Wednesday October 24, 02:49 AM
Canadian finance minister urges retailers to slash prices
OTTAWA (AFP) - Canada's finance minister called on wholesalers and retailers on Tuesday to lower their prices to make them reflect the new strength of the Canadian dollar, which is now stronger than the US greenback.
To make his point during a news conference, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty held up a copy of a Harry Potter book that was bought in Washington over the weekend and said that the same one was 20 percent more expensive in Canada.
"Now, is that a fair price differential?" Flaherty said after meeting with representatives of large retailers.
"Now that the Canadian dollar and the US dollar are at par, I strongly urge Canadian distributors, wholesalers and retailers to reduce prices for Canadian consumers as soon as possible," he said.
The Canadian currency caught up to the US dollar last month and now stands above 1.03 US dollars.
The Retail Council of Canada, however, says that businesses cannot lower their prices immediately because they must first sell off stocks that were purchased when the Canadian dollar was weaker than the US dollar.
Wholesalers and retailers also argue that the prices reflect the higher transport costs and expenses to translate products into French or English because of the country's bilingual policy.
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