The closure of a poultry plant in Berwick, N.S., where an outbreak of COVID-19 was detected this week is a blow to operators, employees, the town and could even be felt by Nova Scotians looking to buy a Christmas turkey — but all those involved say it was the right thing to do.
Berwick Mayor Don Clarke said the shutdown has had an immediately noticeable impact on the town, causing business and traffic to go quiet.
Eden Valley Poultry is Berwick’s biggest employer and the biggest customer for the town’s self-owned electric utility, according to Clarke. It also draws its employees, about 450, from around the Annapolis Valley.
Clarke said the economic impact of the two-week closure isn’t measurable yet from the town’s perspective, but he expects that in the long-term, it will have been worth it.
“Having COVID in a plant that size with that many people in confined spaces and so on, is a serious situation,” said Clarke.
“What they’re doing is the necessary thing to do.”
Public Health ordered the closure of the poultry facility earlier this week after finding two cases of the virus among employees. Widespread testing has since revealed four more, with some results still pending and plans to re-test all employees next week.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang announced Friday the plant would have to stay closed for at least two weeks in an effort to disrupt the cycle of transmission.
That two-week order runs until Christmas day, but Eden Valley president Werner Barnard said they’ll wait until the following Monday, Dec. 28, to reopen.
‘Devastating’ impact for the business
“I think any business that shuts its doors for two weeks has a devastating financial impact, that’s a given,” said Barnard.
But, he added, the nature of Eden Valley’s business means the impact extends to every other business in the supply chain.
Over the course of the planned closure, Barnard said the plant would have processed more than 800,000 chicken and turkey. Eden Valley works with about 60 producers in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and has customers across the country and internationally.
Werner Bernard says Eden Valley Poultry typically processes about 400,000 turkey and chicken weekly from producers in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)
Barnard said even though the plant isn’t operating, there’s still lots of work happening with producers, customers and other processors to mitigate the effects of Eden Valley’s closure.
As the only federally regulated poultry processor in Nova Scotia, Barnard said birds that would have gone through Eden Valley will likely now be shipped out of province for processing, possibly limiting the local supply.
He called that “a blow to the community,” in light of the upcoming Christmas demand for turkeys, and a concern for food security.
Employee paycheques in limbo
While employees await the second round of testing, Public Health has instructed them to self-isolate.
Among those waiting for test results is Lee Gee, who has worked at the plant for 40 years, including more than 30 years under a previous owner.
While he waits, Gee said he’s being kept busy with phone calls from other Eden Valley labourers. Gee is the president of Unifor Local 2261, which represents about 360 Eden Valley employees.
“Everybody is concerned about their health … and this close to Christmas, with everything going on, with their pay,” Gee said in an interview.
Eden Valley Poutry works with about 60 producers from around Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. (Mike Heenan/CBC)
Barnard said he could not guarantee paycheques would be going out as usual during the closure, but “employee welfare and financial security” were on his mind.
“Obviously this time of year it’s devastating for employees not to be able to work and earn money … we’re busy investigating all options but yes, the intent is to do right by the employees.”
Otherwise, Gee said he was satisfied with Eden Valley’s response to the outbreak, and he felt the necessary preventive steps had been taken, like scanning employees’ body temperatures as they enter each day, installing Plexiglas barriers and enforcing masking and physical distancing.
Public Health says there’s no evidence of community spread in Western Nova Scotia, but there was another case of COVID-19 detected in Berwick earlier this week, in addition to the cases at the poultry plant.
A case connected to the Berwick and District School meant that school closed for deep cleaning and contact tracing for several days.
Public Health has since increased testing opportunities in the area, sending one of the province’s mobile testing vans and setting up walk-in testing sites.
The walk-in testing will be available at two sites in the area, beginning Sunday:
The Berwick Fire Hall (300 Commercial St., Berwick) on Sunday, Dec. 13 and Monday, Dec. 14 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The site will be closed between 4:30-5:30 p.m.
The Mobile Unit at the Middleton Fire Hall (131 Commercial St., Middleton) on Monday, Dec. 14 from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesday, Dec. 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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.
