Employees picket outside of the LCBO headquarters in downtown Toronto on July 5.Laura Proctor/The Globe and Mail
Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy says his government will not back down on its plan to expand the sale of alcohol into convenience stores, which the union representing workers at the provincially owned Liquor Control Board of Ontario has identified as a key issue in a strike that has shut down the Crown corporation’s retail stores.
The decision to expand alcohol sales – particularly ready-to-drink, spirit-based beverages such as coolers – is at the heart of the dispute between the government and the union representing 9,000 workers. No negotiations are planned to end a strike that began last Friday.
The LCBO said it plans to close stores for two weeks until July 19, with online ordering being offered and then 32 locations are to open with limited hours.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is urging the government to drop its plan to expand ready-to-drink beverages into the private market, saying the growing popularity of such drinks threatens their livelihood as a retail operation and puts $2.5-billion in revenue at risk. The government’s plan, announced in May, to speed up the sale of beer in corner stores by 16 months is expected to cost more than its announced $225-million price tag – but the final tally is yet unknown.
In an interview Monday, Mr. Bethlenfalvy called the decision to expand alcohol sale in the province “irreversible.”
“That’s what we ran on,” he said. “We’re going to get that done and execute on that.”
The Finance Minister said the LCBO needs to modernize and urged union members to return to the table to discuss issues such as job security, wages and severance. He said neither side has spoken since talks broke down last Thursday.
Mr. Bethlenfalvy said the plan to expand to convenience stores will benefit small businesses, with about 3,000 convenience stores having a licence to sell alcohol this fall. He added the LCBO as a retail operation is in a “very good position to compete.”
“They have the broadest product menu,” he said. “The LCBO will be very well-positioned to offer more choice and convenience for people who want to buy Ontario-made products.”
He dismissed the union’s concerns that the government is creeping toward total privatization as “nonsense” and said there is a place in the market for the LCBO as a publicly owned retailer.
He added that the Ontario government won’t be forcing employees back to work.
Premier Doug Ford released a video on Monday promoting a new online tool that allows users to find outlets that sell beer, wine and cider while the LCBO stores are closed, prompting criticism from the union and opposition politicians who said the government should be focused on priorities such as health care, not alcohol. The government says it is part of its long-time pledge to liberalize alcohol sales in the province and give consumers more choice.
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The corporation had planned to open five locations for businesses to shop in-store on July 10, but changed course Monday after the union threatened to picket them; instead, the LCBO plans to offer online shopping for smaller wholesale orders.
Colleen MacLeod, chair of OPSEU’s Liquor Board Employees Division, said her union believe the government plans to turn the LCBO into a wholesaler. She said the government’s model isn’t to benefit small stores or breweries and distilleries, but will hand the market over to big-box grocers and chief executive officers.
“The intention here is to reduce the footprint of the retail aspect of the LCBO,” she said in an interview Monday. “It’s about moving the public revenue to private CEOs, big corporations, and having them do this work, where they hold the profits.”
Ms. MacLeod said the issue isn’t just about LCBO jobs, but: “What kind of Ontario do you want going forward?”
She said the government campaigned on beer, wine and cider in corner stores but not the ready-to-drink, spirit-based beverages, which she said will become more available to younger people.
“I don’t believe that Ontario is wanting this at any cost, and the cost being to devalue the asset that we all own,” she said.
Spirit-based, ready-to-drink beverages make up about 9 per cent of the LCBO sales. But it is one of the largest growing markets, Ms. MacLeod said, and the union fears losing such sales will lead to the loss of casual jobs. The union says casual positions make up about 70 per cent of the work force.
Ms. MacLeod said the government’s pledge to continue with the expansion plan is unhelpful to negotiations.
“It’s not helpful that the Ford government is digging in,” she said. “There should be discussions happening. It’s not helpful.”
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
