Canada vs. Fla malt prices

I think this has been beaten to death a bit and I think some are getting tired of hearing it - though I admit I'm as guilty as anyone for bringing it up.

Canadians pay more for everything vs. Americans, higher goods, higher gas prices, more income tax, and our wages don't reflect - so spending money is more limited in Canada. I do love where I live, though.

I do tend to roll my eyes when Americans complain about prices, because it's such a cheap place to live compared to other similarly developed parts of the world.

@lostboyscout, with all due respect, spare me the "cheap place to live" line. If you knew what I had to pay for housing, public transport, my kids college education savings plans, and health care, you would change your tack. Much of what goes into a place being inexpensive (or not) to live, is lost upon those that don't actually live there. If all you have to go on is transparent whisky prices, you are dealing with a minisucle, meaningless (ok, not for the people on this forum) figure for most people.

Hey guys - what's goin.....

{looks around}...

{walks backwards reaallly slow - keeping eye contact - closes door}...

An observation... yes in Canada the prices are generally higher, especially when the province (government) controls it. Fortunately, where I live, Alberta, it is privatized. Still expensive, but I can go on a "search" or "hunt" and find various prices for the same product. A good buy for me would be Ardbeg 10 for $52.77 that is normally over $60.00 at other outlets. And it happens to be one of my favourites.

A year or so ago, QC Laphroaig was going on sale for the mid $30 range.

Now try to get a good price on a good bourbon is another thing. But still the prices vary, encouraging the "hunt".

I usually don't welcome privatiization but in this area it in a benefit...

I wouldn't live anywhere else, even if my luxury purchases are a little more expensive than elsewhere.

@cpstecroix Yep! The most important factor is to love where you are living. I'm a displaced Nova Scotian. I long for the ease of life-style there, but all my children are settled in the "rat race" here in Alberta.

My main complaint about our prices here in Ontario is that about half the price is just LCBO markup. We're forced to pay for a bunch of lazy and often uninformed unionized employees.

It's unfair to compare us to America, but the prices in Alberta show what Canadians should be paying.

Prices in Alberta reflect a different tax regime. Not everything there is cheaper.

@cpstecroix Actually the new government is quite Liberal, with taxes on the horizons, but I think that liquor taxes here are sorta "a no touch zone" at least for the time being... shows where our priorities are... :)

Why do we as Canadians insist on comparing ourselves, in every way, to Americans. We are different. Why do we find that so hard to deal with. We would be better off comparing ourselves to Western European social democracies where their social systems, health care, gun laws and tax regimes are much closer to ours. The world we live in is about much more than whisky. Let's keep things in perspective. As @JeffC says, just because their whisky is cheaper than ours doesn't mean life in the US is cheaper and better in all ways. Sorry for the rant, it just struck me.

@SMC - not necessarily...if you want cheaper prices, check out the NB Liquor Board...it has some of the cheapest prices in the country. I was in Calgary last year and did a bit of comparison between what I found in Calgary, at the prices in the LCBO, the SAQ, BC Liquor, and NB Liquor, and it was a bit of a jumble as to which region of the country was actually the most "reasonable"...

And just to get back to the topic: I really don't give a shit what the price of whisky is in Florida. I know I wouldn't want to live there.

@BlueNote - true! Price comparisons for luxury consumer goods are rather irrelevant in the larger scheme of things (food, gas, clothes, tax rates, tuition fees, health insurance, etc., etc.)...and not everything is cheaper there...with the exchange rate the way it has been lately, the prices on some whiskies are actually pretty close to par these days.

I'm as guilty as anyone for complaining about price points lately -- probably more so. I'll give it a rest after this post. As a final attempt to try and put things in a bit more perspective, at least wages tend to be somewhat higher in Canada.

Cost of living is high, but so is the standard of living. I'll admit to being a complainer, but when you really get down to it I'm not upset about it. Like I said in another thread, I guess I'm just a cheapskate at heart. :)