ABOVE: It appears the Conservatives will try to turn the page on the Senate scandal when Parliament opens on Wednesday, announcing plans to close the gap on cross-border prices. Jacques Bourbeau reports.
OTTAWA — The Conservative government will take steps to bridge price gaps between goods sold in Canada and the United States, Global News has learned.
The government is planning to announce details on these steps in tomorrow’s speech from the throne, and falls comfortably into the speech’s emerging theme—a special focus on consumers.
“The Harper government will focus on growing the economy, reducing costs and improving choices for consumers,” a senior government source told Global News. “We will take action to make it easier for families to save more of their hard-earned dollars.”
Earlier this year, a Senate committee wrapped up a study into potential reasons why price discrepancies exist on many consumer goods, including cars, books, over-the-counter medication, clothing, food and iPhones.
The finance committee spent more than a year hearing testimony from a variety of witnesses after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty asked its members to investigate why the price discrepancy persisted despite the loonie’s strong showing.
While commending the Senate committee’s work, the government source said the solutions outlined in its final report will not necessarily be reflected in the government’s plan.
That report, tabled in February, suggested Flaherty look at cutting import tariffs as a means of bridging the gap.
The committee also recommended the heritage minister conduct a cost-benefit analysis of reducing the 10 per cent mark-up Canadian distributors can apply to American prices on books.
Though the methods by which the government will tackle the discrepancies remains unknown, the source said there is no question the issue has to be addressed.
This is the latest in a string of items the Conservatives have revealed in their new consumer-centric agenda.
Tomorrow’s throne speech is also expected to propose an air passenger bill of rights as well as ways to help small- and medium-sized businesses through regulating credit card processing fees.
Canadians can also expect to hear the government talk about ways to decrease cellular roaming charges.
During the last federal election, the NDP campaigned on similar reforms to the fees credit card companies slap on some businesses. The official Opposition also introduced a passenger bill of rights, but the Conservatives didn’t support either measure.
The throne speech will, of course, keep the tried and true Conservative themes of focusing on the economy, creating jobs, introducing more law-and-order measures and opening trade markets with other countries.
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