Happy Holidays From Your Friends At TTAC

by Bertel Schmitt

December 31st, 2012 8:25 AM

happy holidays from your friends at ttac

The team at TTAC, wherever it may be, wishes you the best of all holidays.

As we are often accused of being pro-import, we honor an age-old European tradition: “The bridge.”

In Europe, this is when you take only a handful working days off to turn Christmas and New Year into a two-week vacation, which you spend in the Maldives, or in Phuket (because of the ancient temples…) At TTAC, we make it a mini-bridge, taking it easy until New Year. If and when there are major news, we will cover them. In the new year, we will be back in full force.

#BertelSchmitt #Housekeeping

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8 of 26 comments

PhotoJim on Dec 30, 2012

Import-biased? Meh, to a Canadian like me they're all imports. (What's more Canadian, a Honda made in Ontario or a GM made in Ontario? Is my Honda made in Ohio more Canadian than a Mazda made in Japan? What does it matter?) By my reckoning, you call cars like they are and if the US car manufacturers made cars better than the non-US competitors, you'd be all over them. Seems to me, in fact, you've been all over some Ford products lately and your review of the Cadillac ATS was pretty favourable as well. Anyone who buys a car because it's American (or Japanese, or German, or Mexican) over all other considerations is doing himself or herself a disservice. Buy what's best. At worst, you end up with the best vehicle for yourself and a real financial motivation to the more local providers to up their game. (It's no coincidence that Ford's upped their game so much; they had to to succeed in Europe.)

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Gentle Ted on Dec 30, 2012

Photo Jim has it right, the so called Big Three made crappy cars and Trucks over a thirty year period plus and dumped a lot of them here in Canada, no wonder the Import Makers found fertile ground to sell there products here in North America, even the US Consumer could only take some of there shoddy products and live with there many faults,one excuse was that it was made on a Friday!

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- Mikey on Dec 30, 2012
  
  "Made on a Friday" Really? Maybe in 1975. About the time the Japanese cars lasted about5 years befor turning into a pile of rust. Candadians you say? So no doubt you guys enjoy our ,oh so expensive, social prograns."Free health care" Old age supplement,CPP, how about our university tuition,not free, but certainly cheaper than elsewhere. The list goes on and on. It all comes from taxes. Does Mazda or its employees pay Canadian taxes? How about Hyundia/Kia? In fairness, Honda, and Toyota have some manufactoring here. Great. GM ,Ford, Chrysler,and thier employess,have made massive contributions to our economy. But hey, my fellow Canucks buy whatever to f-- you want. Enjoy your import. Be ready to watch your OAS vanish,along with CPP. "Free health care"...have you used it lately? It might be free, but calling it care? The teachers on strike, crying the blues,with thier 80k salaries? The goverment workers with thier indexed pensions based on 60 percent of thier salaries. Its a matter of time before thier plans go broke,and the taxpayers pick up the tab. The Doctors are driving BMW's. Now thier banging on the goverment doors,looking for a raise. Check out the school,and government parking lots......full of imports. We in Canada are so smug,with our. {somewhat} safe streets,and our percieved "socialist utopia". It all comes with one massive price tag. Ask yourself,where does the money come from?
  
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- PhotoJim on Dec 30, 2012
  
  @mikey Public health care is a provincial matter, not federal, so buying a car made in Ontario doesn't help me acquire public health care service in Saskatchewan. Further, why is buying a GM made in Ontario more "Canadian" than buying a Honda made in Ontario or a Hyundai made in Ontario? Answer: it isn't. All car manufacturers are foreign by Canadian reckoning. All have operations of some nature in Canada - most have manufacturing, all have sales divisions - and obviously local dealers and mechanics receive benefits in Canada from cars sold in Canada but made out of Canada. One final point: your logic about why to buy Canadian is a very powerful argument for foreigners to NOT buy Canadian. I for one avoid companies that wave American flags too vehemently because if their arguments hold water, I should prefer a Canadian supplier instead.
  
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- Mikey on Dec 30, 2012
  
  @mikey PhotoJim....Health care is administerd by the Province. The feds manadate it,and fund it through transfer payments. Honda and Toyota Ford, and Chrysler and GM have plants in Ontario. Thats it. Fact is our goverments are broke,and in deep debt. Somebody has to pay the bills. I believe in spending my money,with companies that contribute to our country.
  
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- PhotoJim on Dec 31, 2012
  
  @mikey Saskatchewan, where I live, is in surplus but that's not really the point. The point is, you're advocating a protectionist mindset, and you have to think about this: if it makes sense for you to only buy Ontario-made cars because the Ontario economy is bad, it makes sense for Americans to avoid Ontario-made cars because their economy is at least as bad, and probably worse. Do you always make sure the flour in the food you consumed came from Saskatchewan wheat, or that the beef you consume came from Saskatchewan or Alberta cattle? I doubt it.
  
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Pig_Iron on Dec 30, 2012

All the best to the masthead, crew, and B&B readership. Wishing everyone a great New Year. :-)

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Buckshot on Dec 30, 2012

I have 2+ weeks vacation from dec 21 to jan 7, but it´s not all positive. It´s like; "Use it or loose your work" The economy is down, and you want to save some money just in case, but that´s not easy if you have a vacation :/

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