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rfmcdonaldCBC British Columbia's report about the unhappiness of some Americans in the border city of Bellingham with Canadian shoppers taking over their Costco is thought provoking.
It's a bit difficult for me to imagine the "ugly Canadian", but that's clearly a failure on my part.
It's a bit difficult for me to imagine the "ugly Canadian", but that's clearly a failure on my part.
Many Canadians are taking advantage of the high Canadian dollar by shopping across the border — with cheap milk and gas being two of the big draws — but some Americans are fed up with the cross-border crowd.
Some Bellingham, Wash., residents started a Facebook page calling for American-only hours at the local Costco.
On the Facebook page "Bellingham Costco needs a special time just for Americans," residents write they have seen flats of milk stripped away in seconds.
Some write they have to wait in long lines at the Costco gas station as Canadians fill up first their cars, and then their gas cans.
Some Bellingham, Wa., residents are fed up with British Columbians that are crowding the local Costco, and parking badly in the store's lot.
Others have posted photos of cars with B.C. licence plates that take up more than one parking space.
Some just complain about Canadians being rude.
Ken Oplinger, president of the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce, is urging locals to have patience for their Canadian visitors. Without them, he says, the living situation in the city and county would be quite different.
"In the last two years, our sales tax generation has doubled or tripled the pace in the rest of the state, and it's almost entirely because of the Canadians coming south," he said.
The administrator of the Facebook page, which had over 2,000 "Likes" as of Sunday, posted a message earlier this week telling Canadians they are not being blamed.
"To our Canadian friends on here that think we hate you: You have to look at the root of the problem. Bellingham has laws that keep big box companies from expanding. The overcrowding in this small, slow paced town has agitated people," the note said.
