While the CP Rail work stoppage has businesses calling for back-to-work legislation, the Liberal government and opposition MPs avoided discussing the idea as they debated next steps in the House of Commons Monday.
In question period, Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu said the agriculture and automotive sectors are being affected by the work stoppage already.
“What is the government’s plan to immediately resolve this dispute?” she asked Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan.
O’Regan acknowledged that the work stoppage is happening at a bad time, given the supply chain woes already affecting the Canadian economy. He said the ongoing negotiations are the best option to bring the dispute to an end.
“Every day that goes by, for farmers and manufacturers in this country particularly, is an hour or a day too long and I think that the parties at the table know that,” O’Regan said in the House.
“They have an enormous responsibility to Canadians to negotiate an agreement that protects supply chains that Canadians depend on. They are working hard. No one has left the table. Our party believes that the best deals are reached at the table.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters in Ottawa on Monday that employing back-to-work legislation in a “cavalier” way would undermine the right of workers to use the ability to strike to improve working conditions.
“The fact that it’s already something that’s being raised before workers have a chance to negotiate sends a message to employers that they don’t have to negotiate,” Singh said. “And that’s wrong.”
Locking out employees
CP Rail shut down Canadian operations Sunday after a work stoppage began just before midnight. More than 3,000 conductors, engineers, train and yard workers were picketing Sunday.
The company and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, the union representing the workers, started negotiating a new contract last September. The union said the main issues are wages, pensions and aspects of working conditions — such as not forcing employees to take federally mandated reset days when they’re away from home.
Employees voted 97 per cent in favour of a strike March 3 and were in a legal strike position as of March 16 — the same day the company issued an ultimatum stating that a deal be would have to be reached by March 20 at midnight to prevent a lockout.
Federal mediators joined the talks March 11. Just before midnight Sunday, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference said in a media statement that the company was locking employees out.
Rail workers picket in Regina on March 19, 2022 (CBC / Radio-Canada)
The company and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference blamed each other for causing the work stoppage, though both also said they were still talking with federal mediators.
Several industry groups have raised the alarm about the potential economic impacts of a CP Rail shutdown at a time when many businesses are dealing with supply chain difficulties caused by the pandemic, extreme weather in B.C. and the recent blockades of border crossings by protesters. That’s putting O’Regan under heavy pressure to legislate CP Rail workers back to work.
“We’re asking for all parties to find a very, very quick resolution,” said Brian Kingston, president and chief executive of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association.
“We appreciate the fact that they’re back at the table today … That said, if it becomes evident that there is simply no negotiated outcome possible, we would encourage the government to look at other options.”
Concerns about fertilizer shipments
Canada’s agriculture industry is particularly worried. On Monday, leaders of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and the National Cattle Feeders’ Association were in Ottawa urging the government to bring an end to the work stoppage they said could devastate their industry.
“If these trains don’t run, we’ve got maybe two weeks of feed left,” said Cattlemen’s Association president Bob Lowe. He said western Canadian cattle producers have been relying on shipments of feed by rail from the U.S. this year in the wake of last summer’s drought and resultant widespread feed shortage.
“There is no Plan B. We have no other source of feed.”
“We are, in Canada, about four to six weeks from seeding season … which means that farmers may not get all the fertilizer they need,” said Fertilizer Canada chief executive Karen Proud.
Proud said a fertilizer shortage could cause food prices to spike, given the impact the war in Ukraine has had already on global fertilizer supplies and the prices of wheat and other grains.
Canadian fertilizer companies like Nutrien rely on rail to get their product to market. Fertilizer Canada chief executive Karen Proud says the industry wants to see back-to-work legislation. (Guy Quenneville/CBC)
Proud said the fertilizer industry believes it’s time to introduce back-to-work legislation.
“We certainly respect the collective bargaining process but clearly these two groups haven’t been able to reach an agreement. And now the government needs to act immediately,” she said.
“Some of our members who produce fertilizer don’t have the storage capacity if product isn’t being shipped out on the rails, so we’re looking at being days away from potentially having to shut down our production of fertilizer.”
Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada, said U.S. lawmakers and counterparts — including White House officials — have been worried for weeks about a possible labour dispute.
“I expect to hear a lot about it,” Hyder said, ten days after an earlier visit to Capitol Hill during which he heard similar concerns.
“There’s a genuine risk here of Canada being seen as unreliable at a time when reliability is most valued and needed.”
The damage to Canada’s reputation could be lasting, coming as it does on the heels of last month’s week-long shutdown of the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ont., he added.
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.
Dollarama Inc.’s food aisles may have expanded far beyond sweet treats or piles of gum by the checkout counter in recent years, but its chief executive maintains his company is “not in the grocery business,” even if it’s keeping an eye on the sector.
“It’s just one small part of our store,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a Wednesday call, where he was questioned about the company’s food merchandise and rivals playing in the same space.
“We will keep an eye on all retailers — like all retailers keep an eye on us — to make sure that we’re competitive and we understand what’s out there.”
Over the last decade and as consumers have more recently sought deals, Dollarama’s food merchandise has expanded to include bread and pantry staples like cereal, rice and pasta sold at prices on par or below supermarkets.
However, the competition in the discount segment of the market Dollarama operates in intensified recently when the country’s biggest grocery chain began piloting a new ultra-discount store.
The No Name stores being tested by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. in Windsor, St. Catharines and Brockville, Ont., are billed as 20 per cent cheaper than discount retail competitors including No Frills. The grocery giant is able to offer such cost savings by relying on a smaller store footprint, fewer chilled products and a hearty range of No Name merchandise.
Though Rossy brushed off notions that his company is a supermarket challenger, grocers aren’t off his radar.
“All retailers in Canada are realistic about the fact that everyone is everyone’s competition on any given item or category,” he said.
Rossy declined to reveal how much of the chain’s sales would overlap with Loblaw or the food category, arguing the vast variety of items Dollarama sells is its strength rather than its grocery products alone.
“What makes Dollarama Dollarama is a very wide assortment of different departments that somewhat represent the old five-and-dime local convenience store,” he said.
The breadth of Dollarama’s offerings helped carry the company to a second-quarter profit of $285.9 million, up from $245.8 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose 7.4 per cent.
The retailer said Wednesday the profit amounted to $1.02 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended July 28, up from 86 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The period the quarter covers includes the start of summer, when Rossy said the weather was “terrible.”
“The weather got slightly better towards the end of the summer and our sales certainly increased, but not enough to make up for the season’s horrible start,” he said.
Sales totalled $1.56 billion for the quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year.
Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, increased 4.7 per cent, while the average transaction was down2.2 per cent and traffic was up seven per cent, RBC analyst Irene Nattel pointed out.
She told investors in a note that the numbers reflect “solid demand as cautious consumers focus on core consumables and everyday essentials.”
Analysts have attributed such behaviour to interest rates that have been slow to drop and high prices of key consumer goods, which are weighing on household budgets.
To cope, many Canadians have spent more time seeking deals, trading down to more affordable brands and forgoing small luxuries they would treat themselves to in better economic times.
“When people feel squeezed, they tend to shy away from discretionary, focus on the basics,” Rossy said. “When people are feeling good about their wallet, they tend to be more lax about the basics and more willing to spend on discretionary.”
The current economic situation has drawn in not just the average Canadian looking to save a buck or two, but also wealthier consumers.
“When the entire economy is feeling slightly squeezed, we get more consumers who might not have to or want to shop at a Dollarama generally or who enjoy shopping at a Dollarama but have the luxury of not having to worry about the price in some other store that they happen to be standing in that has those goods,” Rossy said.
“Well, when times are tougher, they’ll consider the extra five minutes to go to the store next door.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank Group to pay US$28 million for repeatedly sharing inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The agency says TD has to pay US$7.76 million in total to tens of thousands of victims of its illegal actions, along with a US$20 million civil penalty.
It says TD shared information that contained systemic errors about credit card and bank deposit accounts to consumer reporting companies, which can include credit reports as well as screening reports for tenants and employees and other background checks.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra says in a statement that TD threatened the consumer reports of customers with fraudulent information then “barely lifted a finger to fix it,” and that regulators will need to “focus major attention” on TD Bank to change its course.
TD says in a statement it self-identified these issues and proactively worked to improve its practices, and that it is committed to delivering on its responsibilities to its customers.
The bank also faces scrutiny in the U.S. over its anti-money laundering program where it expects to pay more than US$3 billion in monetary penalties to resolve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
