Level the playing field
Against all odds, I ended up watching a press conference with the premier of Quebec. Actually “tuned in” early enough to watch the janitor help out with the sound check, and the focus check completed with someone’s notebook. Locally produced content. The bilingual statement (that’s both languages at the same time) served to remind me how much my ability to “split-brain” has grown in the last few decades. Anyhow.
The US has just slapped a punitive tariff on aircraft built by Bombardier. One way to convince your clients to buy local is to up the price of someone else’s product by a whopping 220%. Now, I haven’t bought many planes along the way, but when the price tag gets a kick in the keester of between $64 million US and $170 million US, there’s a certain disincentive. In dollar store terms, “buy one for the price of three”. Keep an eye on this one.
Another big corporation, Bell Canada, has petitioned the federal government to “level the playing field” by simply blocking access to any site that offers streamed content of material that Bell has on their menu. After all, free is so unfair… to a monopoly. Oh how I wish for a world where the business world didn’t depend on the government for the least details in their business model. So far, the idea is a non-starter, but elections are expensive. Wait to see what your (corporate) donation will buy, the next time around. And if Bell is also your internet provider, the intervention might come early.
