Anne Jackson could always count on springtime to bring guests to her bed and breakfast in Fort Good Hope, N.W.T.
That’s the time every year when the territorial government always seemed to send up officials to the fly-in community on the Mackenzie River, about 800 kilometres from Yellowknife. Lawyers, health officials, housing workers, accountants — they’d arrive in Fort Good Hope like clockwork.
Usually, they’d stay at Jackson’s Bed and Breakfast, where Anne’s dad, Wilfred, is quick with a story, a joke or piece of wisdom learned out in the bush, shared over tea or bacon and eggs. Those springtime guests helped sustain the business through the lean seasons.
But no one is coming this spring.
With all but the most essential travel and gatherings banned to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Northwest Territories is very nearly locked down. It’s starving an already lean economy even further and it’s left many worried about how bad things can get.
“It’s been slow, and when I say slow, there’s nothing, no guests,” Jackson said. “We weren’t prepared for this.”
Anne Jackson runs Jackson’s Bed and Breakfast with her mom and dad. They’re not getting any guests as COVID-19 continues. They’ve applied for relief, but it’s yet to arrive. (Submitted by Anne Jackson)
Like business owners across Canada, Jackson is poring over her accounts. She’s at the kitchen table, figuring, adding, subtracting, doing the mathematical gymnastics it requires to keep paying the bills without any money coming in. They’ve applied for relief, but nothing’s reached them yet.
On top of that, she’s watching as the first cases of COVID-19 appear in the North, hoping her community isn’t next.
“It’s like watching a movie,” Jackson said. “We’re isolated, but we have to talk about what happens if it does get here. The fear is that if it does, it will affect everybody. That’s what’s on everybody’s mind.”
COVID-19 and the N.W.T. economy
So far, COVID-19 has yet to gain a strong foothold in the Northwest Territories. There have been five confirmed cases and all have been isolated. There is no evidence of community spread at this time.
But officials have been aggressive, issuing strict orders that have forced most businesses to close and banned nearly all gatherings of people.
“It’s going to hurt a lot of people,” said Dave Ramsay, a business consultant in Yellowknife who was the Northwest Territories’ minister of industry from 2011 to 2015. He estimates up to 50 per cent of businesses won’t survive without adequate relief.
“These are small, medium-sized businesses that can’t weather the storm,” Ramsay said.
Its $5-billion GDP is driven by its three diamond mines and government. Its budding tourism industry, which relies heavily on tourists from Asia, has been shut down. Its tax base is small — about 75 per cent of the government’s revenue comes from Ottawa.
“We’re a ward of the state,” Ramsay said. “We have been for some time.”
Teetering mining industry
The mining industry, which already had problems, continues but not at full steam.
One mine, Ekati, has shut down and sent its workers home. The other two remain operational but at a limited capacity. They’ve sent some workers home with pay to protect their remote northern communitiesfrom the virus, and are taking on extra costs, such as chartered flights, to bring employees in from southern Canada. It remains unclear whether they are eligible for federal aid.
If we don’t have mining here in the N.W.T., we don’t have much of an economy.– Dave Ramsay, former N.W.T. industry minister
If those mines close, either because of health concerns or because of the global economic downturn following the pandemic, Ramsay and others say the results could be catastrophic.
“If we don’t have mining here in the N.W.T., we don’t have much of an economy,” Ramsay said.
The Gahcho Kué mine, pictured here in 2017, continues running during the pandemic. If the territory’s three mines shut down for an extended period, the economic fallout could be catastrophic. (Garrett Hinchey/CBC)
Ramsay also serves on the board of directors for Fortune Minerals, a company developing a mine project near Whati, N.W.T., and is already seeing investors shy away.
“It’s almost impossible to raise money out there in the markets,” he said. “It was tough before, and you throw a global pandemic in the mix, it becomes really tough.”
Ramsay’s hopeful the territory will convene an economic task force made up of business leaders and former politicians to come up with creative solutions.
‘Orders of magnitude worse’ than 2008-09 crisis
Though the Conference Board of Canada does not yet have an outlook on how COVID-19 will affect the northern economy, it predicts Canada’s GDP will contract by 4.3 per cent in 2020. If that number is applied to the Northwest Territories’ $5-billion GDP, that translates to a loss of about $250 million.
It’s not just the diamond mines facing an uncertain future. Northern airlines, which are lifelines to remote communities such as Fort Good Hope, all face questions about their long-term viability.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with reporters on Tuesday. 1:24
The federal government has announced $8.7 million to help those airlines hire back employees, but it doesn’t replace the revenue that will be lost if flights are still grounded during the summer exploration and tourist season.
Michael Miltenberger, a former Northwest Territories finance minister, now runs a consulting business and works with airlines such as Air Tindi, which operates medevac, resupply and commercial passenger flights between Yellowknife and the territory’s smaller communities.
He says what he’s seeing now is much worse than the 2008-09 financial crisis.
“It was one thing in 2008 when money became an issue and credit became an issue,” he said. “This is many, many orders of magnitude worse. You’ve lost your customer base literally overnight.”
In Fort Smith, N.W.T., where Miltenberger lives, nearly all businesses are shuttered: restaurants, hair salons, anything in the service industry.
He’s concerned about how long-term economic hardships and anxiety will affect families, possibly making the territory’s well-documented social problems worse as time goes on.
Government triaging relief
So far, the Northwest Territories has offered businesses an aid package worth $21.5 million, mostly in waived fees, deferred payments and low-interest loans. That’s in addition to existing federal programs and a $130-million northern aid package Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last week.
For the most part, the $21.5 million represents money the territory is not taking in, and it’s unlikely to have much room to borrow more for future relief. That’s because of the federally imposed debt cap. The territory is only able to borrow $30 million before it hits its $1.3-billion limit.
N.W.T. Industry Minister Katrina Nokleby recognizes that if left too long, the territory’s economy may not recover from the coma it’s in now. She describes her work as triage, as she balances health and safety with the territory’s grim economic reality.
“Triage unfortunately is probably the best word for it,” Nokleby said. “Where are the priorities? What are the critical pieces? Where are we going?
“If we pack up shop right now and bunker everybody down under lock and key, we won’t have an economy to come back to.”
N.W.T. Industry, Tourism and Investment Minister Katrina Nokleby speaks at a news conference March 20 announcing the first wave of COVID-19 relief for the territory. (Alex Brockman/CBC)
In the short term, Nokleby is looking at what businesses can be leveraged to help in the pandemic relief, delivering medical supplies, equipment or personnel. Long-term, she’s looking at approved government construction projects to see if they’re still safe to go ahead.
Amid these dire predictions, Nokleby does hope whatever the new normal is, will leave the territory more self-sufficient, with a stronger economy than before.
But to do that, the Northwest Territories’ economy needs to survive first.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 250 points in late-morning trading, led by strength in the base metal and technology sectors, while U.S. stock markets also charged higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 254.62 points at 23,847.22.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 432.77 points at 41,935.87. The S&P 500 index was up 96.38 points at 5,714.64, while the Nasdaq composite was up 486.12 points at 18,059.42.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.68 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was up 89 cents at US$70.77 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down a penny at US2.27 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$9.40 at US$2,608.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.33 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Supervised injection sites are saving the lives of drug users everyday, but the same support is not being offered to people who inhale illicit drugs, the head of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS says.
Dr. Julio Montaner said the construction of Vancouver’s first indoor supervised site for people who inhale drugs comes as the percentage of people who die from smoking drugs continues to climb.
The location in the Downtown Eastside at the Hope to Health Research and Innovation Centre was unveiled Wednesday after construction was complete, and Montaner said people could start using the specialized rooms in a matter of weeks after final approvals from the city and federal government.
“If we don’t create mechanisms for these individuals to be able to use safely and engage with the medical system, and generate points of entry into the medical system, we will never be able to solve the problem,” he said.
“Now, I’m not here to tell you that we will fix it tomorrow, but denying it or ignoring it, or throw it under the bus, or under the carpet is no way to fix it, so we need to take proactive action.”
Nearly two-thirds of overdose deaths in British Columbia in 2023 came after smoking illicit drugs, yet only 40 per cent of supervised consumption sites in the province offer a safe place to smoke, often outdoors, in a tent.
The centre has been running a supervised injection site for years which sees more than a thousand people monthly and last month resuscitated five people who were overdosing.
The new facilities offer indoor, individual, negative-pressure rooms that allow fresh air to circulate and can clear out smoke in 30 to 60 seconds while users are monitored by trained nurses.
Advocates calling for more supervised inhalation sites have previously said the rules for setting up sites are overly complicated at a time when the province is facing an overdose crisis.
More than 15,000 people have died of overdoses since the public health emergency was declared in B.C. in April 2016.
Kate Salters, a senior researcher at the centre, said they worked with mechanical and chemical engineers to make sure the site is up to code and abidies by the highest standard of occupational health and safety.
“This is just another tool in our tool box to make sure that we’re offering life-saving services to those who are using drugs,” she said.
Montaner acknowledged the process to get the site up and running took “an inordinate amount of time,” but said the centre worked hard to follow all regulations.
“We feel that doing this right, with appropriate scientific background, in a medically supervised environment, etc, etc, allows us to derive the data that ultimately will be sufficiently convincing for not just our leaders, but also the leaders across the country and across the world, to embrace the strategies that we are trying to develop.” he said.
Montaner said building the facility was possible thanks to a single $4-million donation from a longtime supporter.
Construction finished with less than a week before the launch of the next provincial election campaign and within a year of the next federal election.
Montaner said he is concerned about “some of the things that have been said publicly by some of the political leaders in the province and in the country.”
“We want to bring awareness to the people that this is a serious undertaking. This is a very massive investment, and we need to protect it for the benefit of people who are unfortunately drug dependent.” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
