Montreal has dropped Amazon from its list of suppliers, pledges to buy local | Hacker News Reader

Montreal has dropped Amazon from its list of suppliers, pledges to buy local

cultmtl.com

24 pointspetethomas9 comments

While tariffs are on everyone's mind, the key reason is:

> Amazon critics are also calling for a boycott following the closure of seven warehouses in Quebec

Amazon warehouses in the provice had started unionizing. Incredible coincidence.

Montrealer here - The city has promised hundreds of things in the past decade and let's just say delivery has been scarce.

Take care of the city and its residents first - then move on to other subjects when things are done - if not, it remains in dreamland.

Except when you're buying local, you're buying mostly imported products. I'm no fan of Amazon but you're swapping one middleman for another.

Yes, but if that new middleman has less "economy of scale" types of prices, then it makes truly local alternative compare better, no?

In other words, let's say Amazon is 5% cheaper than all alternatives, including crude "aliexpress front stores" useless middlemen, banning Amazon won't make those stores magically cheaper. Therefore, it gives breathing space to all competition, including truly local alternatives.

Taxpayers are burdened by that 5% in your example. Instead of enriching local rich people, just take that 5% and give to the poorest in the province as UBI.

Sure, but the context is taxpayers being burdened with 25% tariffs and having to scramble for alternatives. The idea is to invest that hypothetical 5% to build resilience.

Tariffs are being placed by the US on imports i.e Canadian exports. Not sure how local resilience helps Canadian taxpayers against US tariffs since Canadian taxpayers and consumers are not going to pay the 25% tariffs, only Canadian exporters are affected.

The logical consequence of those tariffs are counter-tariffs.

The only way to send signal to commercial entities is economic. This is signal, and another middleman is likely preferable to Amazon (based on province goals, outcomes, and options available).

Not a fan of Amazon? Don't give them subsidies, revenue, favorable treatment, etc.

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