The Bob Loblaw Law Blog. Comic genius! I love "Arrested Development." The show that also brought us one of the best boat names ever, the Seaward (C-word). Is there a better name for a lawyer than Bob Loblaw? I guess perhaps Blah Blah Blah would be better, but only just.
I've been thinking of Bob recently reading about one of Canada's largest companies. And I don't even know if it's Loblaw or Loblaw's. I rarely saw either being from the west where we got the Real Canadian Superstore, which is owned by Loblaw(s). The reading I've been doing has got me wondering if Loblaw(s) is really Canadian or if that's just a lot of blah blah blah.
Galen Weston is the owner and he's worth a reported (and we all know this means he actually has a lot more in offshore tax shelters in the Cayman Islands or somewhere like that) $13.55 billion dollars making him the second richest Canadian. Loblaw(s) made a reported (ditto) 754 million in profit last year. That seems modest given their reported (ditto) 11 billion dollar revenues per QUARTER year, but it's probably just the number they want us to believe. That's all.
I've been reading about Loblaw(s) lately because they seem to be a really good example of the kind of corporate greed and scumbaggery I've been railing on and on about in this blog, but using mostly American examples. If you think I'm exaggerating about the Cayman Islands comment above, they are, if I'm not mistaken, still embroiled in a 400 million dollar tax fraud case. But that was not the issue that has been bugging me most about Loblaw(s) recently. Hell, it's EXPECTED! I've stated more than once on this blog that in Canada, if you're rich, you just DO this. I admit to possibly only mild overstatement on that account.
Then there's the scandal over Loblaw(s) (or come to think of it, is it "Loblaw's? Who cares?) receiving 12 million loonies of taxpayer money to install some more environmentally friendly refrigeration units in its more than 2300 locations across Canada. The Liberal government has been under fire for throwing money at large corporations and this looks like a good example. Why were they even allowed to apply for this help? Why not give the help to smaller grocery stores? It's what Liberal opponents call "corporate welfare," but as I've explained, my definition differs a bit. I consider corporate welfare to be not just giving corporations money, but allowing them to raise prices so they never have to pay ANY expenses. We'll get to that later.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has been defending the decision by saying they got the free dough (ar ar (you'll see why that is almost Arrested Development hilarious a little later)) by basically saying they're big. Getting more efficient refrigeration in Loblawses (?) across Canada would be, she says, the equivalent of removing 50,000 cars from the roads. She also says it only pays 1/4 of the price of the new units and that Low Blows will be paying 36 million out of its own cavernously deep pockets. Well isn't THAT nice? Paying to improve its own stores? A lot of people are upset that the government is paying ANY of the cost at all. Doesn't seem right using our tax dollars to support a crooked corporation, does it? But since Canada is warming at double the global average (she says) there is a need to think big right now.
Then there's the story of Loblaw(s) crying the blues about minimum wage increases, which they SAY will cost them 190 million bucks next year, but we KNOW if we understand simple economics that just the extra money spent by the employees in their 2300 locations across Canada AT Loblaw(s) now that they are earning more, will ease the expense a great deal. Loblaw(s) employees will have more money to spend at Loblaw(s). To say nothing of the snowball effect it would have on the economy. Loblaw(s) would most likely make more money by raising their workers' salaries. And I'm not even going to mention (well I guess I am) the same old question: why the hell aren't they paying their workers more? They can't afford it? Bullshit! Stop your pussyaching and pay your workers for making you filthy rich! Nope. The board voted against it.
But even if a government with balls forces them to pay their workers a living wage, they will do what I have exhaustively explained EVERY corporation does in thoughtless reaction to any perceived expense (and remember, this will more than likely NOT be an expense but a profit for Low Blows) they will raise prices, cut jobs and they're even stating that they will need to resort to automation. Really this will likely just be a convenient excuse for it.
But that's not what's been giving me agita about this corporation lately either. It's bread. A very basic staple of Canada throughout our history. I remember when I was about 11 years old going down about a thousand stairs from our house on 6th Ave. in Nelson (a beautiful city built in the mountains of B.C.) to Super Value and buying loaves of freshly baked, uncut bread 4 for a dollar. That's a quarter a loaf! 25 cents for white or brown. Bread. (same price for everybody) And then I had to walk back UP those thousand stairs smelling one of the best smells in life - freshly baked bread - without gnawing on one of the corners as I walked.
Well times have changed. I don't even know if Super Value exists any more in Canada. No doubt Low Blows took it over or forced it out of business. Part of making the supermarket business more concentrated and less diversified in Canada, which enables the price fixing I'm going to get into now.
Bread rose in price from $1.42 to $3.04 between 2001 and 2015. I was in Canada for only a short time during that period and even I noticed that. Well this was beyond the general inflation of most food products in Canada by about a dollar. So it should have only gone up to $2.04. This doesn't sound very significant, but given the importance of bread, it's downright un-Canadian! In this article they say the cost to a loaf a week consumer would have been $400. I go through about 3 a week and given the dollar extra over 14 years, I calculate it to be more like $2,184 to me. This is not including hamburger or hot dog buns I'm assuming?
Now over 14 years even a couple grand is not noticeable. Even to a struggling Canadian like me! But when you figure it out over 2600 stores with thousands of customers a day, most buying bread, that is a hefty profit! On an important, nay SACRED part of Canadian culture!
Canada began as a Christian culture and Christianity is still the main religion today. To Christians, Jesus is the bread of life. Bread is used in the Bible to mean "food," or "spiritual sustenance" at times. Jesus broke bread with his disciples at the Last Supper, he fed the 5000 with it, the Israelites got manna (bread from heaven) when they were wandering through the wilderness and starving. The Lord's prayer includes daily bread and, of course, bread represents the body of Christ when eaten during the sacrament. It is a major part of Christian, and Canadian culture.
Bread, lechem in Jewish, was synonymous with food in general. In Korea they have a greeting which means, "Did you eat rice today?" Here, rice is as important as bread. It just means, "Are you prospering? Do you have enough money to eat?" That is how bread is in Jewish custom. When baking large amounts of bread still today a portion of it is set aside and burned or buried as a sacrifice to God just as the ancient Jews made in the Temple.
In Islam too "bread" is synonymous with "food." Wasting food or destroying places where it is produced, including oceans and farms, is forbidden. If bread is dropped on the floor, eat it if it is still clean, but if not, feed it to the birds. Don't throw it in the garbage. Muslims try to eat sparingly like Muhammed. Unlike the Chinese, they eat all of their food and try not to leave any leftovers.
Food is central to all cultures and religions and bread is sacred to almost everyone in Canada. It was a low blow for Loblaw(s) to screw the people of Canada by overpricing their bread. Jesus would whip Galen Weston like a Temple money changer if he met him. I have no doubt. But what did the government of Canada do when they found out about this treasonous behaviour? Under the Competition Act, penalties for price-fixing include fines of up to $25 million and imprisonment to a maximum term of 14 years, or both. Nope. They received immunity from criminal prosecution because they admitted guilt. REALLY????
Oh, they're giving out $25 dollar gift cards, but even THEY come with flimflammery. Many think it's nothing compared to the money they got screwed out of over the years. And they're right. Also, you have to register for them, giving address, telephone number, probably email address, information that CAN be sold. AAAANNNNDDDD ( I think you might know what's coming) there's absolutely no doubt, though this article doesn't say it, fucking Lowblows will just offset this card expense with higher prices.
When it comes to the corporations screwing Canadians, and the government just doing nothing about it, we really need to fight our own battles. It'll be easy for me being in Korea, but I'll never shop at Loblaw(s) again. You shouldn't either. I've already boycotted Nestle, which is VERY difficult to do. They're everywhere! And I've heard they're teaming up with Starbucks. Their overpriced coffee won't be too hard to cut out of my life. I guess I'll chuck this Starbucks (or is it Starbuck's? Starbuck?) gift card I got from my employer for my birthday in the garbage. This is the way we need to start fighting this corporate bullshit in Canada! Some people are launching class action lawsuits against Loblaw(s) for the bread thing, but they won't get much, it'll take years and they won't hurt such a rich company. Boycotting them CAN.
Or you can be like those dumbasses who got their cards and said, "Oh goodie! Free groceries!"
sigh...
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