donuts

Saturday April 21, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday April 21, 2018

How Tim Hortons lost its connection with the Canadian public

Léger and National Public Relations last week released their annual report ranking Canada’s most admired companies. While some results were indeed surprising, others were not.

January 9, 2018

Both Google and Shoppers Drug Mart (owned by Loblaw) ended up at the top of the overall rankings, as well as the leaders in their sectors. Google has been No. 1 for six years now. It was surprising to see that eighth-place Kellogg’s is the most respected food company in Canada. Campbell and Kraft, two other food companies, closed out the top 10. Despite bread-price collusion accusations, Sobeys moved up 10 places and remained the most admired grocer, while Subway was recognized in the food service category.

But Tim Hortons’ year was just plain awful. It went from No. 4 to No. 50 in just 12 months. This significant free fall can be linked to the very public spat between Tim Hortons franchisees and the Tim Hortons parent company, Restaurant Brands International (RBI). This dispute has taken its toll and likely affected the reputation of the iconic Canadian company.

RBI has been at war with Tim Hortons franchisees since 2014 when the holding company was created, and things have gotten progressively worse. While franchise owners – family businesses, really – were committed to serving communities, RBI swooped in with an efficiency-driven agenda. Menu changes, royalty structure modifications, higher costs of supplies to operate outlets – all were revised to serve RBI’s shareholders, and it paid off. The share price hit a record high last October of $85.

March 17, 2007

RBI’s ultimate commitment has been to its shareholders and not necessarily to the Canadian public. This year’s Léger-National rankings confirm that Canadians have been keeping tabs.

But RBI’s profit-driven agenda has started to work against it over this past year. Rallies to raise awareness of minimum-wage campaigns made Tim Hortons a public target right across the country. To make matters worse, reports surfaced suggesting that in Ontario, where the minimum wage increased by 22 per cent on Jan. 1, some Tim Hortons employees had been asked to pay for uniforms and cut out breaks. While other food chains were adapting well, the rift between RBI and its franchise owners in Ontario became even more evident to the public.

Now sales are slumping, and as a result, RBI shares have fallen to about $70. RBI’s response is to invest $700-million over the next four years, including a change to the interior design in all of its Tim Hortons restaurants. But here’s the catch: Most franchise owners will be required to pay more than $450,000 per outlet to support the cost of renovation and create an open-seating concept. Given that the average Tim Hortons franchisee owns three outlets, the cost to support RBI’s new redesign strategy will be well more than $1-million for a typical franchise owner. (Continued: Globe & Mail) 

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Thursday March 15, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 15, 2018

PM Trudeau talks steel and doughnuts in Hamilton

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to do more to fight foreign steel dumping on a whirlwind Hamilton tour aimed at reassuring industry leaders and local workers worried about threatened U.S. Tariffs.

The Liberal PM managed to sandwich a steel industry roundtable and a visit to infamously vandalized Donut Monster on Locke Street in between tours of both Stelco and ArcelorMittal Dofasco Tuesday.

 

Canada dodged an economic bullet last week after U.S. President Donald Trump exempted its northern neighbour — at least for now — from a threatened 25-per-cent tariff on steel. Business leaders had estimated such a tariff could affect up to 40,000 local jobs in the industry.

September 18, 2014

But Trump has also insisted on stronger measures to stop countries trying to sneak cheap steel into the U.S. by shipping through Canada.

“That is a concern we share with the Americans,” said Trudeau following a tour of ArcelorMittal Dofasco, later vowing to “keep ensuring that Canadian steel is Canadian steel.”

He said Canada has already taken steps to crack down on steel dumping from countries like China — including adding customs inspectors — but emphasized the government is willing to do more. “We have a whole suite of tariff and countervailing duties that are at our disposal to move forward and ensure that we are not accepting unfairly produced or sold steel,” he said.

August 24, 2016

The PM also fielded questions from steelworkers on a tour of Stelco early Tuesday morning — even if he didn’t necessarily answer with the level of detail they sought.

United Steelworkers local union leader Gary Howe said his members asked if the Liberals will overhaul the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), the legislative rules through which U.S. Steel Canada entered into bankruptcy protection and was ultimately sold and reborn as Stelco.

Frustrated local steelworkers have called the CCAA “legalized theft” and lobbied to enshrine more rights for workers during bankruptcy protection. “We want to know if the law will be changed,” Howe said.

Howe said Trudeau did not commit to specific changes, but agreed “there needs to be a conversation.” (Continued: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

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Friday January 13, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 13, 2017

Justin Trudeau’s Ontario road show takes on partisan edge

Canadians who want to meet Justin Trudeau during his upcoming road tour town halls are being asked to first register their personal details with Liberal Mps.

That puts a political taint on the prime minister’s attempt at grassroots mingling, Conservative MP Candice Bergen (Portage–Lisgar) said Wednesday.

“Don’t call it an open town hall when it’s actually a Liberal rally,” she said. “It’s not at all the back-to-the-people tour that the prime minister described.”

Trudeau’s tour, which kicks off Thursday in Ontario, was originally framed as an effort by the prime minister to reconnect with Canadians on their priorities.

“The prime minister wants to hear from them on how they are feeling at the start of 2017, what their concerns and anxieties are, and what we can do to help alleviate that,” spokesperson Cameron Ahmed told the Star last week.

But the road trip — which continues on to Quebec, Prairies, and B.C. — has taken on partisan overtones as Liberal MPs hosting Trudeau at some of his Ontario stopovers are using their websites to glean personal data of those who want to attend.

Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen, who is hosting Trudeau’s Thursday town hall event in Kingston, promoted the event on Twitter and Facebook. “The prime minister wants to hear from you about issues that matter to you and our community as we enter the new year,” Gerretsen wrote.

His social media postings directed those who want to attend to sign up on his web page. To register for the event, attendees are asked to provide their name, email, postal code and telephone number. (Source: Toronto Star)