The e-reader news that caused considerable controversy in Canada is this. Canadian government’s stand to let the U.S Internet retail leader Amazon set up their warehouse in Canada has upset the Winnipeg based owners of a troubled bookstore.
It is quiet doubtful that how much Harper government is serious about Amazon’s promoting Canadian culture thorough its Canadian presence, quoted Tory McNally, owner of McNally Robinson Bookstore.
Amazon until now has been using external shipping service in Canada, as bookselling comes under the purview of cultural domain and foreign stake is prohibited. But the approval with effect from Monday, under the Canada Investment Act would allow Amazon to establish its “fulfillment center” warehouse.
McNally have recently got out of bankruptcy. It did not get any support from the government during the efforts to revive the chain of bookstores and had to lay down 175 staff members and close two out of four stores, quoted McNally.
The company believes its bottom line was seriously affected due to stiff competition originating from online and e-book publishing competitors.
As per the deal reached between the Canadian Government and the Seattle based company, Amazon will invest $20 million or more in the country out of which about $1.5 million will be ear-marked for promoting books written by Canadian authors globally and conduct cultural events or for awards.
But McNally is not one to be impressed with all this and she has serious apprehensions about the agreement and whether this would really work or help in promoting Canadian culture.
She wondered that McNally’s online bookstore is also doing similar things where anyone can buy their books online but it doesn’t mean that someone buying books from as far as Sri Lanka would be assisting the Canadian cultural community.
Supporting the deal, James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage said that Amazon has shown keen interest in promoting Canadian cultural products.
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With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
