B.C.’s premier says the ICBC rebate is meant to ease the financial burden of increased gas prices caused by the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces.
Premier John Horgan’s offer of $110 rebates to ICBC policy holders as a “one-time relief payment” to help consumers with high gasoline prices isn’t going to go very far, according to drivers who were filling up in Vancouver on Friday.
“It’s a stop-gap. It doesn’t address (high gas prices) long-term,” said Michael Santos, a Vancouver sales and business-development representative who was at an Esso station at Burrard and Davie where regular gas was 195.9 cents per litre.
With Vancouver gas prices hovering around $2 per litre, the $110 rebate will pay for about three weeks worth of driving for Santos, who now thinks twice about making sales visits.
“If it’s expensive to go there, it doesn’t make prospecting very lucrative,” Santos said.
The $110 represents about one tank of gas for Langley teacher Tracy Croutch.
“I know it’s a gesture, but it doesn’t really help,” said Croutch, who would simply prefer lower prices.
Horgan, however, said the one-time payment is “a significant contribution at a very difficult time for drivers as they look at the price at the pump and know that there’s relief on the way,” in announcing the payment along with Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth.
Soaring gas prices are in part the result of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Horgan said, and the volatility is hurting consumers worldwide, not just in B.C. ICBC’s robust financial results allow the corporation to offer this measure of relief.
Government critics, however, called the rebate a political move that doesn’t deliver the relief consumers need or get at the root problem of unaffordability.
“This is simply them trying to get out of what they’re obviously getting bad polling numbers on, and trying to figure out a way to change the dial,” said Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Peter Milobar during an appearance on pundit Mike Smyth’s show on CKNW.
The rebate will cost ICBC $395 million and will be paid out as $110 rebates to individual policy holders and $165 for commercial-vehicle policy holders. It will go to customers who held basic insurance policies with the Crown corporation in the month of February.
A rebate, however, is something ICBC could have offered regardless of the crisis and could have been more generous, said policy analyst and retired civil servant Rick McCandless.
“They’re linking it to trying to help out at the gas pump, and that’s fine, but the main purpose is to give back excess money (to ICBC policy holders),” McCandless said.
McCandless estimated ICBC has as much as $450 million in capital that is excess to its legislated need for reserve funds, which could have been paid out in rebates of $125 to $150.
That is based on an analysis of the corporation’s publicly available financial information McCandless published after the province released its latest budget.
McCandless said gas prices are being driven up by more factors than just the invasion of Ukraine, but a resolution to the war would start to ease prices and “take the pressure off governments to do something right by the taxpayer.”
“In the meantime, because of the risks (of) a potential recession, the government has to take some measure to provide relief,” he said.
Milobar, however, who is also the B.C. Liberal finance critic, said rebates don’t target the people who need the help most and gives it to those who need it the least.
“The fact that a single parent working two jobs and driving a Honda Civic is getting the same one-time rebate as a Tesla owner is ridiculous,” Milobar said in a statement.
B.C. Green party leader Sonia Furstenau said it was shortsighted to target rebates only for drivers when “the affordability crisis, made worse by rising gas prices, affects all British Columbians.”
“Whenever there is an opportunity for transformative change, the B.C. NDP doubles down on the status quo,” she said in a series of Tweets published Friday.
Furstenau said the government would be better off if it took the $395 million and “leaned into permanent solutions to transportation problems in this province.”
She added that a better way to deal with the crisis would be to look at using the $2 billion generated by the carbon-tax to provide more generous and consistent rebates to “encourage a shift away from oil and gas.”
— with file from Canadian Press
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:ROOT)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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