada and 79% were used ones, for that exact same reason. Canada has the highest priced used car on Earth at present and everyone seams only to be fixed on the new ones. The used car market in Canada is ten times more corrupt than the new ones. Just check the price of any used car here to any country and see for yourself. I bought a 2004 Jaguar Vanden Plas for $19,000.00 plus $549.00 to inspect and excise tax. Up here the same car with the miles and condition is $45,000.00 at the cheapest place in the nation. It doesn't cost $25,000.00 for up keep even on a Jaguar. This is were one saves money, not on new cars. That money I saved I can use to hire a few local companies to renovate my home some more and put those dollars DIRECTLY into my local economy that wouldn't other wise be there. The morons like GM, Ford, Honda, Chrysler, Nissan, Toyota, Mazda, BMW, VW, and others, all take 90% of their money out of Canada, not helping the local economy much at all. Go and see where those companies live and then you'll see where the money really goes. It isn't here you can be assured. Reposting a crown run propaganda media machine on political issues is real redundant to say the least. They require the crown funding next year remember and no matter what you or they say its a factor in their life. "Canuck57" <dave-no_spam@unixhome.net> wrote in message news:m5b7j.8750$jq2.6133@pd7urf1no... > From CBC > > Want a cheaper car? Sorry, you're Canadian > > http://www.cbc.ca/news/reportsfromabroad/macdonald/20071207.html > > Everybody seems to agree that the shiny new 2008 Hondas sitting in the > automaker's showrooms all over the United States are superb vehicles. They > are redesigned, extremely well-reviewed and a tremendous bargain, at least > when compared to the virtually identical versions Honda's Canadian dealers > are offering. > > But the cars here are off limits to Canadian consumers. Honda and the > Canadian government have been seeing to that. > > Right now, the big car manufacturers are gouging Canadians. And pandering > to > Americans. That should be apparent to anyone with a computer and an > internet > connection. > > When it comes to cars, Canadians constitute a captive market, fenced in > behind the world's longest economic barrier - the U.S.-Canada border. And > Honda, along with most of the other big automakers, is determined to keep > them there. > > By now, the tactics are pretty well known. Most manufacturers have told > their U.S. dealers near the Canadian border to simply refuse Canadian > customers. They've also warned that they'll refuse warranty service to > Canadians who buy their cars in the States. > > Such behaviour should be no surprise. Companies exist to make money and > the > Canadian consumer has been a fattened cash cow for the automakers since > the > loonie rose to the same level as the American greenback. > > A Honda Accord EX, for example, starts down here at $23,060 in American > dollars. The same car in Toronto costs $27,490 Canadian. > > Honda's Odyssey EX minivan costs $28,960 US here, as opposed to $36,990 in > Canada. At this writing, the currencies are virtually at par. > > Where are the breaks? > At the more exotic end of the new car scale, the differences are > staggering. > GM's Corvette coupe, for example, starts down here at $46,225 US In > Canada, > it's $70,920. > > A Cadillac sedan in the States starts at $50,350 US In Canada, $67,220 > Canadian. > > And so on. > > It wasn't supposed to be this way. Back in 1988, when Brian Mulroney's > government was trying to persuade the electorate that free trade was in > Canada's best interest, Conservative politicians dangled the prospect of > lower consumer prices to nervous, uncertain voters. > > Each side would get access to the other's market. The so-called playing > field would be leveled. Everything would be cheaper. That voice at the end > of the TV commercial that muttered: "Void where prohibited, not available > in > Canada" would disappear. > > And publicly, at least, the private sector made brave noises of support. > Rugged free-enterprisers all, they'd compete in an unshackled market to > the > good of everyone. > > The fact is, though, business loves being regulated, at least when it's in > their interest. So when the Canadian government promulgated a new > regulation > in September, stipulating a standard for anti-theft immobilizers in new > cars > sold in Canada, the car manufacturers, anxious to keep the two markets > separate, stampeded to comply. > > But it's the same device! > In short order, companies like Honda and GM stated that none of their new, > 2008 American models complied with Canadian standards and therefore, > regrettably, had to be declared inadmissible to Canada. > > In fact, in Honda's case at least, the immobilizers buried in the guts of > its American-sold vehicles are identical to the immobilizers in the cars > it > sells in Canada. Precisely the same, right down to the last wire. > > But Canadian government was asking the manufacturers to make the casing > housing the immobilizer a little more resistant to cracking. That provided > the excuse to declare it inadmissible. > > As a result, Transport Canada banned import of the much cheaper American > cars. The ones that cost thousands less. What's more, it did it, the > department says, for Canadians' own good. > > "Where we are coming from is a safety perspective," says Patrick Charette > of > Transport Canada. How the immobilizer specification would make Canadians > safer, Charette wasn't able to say. > > The bottom line, says Bruce Cran of the Consumers' Association of Canada, > is > that "Canadians are being victimized by the car industry, and the > government > is supporting it." > > What consumers want > Who asked for this new immobilizer regulation, asks Cran? "What benefit is > this to consumers? It's absolutely none. > > "No consumer group ever asked for it, that's for certain. We certainly > weren't included in the discussions." > > As a result of these rules, about a thousand enterprising Canadians have > been stuck with cars they've imported from the U.S. but that can't be > driven > in Canada. And untold thousands of prospective Canadian buyers are being > told by the Transport Canada website that most new cars sold in the U.S. > are > barred from Canada. > > Cran calls it all "pretty disgusting," and he's called on consumers to > write > their MPs. Which, evidently, they have. > > Abruptly, last week, Transport Canada rewrote the immobilizer regulation. > It > is now open for public comment. If the new regulation makes it into law > (and > there's no guarantee it will), any American car with any immobilizer, or > any > American car that can be fitted with one, should be admissible to Canada. > > At least on paper. > > The fact is, however, the Canadian system leaves it to the car companies > to > certify new vehicles for admissibility into Canada. And they clearly don't > see it as in their interest to have Canadians importing lower-priced > vehicles from the States. > > Indeed, they like the immobilizer regulation as it is. > > Honda of Canada spokesman Jim Miller says the company's Canadian division > doesn't want to have to start certifying cars meant for the American > market > as admissible to Canada. Honda thinks that job ought to be up to the > government. > > "The consumer may have gotten a political break, but administratively, > it's > a different matter. It's a bit of a quandary." > > One big market > Still, in the end, says a consultant hired to represent automakers, the > manufacturers will probably bend, if that's what the Canadian government > really wants. > > Speaking on condition of anonymity, he concedes that the U.S.-Canada price > differential right now is ridiculous and notes that consumer anger has > already forced the manufacturers to narrow the gap somewhat. > > But, he says, the Harper government is "in a desperate fight to win a > majority government, and so populist, so consumer-driven, that nothing > else > matters. They are making policy on the back of an envelope, and handing it > to bureaucrats to fix." > > Ottawa, he says, seems to want to moves things to the point where barriers > are completely removed, creating a situation in which there is, > effectively, > complete free trade on cars. And that, he says, will have consequences. > > Many production costs are dropping in the U.S., particularly as its dollar > declines and automakers have been able to get out from under expensive > health care and pension obligations. > > So, he asks, why would an automaker continue to manufacture in Canada, if > everything becomes one big unimpeded market? > > Real free trade, in other words, might mean lower prices, but it also, > eventually, means Canadian factory workers might have to accept less > benefits or lose their jobs. Which was the anti-free trade argument in the > first place. > > In the end, it's a choice. > > >

Me, going to retire early, not enough RIO for the aggravation and after tax yield. But still lots of years left to vote against NDP, Lib and Cons. Because their is no doubt Ottawa needs an enema. A big purge. "Ceri Thomas" <ceri@shawRemoveThis.ca> wrote in message news:bso7j.1400$Mw6.959@pd7urf2no... > What? your shocked to find out our social dictatorship of a government is > into carteling, racketeering, antitrust and extortion?? They have been > that way for over a hundred years. There is not a true democracy in Earth > and has never been yet. Getting asked ONE QUESTION every five years is not > a democracy, by any definition of it. It isn't even democratic when the > fool you vote even leaves half way through or when the elected official > decides on major important issues without a vote by the people. Like going > to war, entering into so called "free trade" imposing unrealistic taxes, > that effect everyone every day. This car story is only one of tens of > thousands of ways they find to make us the fourth most expensive nation on > Earth at present. I'm glad in three years I retire and leave this NOT free > and WEAK Canada forever. > Don't tell me how great it is here as I travel abroad very often and I've > seen with my own two eyes that it isn't. That was the era of the 60s, 70s > and early 80s, a long gone era. We live in the here and now. I work many > times harder and longer for the SAME quality of life here than 96% of > Earth as we all do, whether you agree or not as it's a matter of record. > Why would one go south to buy a brand new car with no warranty? It defeats > the purpose of new. Get a car that is used and 20% and more off of the new > price in the US for a new vehicle that is new in the US and the vehicle > will be much closer to 50% off of the one here in pricey Canada. Last > month 25,000 about vehicles were imported into Canada and 79% were used > ones, for that exact same reason. > Canada has the highest priced used car on Earth at present and everyone > seams only to be fixed on the new ones. The used car market in Canada is > ten times more corrupt than the new ones. Just check the price of any used > car here to any country and see for yourself. I bought a 2004 Jaguar > Vanden Plas for $19,000.00 plus $549.00 to inspect and excise tax. Up here > the same car with the miles and condition is $45,000.00 at the cheapest > place in the nation. It doesn't cost $25,000.00 for up keep even on a > Jaguar. This is were one saves money, not on new cars. That money I saved > I can use to hire a few local companies to renovate my home some more and > put those dollars DIRECTLY into my local economy that wouldn't other wise > be there. The morons like GM, Ford, Honda, Chrysler, Nissan, Toyota, > Mazda, BMW, VW, and others, all take 90% of their money out of Canada, not > helping the local economy much at all. Go and see where those companies > live and then you'll see where the money really goes. It isn't here you > can be assured. > Reposting a crown run propaganda media machine on political issues is > real redundant to say the least. They require the crown funding next year > remember and no matter what you or they say its a factor in their life. > > "Canuck57" <dave-no_spam@unixhome.net> wrote in message > news:m5b7j.8750$jq2.6133@pd7urf1no... >> From CBC >> >> Want a cheaper car? Sorry, you're Canadian >> >> http://www.cbc.ca/news/reportsfromabroad/macdonald/20071207.html >> >> Everybody seems to agree that the shiny new 2008 Hondas sitting in the >> automaker's showrooms all over the United States are superb vehicles. >> They >> are redesigned, extremely well-reviewed and a tremendous bargain, at >> least >> when compared to the virtually identical versions Honda's Canadian >> dealers >> are offering. >> >> But the cars here are off limits to Canadian consumers. Honda and the >> Canadian government have been seeing to that. >> >> Right now, the big car manufacturers are gouging Canadians. And pandering >> to >> Americans. That should be apparent to anyone with a computer and an >> internet >> connection. >> >> When it comes to cars, Canadians constitute a captive market, fenced in >> behind the world's longest economic barrier - the U.S.-Canada border. And >> Honda, along with most of the other big automakers, is determined to keep >> them there. >> >> By now, the tactics are pretty well known. Most manufacturers have told >> their U.S. dealers near the Canadian border to simply refuse Canadian >> customers. They've also warned that they'll refuse warranty service to >> Canadians who buy their cars in the States. >> >> Such behaviour should be no surprise. Companies exist to make money and >> the >> Canadian consumer has been a fattened cash cow for the automakers since >> the >> loonie rose to the same level as the American greenback. >> >> A Honda Accord EX, for example, starts down here at $23,060 in American >> dollars. The same car in Toronto costs $27,490 Canadian. >> >> Honda's Odyssey EX minivan costs $28,960 US here, as opposed to $36,990 >> in >> Canada. At this writing, the currencies are virtually at par. >> >> Where are the breaks? >> At the more exotic end of the new car scale, the differences are >> staggering. >> GM's Corvette coupe, for example, starts down here at $46,225 US In >> Canada, >> it's $70,920. >> >> A Cadillac sedan in the States starts at $50,350 US In Canada, $67,220 >> Canadian. >> >> And so on. >> >> It wasn't supposed to be this way. Back in 1988, when Brian Mulroney's >> government was trying to persuade the electorate that free trade was in >> Canada's best interest, Conservative politicians dangled the prospect of >> lower consumer prices to nervous, uncertain voters. >> >> Each side would get access to the other's market. The so-called playing >> field would be leveled. Everything would be cheaper. That voice at the >> end >> of the TV commercial that muttered: "Void where prohibited, not available >> in >> Canada" would disappear. >> >> And publicly, at least, the private sector made brave noises of support. >> Rugged free-enterprisers all, they'd compete in an unshackled market to >> the >> good of everyone. >> >> The fact is, though, business loves being regulated, at least when it's >> in >> their interest. So when the Canadian government promulgated a new >> regulation >> in September, stipulating a standard for anti-theft immobilizers in new >> cars >> sold in Canada, the car manufacturers, anxious to keep the two markets >> separate, stampeded to comply. >> >> But it's the same device! >> In short order, companies like Honda and GM stated that none of their >> new, >> 2008 American models complied with Canadian standards and therefore, >> regrettably, had to be declared inadmissible to Canada. >> >> In fact, in Honda's case at least, the immobilizers buried in the guts of >> its American-sold vehicles are identical to the immobilizers in the cars >> it >> sells in Canada. Precisely the same, right down to the last wire. >> >> But Canadian government was asking the manufacturers to make the casing >> housing the immobilizer a little more resistant to cracking. That >> provided >> the excuse to declare it inadmissible. >> >> As a result, Transport Canada banned import of the much cheaper American >> cars. The ones that cost thousands less. What's more, it did it, the >> department says, for Canadians' own good. >> >> "Where we are coming from is a safety perspective," says Patrick Charette >> of >> Transport Canada. How the immobilizer specification would make Canadians >> safer, Charette wasn't able to say. >> >> The bottom line, says Bruce Cran of the Consumers' Association of Canada, >> is >> that "Canadians are being victimized by the car industry, and the >> government >> is supporting it." >> >> What consumers want >> Who asked for this new immobilizer regulation, asks Cran? "What benefit >> is >> this to consumers? It's absolutely none. >> >> "No consumer group ever asked for it, that's for certain. We certainly >> weren't included in the discussions." >> >> As a result of these rules, about a thousand enterprising Canadians have >> been stuck with cars they've imported from the U.S. but that can't be >> driven >> in Canada. And untold thousands of prospective Canadian buyers are being >> told by the Transport Canada website that most new cars sold in the U.S. >> are >> barred from Canada. >> >> Cran calls it all "pretty disgusting," and he's called on consumers to >> write >> their MPs. Which, evidently, they have. >> >> Abruptly, last week, Transport Canada rewrote the immobilizer regulation. >> It >> is now open for public comment. If the new regulation makes it into law >> (and >> there's no guarantee it will), any American car with any immobilizer, or >> any >> American car that can be fitted with one, should be admissible to Canada. >> >> At least on paper. >> >> The fact is, however, the Canadian system leaves it to the car companies >> to >> certify new vehicles for admissibility into Canada. And they clearly >> don't >> see it as in their interest to have Canadians importing lower-priced >> vehicles from the States. >> >> Indeed, they like the immobilizer regulation as it is. >> >> Honda of Canada spokesman Jim Miller says the company's Canadian division >> doesn't want to have to start certifying cars meant for the American >> market >> as admissible to Canada. Honda thinks that job ought to be up to the >> government. >> >> "The consumer may have gotten a political break, but administratively, >> it's >> a different matter. It's a bit of a quandary." >> >> One big market >> Still, in the end, says a consultant hired to represent automakers, the >> manufacturers will probably bend, if that's what the Canadian government >> really wants. >> >> Speaking on condition of anonymity, he concedes that the U.S.-Canada >> price >> differential right now is ridiculous and notes that consumer anger has >> already forced the manufacturers to narrow the gap somewhat. >> >> But, he says, the Harper government is "in a desperate fight to win a >> majority government, and so populist, so consumer-driven, that nothing >> else >> matters. They are making policy on the back of an envelope, and handing >> it >> to bureaucrats to fix." >> >> Ottawa, he says, seems to want to moves things to the point where >> barriers >> are completely removed, creating a situation in which there is, >> effectively, >> complete free trade on cars. And that, he says, will have consequences. >> >> Many production costs are dropping in the U.S., particularly as its >> dollar >> declines and automakers have been able to get out from under expensive >> health care and pension obligations. >> >> So, he asks, why would an automaker continue to manufacture in Canada, if >> everything becomes one big unimpeded market? >> >> Real free trade, in other words, might mean lower prices, but it also, >> eventually, means Canadian factory workers might have to accept less >> benefits or lose their jobs. Which was the anti-free trade argument in >> the >> first place. >> >> In the end, it's a choice. >> >> >> > >

Yah Canuk I agree and that statement that they need an enema is the best description I've heard yet. I'm glad to see that it's not just me that can see the obvious through all this propaganda. I gave up voting years ago as it's truly pointless as nothing ever really changes until a revolution happens as history has taught us.We are about due for one soon. I just want a nice quite good life that I don't have be a slave to maintain it, like we all do here. "Canuck57" <dave-no_spam@unixhome.net> wrote in message news:SaG7j.2404$mW.2063@pd7urf1no... > > Me, going to retire early, not enough RIO for the aggravation and after > tax yield. > > But still lots of years left to vote against NDP, Lib and Cons. Because > their is no doubt Ottawa needs an enema. A big purge. > > "Ceri Thomas" <ceri@shawRemoveThis.ca> wrote in message > news:bso7j.1400$Mw6.959@pd7urf2no... >> What? your shocked to find out our social dictatorship of a government >> is into carteling, racketeering, antitrust and extortion?? They have >> been that way for over a hundred years. There is not a true democracy in >> Earth and has never been yet. Getting asked ONE QUESTION every five years >> is not a democracy, by any definition of it. It isn't even democratic >> when the fool you vote even leaves half way through or when the elected >> official decides on major important issues without a vote by the people. >> Like going to war, entering into so called "free trade" imposing >> unrealistic taxes, that effect everyone every day. This car story is >> only one of tens of thousands of ways they find to make us the fourth >> most expensive nation on Earth at present. I'm glad in three years I >> retire and leave this NOT free and WEAK Canada forever. >> Don't tell me how great it is here as I travel abroad very often and I've >> seen with my own two eyes that it isn't. That was the era of the 60s, 70s >> and early 80s, a long gone era. We live in the here and now. I work many >> times harder and longer for the SAME quality of life here than 96% of >> Earth as we all do, whether you agree or not as it's a matter of record. >> Why would one go south to buy a brand new car with no warranty? It >> defeats the purpose of new. Get a car that is used and 20% and more off >> of the new price in the US for a new vehicle that is new in the US and >> the vehicle will be much closer to 50% off of the one here in pricey >> Canada. Last month 25,000 about vehicles were imported into Canada and >> 79% were used ones, for that exact same reason. >> Canada has the highest priced used car on Earth at present and everyone >> seams only to be fixed on the new ones. The used car market in Canada is >> ten times more corrupt than the new ones. Just check the price of any >> used car here to any country and see for yourself. I bought a 2004 Jaguar >> Vanden Plas for $19,000.00 plus $549.00 to inspect and excise tax. Up >> here the same car with the miles and condition is $45,000.00 at the >> cheapest place in the nation. It doesn't cost $25,000.00 for up keep even >> on a Jaguar. This is were one saves money, not on new cars. That money I >> saved I can use to hire a few local companies to renovate my home some >> more and put those dollars DIRECTLY into my local economy that wouldn't >> other wise be there. The morons like GM, Ford, Honda, Chrysler, Nissan, >> Toyota, Mazda, BMW, VW, and others, all take 90% of their money out of >> Canada, not helping the local economy much at all. Go and see where those >> companies live and then you'll see where the money really goes. It isn't >> here you can be assured. >> Reposting a crown run propaganda media machine on political issues is >> real redundant to say the least. They require the crown funding next year >> remember and no matter what you or they say its a factor in their life.

"Ceri Thomas" <ceri@shawRemoveThis.ca> wrote in message news:fxL8j.937$hQ3.518@pd7urf3no... > I have taken my own destiny in my own hands anyhow. I've got 3 years left > before my 85 catamaran is completed in Venezuela and I set sail for where > ever I want to go. The biggest worry I'll have is what to eat and how > windy is it outside. I'll sell off every asset I have in Canada and > transfer it out to an untaxable island bank and never pay these unreal > taxes and settle for second rate services a first class prices again. I've > met others who have done this too and is the way to go. The cost of living > on a yacht of 3,400 sq. ft is way less than a 2,600 sq. ft home here in > Calgary. I originally thought it would be more but I was shown otherwise. > Plus I get to see the whole world at my leisure. My wife will not hear of it now that her daughter and niece have had babies. I was thinking of Costa Rica.