Those that actually make good products that don't fall apart in your hands on the first use I guess?
In all seriousness though, when I wanted to buy a certain product (like those stick-on battery-powered lamps that you can put in attics and stuff for example) I would check CT and Amazon.
The CT product would have swollen batteries and acid damage, short circuits, burnt light bulbs, or even burnt LEDs, the casing would be cracked, right out of the package. And the worst part is that when you go to return to the store, they don't reimburse you for a broken or damaged product. Nope. You can either exchange it for another broken item or they only give you a god damn reimbursement CT card that you can only spend in their stores.
Meanwhile, Amazon would have a ton of selections with customer reviews to back up the product so you know what to expect. The prices are also competitive, even with the delivery fees. And if the product is damaged or breaks, you get an instant reimbursement as soon as you send it back, free of charge.
For the record, I cancelled my Amazon Prime subscription, and boycott Amazon. I don't buy anything from them anymore unless I really can't find an alternative somewhere else whether in stores or online at another Canadian location or straight from manufacturers. But, I also avoid CT as much as possible due to my extremely poor customer experience there. There's always Rona/ Reno Depot, but they were bought by an American equity firm. Home Depot is also American. So I don't have any other Canadian options.
Canadian companies like Canadian Tire, Loblaws, Metro and other big chains have established themselves almost as monopolies in Canada. Yeah I want to encourage Canadian businesses, but they're taking advantage of Canadians, and that doesn't encourage me to buy from them. I try to find smaller providers, but it's sometimes near impossible for certain types of products.
Their tools barely last long enough to finish the job...
More than half the shit I buy there is some cheap Chinese crap that's either broken in the package or breaks as you take it out because of how flimsy it is.
Much of Alberta’s frustration comes from how the equalization formula is structured. Some aspects do deserve scrutiny, such as the exclusion of certain provincial revenues, particularly from electricity generation, which disproportionately benefits Quebec. The formula could be adjusted to ensure a more accurate reflection of provincial wealth.
But Alberta’s grievances often overlook a key reality: equalization is not the only way federal dollars flow between provinces. Alberta receives significant funding through federal programs, infrastructure spending, and social transfers. The province has also benefited from federal relief efforts during economic downturns, just as other provinces have in times of crisis.
Additionally, Alberta has maintained low provincial tax rates, meaning that if the province truly wanted to receive more federal transfers, it could raise taxes to boost its eligibility. The fact that it chooses not to is a policy decision, not evidence of systemic bias.
Also, it's not Alberta that pays the equalization payments to other provinces. It's actual individual income tax. It just so happens that the most wealthy Canadians live in Alberta. And there's a lot more at play and you can learn about it by watching ths little 6 min video.
No. But the added pressure means there's more demand for housing. Meaning landlords can jack up prices further.
BTW, not saying the immigrants themselves are the problem. Rather the high immigration levels set the by the federal government. Immigrants are victims in all of this.
As Québécois, I wholeheartedly disagree with this opinion.
Threats to national unity, principally from Quebec, have also led to further forms of decentralization. The provinces, and especially Quebec, have gained significant authority over matters traditionally belonging to the federal level, including immigration policy, and increasingly over foreign affairs matters like international trade.
Yes, and there are very good historical reasons for this. For one, we don't want to be flooded with anglophone immigration only for the francophone population to become a minority, and suddenly losing our rights as a historical nation of this country. I don't know how manu times I've heard people from the anglophone side of Canada say that we should just dissappear as a nation and just all speak English for practicality's sake. I'm sorry that actual multiculturalism doesn't fit with Canada's view of "multiculturalism".
Additionally, Québec's more progressive values don't always align with those of the rest of Canada. Québec has been called racist for having secularism laws, when it's just a continuation of it's separation of church and state following the quiet revolution, and its liberation from the grip that the catholic church had on the people and governments.
Québec is also the province with the most lakes, and the largest reserve of unsalted water, a precious resource that we want to preserve. Having Canada impose any type of oil exploitation activity over these can threaten that resource. So we'd very much like to keep control over what goes over, under or in those lakes.
I understand your frustration and I, too, thought that blocking went both ways before seeing your post.
If you encounter someone who is harassing you and attacking your reputation without your knowledge and down voting your whole history, you should gather the proof and contact your instances mods. There's a very good chance they'll ban them either temporarily or permanently from the instance. Or contact the mods from their instance as well.
Shut up, eh you hoser.
( it's all in good fun 😉 )