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PAGE 6 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 1994 Go west, young man! That was the advice given to Americans by a writer named Horace Greeley in 1855. He wanted his fellow countrymen to head west for opportunity. In 1994 however, aggressive American entrepreneurs aren‘t headâ€" ing west â€" they‘re going north. They‘re setting their sights on Canada. And the effect is being felt. The giant discounter WalMart, which joined the rush earler this year by purchasing 120 Woolco stores from Woolworth Canada for U.S. $300 million, is now opening its first stores in this country. Not far behind is Atlantaâ€"based Home Depot, which is expected to open the first of five warehouse stores in Vancouver by year‘s end. It joins Burlington Coat Factory, Eagle Hardware and CompUSA in the battle for business. But the real story is WalMart. It is an efficient, customerâ€"friendly and lowâ€"priced store that will give its Canadian competitors a real run for the money. Consumers will benefit because of lower prices and better service Why are American stores infiltrating the market so well? Start with NAFTA. Passage of the agreement promises to eventuâ€" ally remove all tariffs on U.S. and Mexicanâ€"made goods shipped to Canada. That will make American retailers who sell goods more Then take the distmbution channels. Because most of Canada‘s population lives within 100 miles of the U.S. border, it is fairly simâ€" ple for U.S. retailers to extend distribution one link further north to Canada. Many Canadian retailers, in an almost futile effort, distribâ€" ute 4,000 miles from east to west. There is also the U.S. economic recovery, which is prompting retailers to look for new places to expand. Many U.S. markets are glutted with competitors and the Canadian market is seen as being less ferocious. All of this is a good move. The more competition, the better. It only helps the consumer and will uitimately make other retailers WalMart sets a good example, no question about it. I‘ve been in a few of its stores over the past few years and I‘ve found them to be A1. They set a standard for the industry and they‘ll be good for all of competitive in Canada. Is the current federal Liberal regime just like the Tories? Judging by what‘s going on, you could sure argue that. Consider this: since the Grits got into power, they‘ve endorsed NAFTA, approved cruiseâ€"missile testing, announced a freeze on civil serâ€" vants, cut back on UIC payments and appointed lots of friends and relatives to position in government. Each and every one of those moves is the same as the Tory plan. But there‘s the difference: the Liberals didn‘t tell you this is what they planned to do. They said one thing in their Red Book and are Just think of it. They were against NAFTA (and don‘t believe they changed much of what the Tories did; they didn‘t), they denounced cruiseâ€"missile tests in opposition, they never said a word about UIC cuts in the Red Book and as for fiscal policy, they never told you that they were about to add at least $100 billion to the country‘s debt in three years. As for patronage, Mr. Chretien‘s nephew is now ambassador to Washington. His lawyer redrafted the Pearson airport deal and so forth and so forth. It just goes on and on. As Brian Mulroney (you remember him still?) said recently: "Gee, for a minute there I thought I was right back in office." So you thought you voted for a change, eh? Waterloo Town Square â€" 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario NJ 1P2 Telephone 886â€"2830 News Line 886â€"3021 US retail invasion is good for us all Fax No. Meanwhile Fred Sagel Teresa Brown Not that many years ago there was one thing you could say for Kâ€"W on summer weekends: there was nothing doing every minute. . That was back when the community tempo was slower, when for real excitement on Saturday nights folks went down to the service station and watched them read dip sticks. That was back when the community‘s culture was symphony orchestra had to cancel its performance of Beethoven‘s Fifth because the chap who played first ukulele quit. But how times have changed. The whole area is humming with activity. There‘s some sort of summer festival or festivals every weekend, if not in Kâ€"W then in one of the communities that‘s only a whoop and a holler away. That‘s not to mention the summer theâ€" atres in places like Drayton and Blyth. True, no local entertainment will match the exciteâ€" ment of the old Waterloo Band Festival. The highâ€" light? The big Saturdayâ€"night parade with Prof. Thiele, that wondrous music maker, strutting down King Street in front of his hometown band. Sadly, some events are gone forever just like runâ€" ningâ€"boards on cars and the fiveâ€"cent phone call. Still, the current events offer culture aplenty, particularly two of them: The Highland Games in Cambridge and in Fergus. StatsCan report little comfort 6/ 2el : C.ON AnZ “@@L/L Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by 215 Fairway Rd. S., $45 yearly in Canada. Kitchener, Ont. $90 yearly outside Canada President: Paul Winkler _ +GS.T. The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the newspaper. Sn <> SN‘icaaz The Fairway Group 215 Fairway Rd. S., International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0832â€"3410. ____O O O7 Tancare Serial Nut lawns and walks that flush. How‘s Zat Again? If it wasn‘t a scam, it sure was a superâ€"spin. That recent StatsCan report on immiâ€" grants really slathered the cosmetics on a nasty situaâ€" The report â€" and the media made the most of this â€" claimed immigrants are betterâ€"educated, harderâ€" working and have more stable family lives than nativeâ€"born white Canadians. Here‘s how that emerged: The study used old cenâ€" sus data from 1991 and other numbers that went back 40 years. It unearthed the obvious: way back then most immigrants were wellâ€"schooled, hardâ€"workâ€" ing and stable. They were often middleâ€"class profesâ€" sionals from Europe and Asia. But now, as anyone who knows anything about our immigration is aware, the composition of the newcomâ€" ers has changed radically. Today Canada attracts fewer workingâ€"class and middleâ€"class people who want to build better lives Instead it seems to attract many devout nonâ€"workers from various Third World countries and the Caribbean, laggards who want to nuzzle up to our welfare trough. Here‘s the second big flaw in the StatsCan report: it focuses on legal immigrants, but they represent only 20 per cent of total newcomers. Most of today‘s immigrants enter under the laughâ€" able Family Reunification program. Almost anyone can get in because the screening is a joke. So take no comfort from the StatsCan numbers. Nothing has changed. Our doors are still open, and that Toronto cafe patron and that Toronto constable are still dead. Zero Tolerance: Please excuse this column, but my word processor is busted. The 0 is upside down. nCce over 0 Foith Sandy Baird