In the case of the soaring Loonie and the resulting demand for lower prices, the consumer media has failed to ask the right questions. If you were to stop me in a mall or on the street and ask me if I'd like lower prices, the answer would be "Yes." Who, after all, wouldn't like lower prices. However, if you stop me on the street and ask me if I'd like lower prices at the expense of independent retailers going out of business; the country's manufacturing and exporting sectors being hit with more job losses; and a drop in the minimum wage so stores could eke out a small profit, I'd say "No." The entire Loonie Debate as presented in the media and by politicians is one of simplifications, omissions and misinformation.
One of the greatest omissions is the failure of the media to give a prominent voice to retailers and suppliers. They don't have any trouble running headlines comparing retailers to Scrooge. Rhoda Lipton of The Elora General Store pointed out that even great articles in the press arrive with negative headlines and photos. "Almost worse than political intervention is the negative press this event has brought upon us (anything to sell papers)," she wrote. In the interest of finding out where gift and tableware retailers and suppliers really stood in the Loonie Debate, I sent out a survey on The Dollar Dilemma to the magazine's email database. Here are the complete results:
1. Are you a retailer or supplier?
Retailer 62.3%
Supplier 37.7%
2. Have your customers asked you to reduce your prices to reflect the increase in the value of the Canadian dollar?
Yes 46.1%
No 53.9%
3. Have you reduced your prices in response to demand from consumers?
Yes 21.4%
No 78.6%
Comments
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4. Have they singled out specific products when asking for a reduction?
No 69.4%
Yes 30.7%
Which products?
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5. What are the benefits of a strong Canadian dollar for your business?
Comments
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6. What are the pitfalls of a strong Canadian dollar for your business?
Comments
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7. Should government intervene in any way in the market?
Yes 26.3%
No 73.7%
Comments
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8. Other Comments
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As you read through the comments, you'll see that more questions arise. For example: Should the government be reducing Federal import taxes and other duties that add to the costs of products in Canada? Should it be an issue in the next election, whenever that might be? Should manufacturers stop printing prices on products and let retailers set their own prices? Will the Loonie stay up? Or fall? Even analysts are divided on that one. Will Canadians decide it's more important to support Canadian businesses than to save a few bucks in Buffalo?
What do you think?