J.C.Q.

NO TO WALMART!!!!!!!!!!!
I have so many issues with Crapmart...don't make me get all Political Science on you Jacqueline.
-Sexy Sonia

I have to agree with Sonia on that one...why not support smaller local Regina businesses?!? I know there is a wedding shop on Victoria Ave., or if you must, at least Zellers is Canadian :) Oh by the way, we MUST organize a bridal shower for you!!!! Ahh...all the embarassing things we could make you do ;)
-marissa

Ahhh yes...the Bridal shower. I've briefly discussed about this with Nat and...well...let's just say we both think that I should be in charge of the "entertainment".
Muahahahahaha *cue devil icon*
Hey! If YOU don't want it then at least I'll be a happy camper.
-Super Sexy Sonia

Yes yes, supporting local businesses... when you have family and friends that live all over North America, and will only get to Regina on the day of your wedding, you want to register with something bigger than just local.

Might I recommend Sears, by the way. That's where we registered, and we've had a fantastic experience with them. Their registry is online! And you can update it online! Good times.

Confession: a large quantity of the stuff we registered for was from the Martha Stewart line. I confess. But it's pretty, and cheap good quality. So I don't care.

No way am I shopping at local businesses which overwhelmingly vote for the Sask Party!

Yes, I must register at Sears.

You don't have to support local businesses exclusively, but Wal-Mart?!?! Come on Jacqueline. I mean, I have shopped there, and I like their low low prices, but I can't support their policies. And, as was already mentionned Zellers and the Bay are at least Canadian.

Now on to more important things. The bridal shower and the staggette. Marissa and Sonia can have the shower, but that means Heather, Helen and I get the stagette. I have been to a few in recent times, and you KNOW that we will show you a good time.

Regarding the Zellers and Bay suggestions: if Zellers still does offer their registry, it's not available online. Regarding the other two HBC companies (Bay and Home Outfitters), their registries aren't bad, but you have to register at them somewhat separately, although you can access your registry at either store. (They could make it so much more simple.) And HBC briefly took their online registry down this year, which spooked me out of registering with them.

Can you tell I have wedding stuff on the brain?

On another note: Canadian Tire. They have a registry. It's awesome.

On yet another note, have you checked out http://www.theknot.com or http://www.weddingchannel.com (I think -- I access it through Chris and my website)? Both sites have good, free helpful things, and registering on the sites are free. AND you get a free wedding webpage: Chris and I have a weddingchannel one, and you can manage your guest list online on the password-protected account, and turn it into a database to print off addresses, and people can RSVP online to your site, and you can put up information on your site for your guests about the wedding...

It's so wonderful. Can you tell that I'm getting married in nearly 3 months? Terra passed all this information on to me, when I got engaged.

I must join in with the general disapproval of the fact that you have even dared LOOK at Walmart. And KFC too! We must fight against the corporations taking over our lives!

That said, it doesn't surprise me that Walmart has a wedding registry. The goal is to make people spend as much money as possible right? Consume consume consume!

Hmm... this is indeed a debatable situation.

Not buying my tube of toothpaste at Wal-Mart just for the principle of the thing won't result in any change. But since I'm an active member of a political party that opposes big business, I am actually making a difference.

Buying at one of the local Sask Party stores would be in complete violation of the above.

However, there's also something to be said for the fact that just because a business is Canadian doesn't mean it's better than Wal-Mart. I've read articles and a book written entirely about how Wal-Mart is evil. It still doesn't compare to, for example, the evilness of Loblaws.

In any case, Canadian Tire and Sears are definitely good places for registries.

In the modern world, no matter what we do, we're going to somehow be considered hypocritical.

Thanks for the links Maryanne! :) I must definitely make a webpage.

Wow, I came late for the party.

Firstly: YES TO WALMART!!!!!!!!! Nothing against Mom and Pop shops, but Wal-mart is where it's at. The big corporations too. They may be perceived as evil, but take them away and we're back to before the industrial revolution. You don't want that. Trust me. (Yes, I am a business student.)

Basically everyone with a business, mom&pop OR walmart is likely to vote for the Sask party, because they make the best business sense out of the poor set of choices back there. You can argue all you want about whether to be socially liberal or conservative, but from a business point of view, you want to go as right as possible.

It's just simple logic.

But Wal-mart wedding registry? that's too much. Yeah, go HBC - they've got some real nice stuff - especially in their cookware section - yay for bringing back cast-metal pans!

Leander

So I'm a starving student and poor, and I like the low-low prices. So shoot me!

Anyways, I'm in the middle of planning my sister's stagette (May 20th if you're interested). I will be experienced at planning by yours. Tamara, Heather and I can create some fun, that's for sure.
-Helen

Jacqueline, please explain why Loblaws is evil. I've been buying my groceries there for...well, since I've been in Ottawa. There aren't many altervnatives close to where I live - there's Loeb...and that's about it!
-marissa

Marissa: They are one of the very few food companies that doesn't give extras to Food Banks. They treat upper and middle management employees with disrespect, making them work very long hours with very low pay. They refuse to even list their phone number in the phone book so that people can't register complaints. They are horrible to municipal governments, too. But that's another story.

Loblaws and Super Store are owned by the same company or something...and I worked for Super Store for three years of my life. I can truly say that it sucked...but not because it was Super Store, just cuz...well...the people that go there! Jackasses!
But I digress...Super Store is the following:
1) Canadian and sell Canadian products;
2) Unionized (which is good...cuz I couldn't get fired without just cause, AND I was making something like $9/h - WAY better than min. wage);

I worked for small businesses and all they do if screw you over. All in all I'd shop at Super Store (or Loblaws) over EVIL Walmart.

OHHH that was me by the way...Super Cool Sonia :)

Hey Mister Business Student Leander,

It's funny you say these things, cause that is exactly what they teach me in my business classes. I am currently taking a class on How To Run a Multinational (that's not the exact name of the class but it describes the content quite accurately). I have the hardest time trying not to beat the teacher with a club every week.

Today we learned that "exploitation of poor people is necessary" and that "tax evasion is a great idea".

When did universities become slaves to major corporations? Cause I don't recall deciding to pay tuition so that I could be brainwashed by McDonalds, Nike and Walmart.

I'd give all the 876239282 valid arguments to why saying that "without large corporations we'd be back before the industrial revolution" is total crap but I think most people who read this blog have heard the arguments already and if they're not convinced yet I don't really see what would convince them that they're crazy aside from putting them in a mental institution. A quick search on Google should be enough to convince anyone.

1) Even if you're not in a union, there must be just cause for you to be fired. If there was not, it's lawsuit time.

2) "Exploitation" is a tough word to use, since it's subjective. But when you say "exploitation of poor people," I'm going to assume you mean outsourcing to nations with a lower cost of doing business. And I'm going to, then, assume that by "exploitation" you mean paying them less than their peers in North America. Well, guess what's probably the case? There's a lower cost of living over there! They have a weaker currency! Usually when business processes are outsourced, the people are getting paid a lot more than they would at another job, at less cost to the parent corporation. It's win-win. They get paid more, we have to pay less. Unfortunately, people don't realize that, were we to pay them precisely the same wage as their peers here, we'd be paying them an EFFECTIVELY higher salary. And what matters is not how much you make, but your purchasing power. That's why people earn money, to purchase (or to give to someone else, so they can purchase.) As long as we're paying them an equivalent salary, how is it exploitation?

3) Tax evasion is bad. Look, it's a business student saying tax evasion is bad! OMG! (yes, I'm sarcastic). However, protecting funds _legally_ is just fine. You do it when you claim education expenses to reduce your income tax. Why can't a corporation?

As for the rest of your comment, I see no point in responding.

In the first three months of employment you can get fired without the employer needing to say why. Of course you can bring up a lawsuit if you think they fired you for unjust cause. But that's not the point. The point is it's very hard to prove when you can get fired without the employer having to reveal the reason.

So you're saying that three cents an hour in Sub-Saharan Africa equals 7 bucks Canadian in Purchasing Parity Dollars, Leander? Far far far far from it.

And by the way, saying that the industrial revolution would never have happened without corporations is utterly bunk, Leander. Bunk. In essence you're saying that governments don't exist to control the latter.