The St. Lawrence Seaway strike is costing the Port of Windsor $1.3 million per day in lost economic activity, and it will only be a matter of days before local companies have difficult decisions to make that will only amplify that impact, Port Windsor CEO/president Steve Salmons said Monday.
About 360 workers who operate the locks on the Canadian side of the international seaway walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. Sunday to back their wage demands.
The Seaway corporation is contracted by the federal government to operate the system.
“As a shipping centre, we only have a certain number of days to our season,” Salmons said. “The end of December, we lose shipping and we can’t get these lost days back.
“Everyone was aware of the negotiations and there’s been some short-term preparations made for a stoppage. It’s still costing the economy $40 million per day.
“By the end of the week we’ll see some nervousness and by the end of the second week there’ll be extreme anxiety.”
The St. Lawrence Seaway is vital to North America’s commercial transportation system.
It supports 241,286 U.S. and Canadian jobs and generates $46.8 billion in annual economic activity.
Salmons said the timing of the strike is particularly troublesome for the agricultural sector. Record grain yields have been enjoyed by farmers on both sides of the border at a time when grain prices and world demand are high due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Grain has a limited shelf life, so there are provisions in (Canadian) law that allow for grain to be shipped during a strike,” Salmons said. “I would expect that might be the federal government’s first directive during this strike.”
The Seaway corporation has already filed a legal request to start the process to allow grain to be shipped.
Salmons said one of the local firms to be first impacted by the strike will likely be Archer-Daniels-Midland’s Windsor operation that crushes soybeans and canola for oils and handles wheat. A lot of those products are then shipped to Europe and South America.
“They buy 70 per cent of their grains and soya from farmers in Essex, Kent and Lambton counties,” Salmons said. “Once they run out of storage space, they’re going to tell the farmers they can’t buy any more of their crops.”
Salmons added the Windsor Salt Company, which has already endured a lengthy strike of its own, also can’t properly service its biggest markets in the Greater Toronto Area.
The Port of Windsor processed $400 million worth of goods last year.
In addition to grain and salt, the major goods moved by ship locally are specialty steel for the auto industry and aggregate materials for construction.
With winter approaching, the auto industry is normally stockpiling these specialty steels, which aren’t produced in North America, to last until the seaway re-opens after the cold weather.
He said the region’s large construction projects — Gordie Howe International Bridge and NextStar Energy battery plant — won’t be affected by the strike as the American-controlled Sault Ste. Marie locks are unaffected by the labour dispute.
Salmons said Windsor handled 600 ships last year and there were another 6,000 ships that passed in transit through the region.
If the work stoppage continues, he said it won’t be long before residents see ships dropping anchor in designated anchorage spots in the Detroit River and surrounding lakes.
All ships in passage through the seaway leading into the weekend were able to clear the locks given the union’s 72-hour strike notice.
For now, Salmons said his clients have told him they’ll ride out the turbulence. There have been no delays of commercial ships arriving in Windsor yet, but a European ship carrying steel for the auto industry is due to arrive locally by the end of the week.
However, HMCS Glace Bay’s week-long visit to Windsor for a marine career fair and public tours was cancelled. The ship was supposed to arrive locally Tuesday, but the Department of National Defence feared letting one of its warships sail into the western lakes and then getting trapped.
The strike isn’t just impacting major corporations.
The voice of small and medium business, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), released a statement urging the federal government to get the St. Lawrence Seaway open quickly.
“Small businesses were seriously affected by the long strike at B.C. ports and the supply chain disruptions it caused this summer,” said CFIB’s vice-president for national affairs, Jasmin Guénette.
“The last thing the Canadian economy needs right now is another strike blocking a busy trade route and impacting businesses once again. Small businesses are already dealing with inflation, labour shortages, heavy debt loads and weak demand.
“They cannot suffer from another strike that would impact their bottom line.”
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TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GOOS)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:TD)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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