First let me say that, in principle I am not in favour of opening up our market place more than it already is to American business wanting to cash in on Canadian prosperity. I suppose in that regard I am a bit of a protectionist. I’m not ashamed of that, I just think there are many things about our Canadian society and culture that I think are worth holding on to and there already is too much American influence on the Canada I hold dear.
So, I guess I am, in principle, against Amazon moving into Canada. They already have a pretty big market share in Canada as a result of Google’s habit of putting them ahead of Canadian on-line booksellers when you search for on-line books. I don’t really think we need their greater presence here.
What is starting to get under my skin however is Heather Reisman’s campaign to keep Amazon out by evoking the image of that American bookseller forcing the independent bookstores out of business. I am sorry Heather; you have pretty much already done that, all by yourself. Aggressive marketing by Chapters/Indigo has made it pretty tough for all but the largest Canadian booksellers to survive. Even some of them are in trouble.
Reisman’s effort reminds me a bit of the campaign by Canada’s private broadcasters, claiming that they are trying to save local programming when the truth is, they have little to no commitment to it at all and haven’t had for over 20 years.
Ok kids, can anyone spell disingenuous.
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