"The cause of the Canada-U.S. price gap is obvious — the government"

Mark Milke:

... the federal government recently introduced legislation — dubbed the Price Transparency Act — that will force retailers to explain why Canadians sometimes pay higher prices than Americans for the same products. 

... To think a government is remotely capable of collecting and properly collating this type of comparative information assumes a degree of specific knowledge that governments do not possess, as it would be impossible to track the millions of business decisions that are made on a daily basis.

... All of this ...ignores one significant reason why some prices in Canada are higher than those in the United States: government policy.  ... For example ... Ontario’s rising electricity costs ... federal “supply management” policies ... airline fares - federal government policy that prevents full cabotage ...

Several others have also written about James Moore’s proposed law:

Andrew Coyne: The whole ‘Canada-U.S. price gap’ issue is a con surrounded by hypocrisy
John Ivison: Moore trades tariff relief for discredited 1970s policies
Peter Foster: Regulations R Us

All make excellent points.  There is certainly nothing “conservative” about such regulation.  We are blessed with (mostly) free markets in this country.  Retailers are best able to price their products in those markets and consumers are perfectly capable of sorting out where to buy them and deciding what price is fair.  The government should not be meddling with or attempting to micro-manage retail businesses.

James Moore's urge to micro-manage

If it isn't James Moore telling Tim Horton's how to run it's business,  it's James Moore policing prices at Toys R Us and every other cross-border business.  This is conservatism?

Must be an election coming.

Junk statistics used to justify quotas for women on corporate boards

Terence Corcoran:

Rona Ambrose, federal Status of Women Minister, says she is leading a new committee of business executives to study the issue of women directors.  Aiming for bold action, Ms. Ambrose told The Globe and Mail “I [told the committee] I  wanted action-oriented recommendations for the government to immediately act on,” she said. “We’ve had enough studies and enough reports.” [That's quite an admission.  Why bother with her phony, loaded committee?]  
 
Laurel Broten, Ontario’s Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues.  “The statistics are very clear,” Ms. Broten told a CBC Radio audience ..."... Improved financial performance is what you see in a company that has more women on their board.”

Only junk statistics could possibly justify such an obviously junk idea as quotas for women on corporate boards, or quotas for women in any other role for that matter.

And why in the Hell do we still have Ministers responsible for "women's issues"?  Talk about junk politics and a waste of taxpayers' money!