"Canadians don't know how good they have it."

And other miscellaneous notes from this week

By: Ish Theilheimer

- Toronto talk radio king Ted Woloshyn of CFRB had me on his Saturday phone-in this week to talk about Canadian versus US costs of living and wages. First he introduced me and I said my piece about how some US prices are lower than Canadian prices, but that overall, average Canadians come out ahead of average Americans.
  Ted then got three callers who confirmed what Straight Goods correspondents reported for our February series, and one who confirmed his own prejudices.
  Ahmed, the first caller, had just come back from living in New Jersey, where he said he earned six figures. "Canadians don't know how good they have it." He want on to say when he lived in the US, his six-figure annual earnings got whittled down fast.
  "You end up spending it all on education and health care," said Ahmed. He pointed to post-secondary education and private health plan premiums of $200 a month as examples. And his said his company health plan only reimbursed him for 20% of expenses, so if someone needs a $1-2,000 worth of diagnostic tests and treatments, it comes to several hundreds dollars out of pocket.
 

"There's no way you can afford housing in Silicon Valley unless you strike it rich. I'd rather pay the taxes up here."

  Then Peter, a Canadian high tech worker who has spent time in California's "Silicon Valley" called and said "I'll vouch for everything that's been said so far on the show. There's no place like home. This is the best place to be."
  While wages are great in the high-tech sector, housing prices are astronomical. A house in Silicon Valley goes for $750,000 US - about $1.1 million CDN. When Peter worked in Silicon Valley, he had to rent a tiny apartment. Living in Toronto, home ownership is no problem for him.
  "There's no way you can afford housing unless you strike it rich. I'd rather pay the taxes up here."
  Then Daniel called with his story of working in Boston. He said that he could make in the high 50s (US) there versus about the same level in Canadian funds here, but the advantages are outweighed by housing and medical costs. When he was in Boston, he paid $140/month for health care. And the same house that might go for $200,000 CDN in Scarborough goes for $3-400,000 US in an equivalent suburb of Boston. When asked about taxes in the two countries, Daniel responded "I don't feel overtaxed.
  The only dissenting voice was John, who said "Social programs are draining our country. That's why we have so many sick people in Canada. In the US, people are a lot healthier," and so on.
  This was just a sample of guys listening to CFRB on a Saturday afternoon in Toronto. Excepting maybe John, it sounded like straight goods to me.

- A number of readers have wondered why Straight Goods is promoting the 3-day "gas-out" in April. If we support the environment and less pollution, why would we promote lower gas prices?
  We doubt, in fact, the gas-out will bring lower gas prices, although if it puts pressure on the oil companies, so much the better. It's hard to imagine any government giving up the tax points on this product everyone needs to buy. After all, they've all cut taxes for the wealthy so much, they can't afford any more tax cuts for the ordinary guy. It's worth a try, but it's not likely.
  The main reason we support the gas-out is because it will also probably mean people will find ways to drive less and use less gas. This is always a good thing.
  Straight Goods knows how much oil price hikes have cost average families. I reckon a typical 100-km return commute in a mid-size car takes about 10 litres of gas. At $.60/l, that's $6.00/day. At $.75/l, that's $7.50/day. At a buck a litre, that's $10.00/day. Over a 300-day work year, that comes to an extra $450 a year extra if prices stay around $.75/l and more like $900 for a buck a litre.
  Many Canadians, including my neighbours, commute longer distances in hungrier vehicles. A lot of them don't have any choice. I hope we can push the oil price down. I also hope we can push governments into other things that will help us all, like improved public transit, rural transit arrangements, and better inter-city bus and air service. If those things don't happen, the ordinary consumer is sure to get screwed as oil prices go up.

- Straight Goods is now eight weeks old. It's been a blast so far. We love the wonderful writers and readers we've come to know. We've published some real scoops and a lot of great articles, and received kudos from pretty reputable sources. We're also more than a little mystified by the business of the Web and what makes people visit us - and what turns them off.
  We see ourselves as a publication specializing in consumer and citizen protection. Do you see us that way? How could we make this work better. We got about 12,000 visitors last month. We want to get that many every day, and far more. What do you think it will take to make that happen.
  Our Monday poll asks readers how we can improve the site to make it more appealing. Whether you fill it in or not, please let us know how you think we can improve.
  Don't hold back for fear of offending. Give us the goods! Please feel free to contact me personally: ish@straightgoods.com.

- Ish Theilheimer
- March 20, 2000

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