Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 17, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A8 EDITORIALS WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2013 Freedom of Trade Liberty of Religion Equality of Civil Rights A 8 COMMENT EDITOR: Gerald Flood 697- 7269 gerald. flood@ freepress. mb. ca winnipegfreepress. com EDITORIAL T HE Loblaws grocery empire this week swallowed up the Shoppers Drug Mart empire to form a new Canadian retail giant. The combined company may be large enough to compete with U. S. giants Walmart ( started in 1950 by Sam Walton) and Target. Those U. S. chains are currently expanding in Canada. Consumers may or may not enjoy better grocery stores and better drug stores as a result, but the expanded company should be big enough to survive the immediate challenge from U. S. chains. Loblaws, with sales of $ 31.6 billion last year and 51.5 million square feet of retail space across the country, has evolved from a grocery chain into a broad- spectrum retailer, offering clothing, automotive supplies and a host of other household products along with the food. It has not become a leading merchant in any of these fields, but it became the country's top grocer by offering a variety of other goods. The addition of a drug store chain is perfectly consistent with the company's history of diversification in product offerings. Shoppers Drug Mart, with 2012 sales of $ 10.5 billion and 13.2 million square feet of retail space, has long been selling a wide variety of household products. The firm greatly expanded its cosmetic departments in the last few years, with excellent results in its sales volumes. Even though all provinces imposed severe caps on prices for brand- name prescription drugs last year - tying them more closely to prices of the competing generic products - Shoppers achieved increased dollar value of prescription drug sales in the first quarter of this year. Since both chains attribute their success to a variety of products on the shelves, the combined company could be expected to continue down the same path. Target and Walmart, in the same way, aim to offer shoppers something of everything. Galen Weston, the majority owner of Loblaws, is defending his share of the Canadian retail turf by imitating Target and Walmart. This strategy, however, leaves an exposed flank. Eaton's and the Bay in their time tried to be all things to all shoppers. They had a good run for many years, but then specialty retailers proved more adept at selling furniture, appliances, clothing, sporting goods and most other products. Eaton's was wound up and the Bay has shrunk to a mere shadow of its former self. The risk in offering all things to all shoppers is that a retailer may not be known for anything in particular and may be out- performed in service, in price and in quality of goods by firms that specialize narrowly in one thing and do it extremely well. Winnipeggers already know both firms well on account of the eight enormous Great Canadian Superstores and the 30 smaller Shoppers Drug Mart stores in the city. Our Safeways have already been bought by Sobeys. Now our Shoppers Drug Marts have been taken over by Loblaws. In both cases, the new management aims to keep their newly acquired stores going in the accustomed way under the accustomed name. The main difference for the moment is that they can engage in the kind of financial engineering that will encourage bankers and investors to keep supporting them. The announcements by Loblaws and Shoppers spoke of new value creation opportunities, contemporary interest in health and nutrition and the imperatives of value and convenience. But in practice the smaller Shoppers stores cannot offer the acres of multi- product space of a Great Canadian Superstore. The difference for consumers is likely to be slight. The main difference will be that the new company can offer sophisticated investment instruments on a large enough scale to attract attention in the credit and equity markets. This has little to do with feeding people better or dispensing their drugs more carefully. It has a great deal to do with keeping up with the Waltons. Discourage teen pregnancy Your July 15 editorial Too many ' poor' babies, too little aid makes for dismal reading. I strongly support Manitoba's healthy baby program but I'm wondering if there isn't an element here of closing the barn door after the horse has long since bolted. Where are the programs designed to discourage young, poor, uneducated and un- partnered women from getting pregnant? Have we simply given up? What can we do? Is it a matter of redrawing sex education curricula to be aggressively focused on the technical aspects of pregnancy prevention? Are we reaching teens at an early enough age with this information? Are family- life and health classes clearly emphasizing what hard work it is to raise children even in a stable, well- financed household? Do these courses stress how mind numbingly boring and tiring it can be to care for babies and toddlers, how tied down you are, how much frustration and worry even a reasonably welladjusted adolescent can cause, and how all is compounded if you have to endure parenthood without a dependable partner? Do civics or social studies classes include material not only emphasizing our rights and what our country owes us but what our responsibilities are - like making reasonable life choices that are healthy and future oriented and that don't drain the resources of the state? And what about providing some financial incentives not to have children too early? As a society we rightfully think it's important to support poor moms and kids, but wouldn't it make just as much sense to pay deserving but at- risk girls to stay in school, go on to university or community college and not get pregnant? Would it even be politically possible to set up this kind of program? I fear, however, that the above just scratches the surface and that the problem is more complex than a few new programs can fix. I've read several times that often teens get pregnant deliberately in order to have someone to love and to provide stability in their lives. How unutterably sad. I have no idea how to fix such dysfunctional families. Does anyone? BRENDA NORQUAY Winnipeg Focus on potential threat Re: Women make historic gains in cabinet shuffle ( July 16). I am very concerned that a former police spokeswoman will be in charge of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, whose reportage often reveals police misconduct. Considering the track records of Conservative cabinet ministers ( Bev Oda as minister of international co- operation, Lisa Raitt as minister of labour, Peter Kent as minister of environment), I hope that the media will focus on the potential threat to investigative journalism by Shelly Glover's appointment. PETER LIPSKIS Vancouver �� Different monkeys. Same organ grinder. Don't expect a new tune. JIM RODGER Argyle Option for the oath Re: Chr�tien nearly nixed oath to Queen ( July 13). I joined the Armed Forces in the ' 60s at a time when Canadian nationalism was being well tested. The officer giving the oath explained that we were promising to serve our country faithfully and that we could say " Canada" instead of " the Queen." I would guess that approximately 50 per cent of those taking the oath with me said Canada. Some years later I was the officer administering the oath. I provided the same guidance as I had received years earlier. It felt good making the oath to Canada. PETE SANDERSON Winnipeg Problem is Mexico's Re: Immigration reform looks like last gasp for GOP ( July 9). America will never solve its Mexican immigration problem because the root of the problem is in Mexico. The problem, again, is wealth disparity. Where much of America's wealth is controlled by one per cent of its population, most of Mexico's wealth is controlled by a dozen wealthy families. Minimum wage in the U. S. is $ 7.25 per hour, Argentina's is $ 4 US, Brazil's is $ 2, and Mexico's is $ 5.10 - a day. Even China's is much more at $ 1.03 per hour. If Mexicans were paid a fair wage, to create a thriving middle class and self- generate a strong economy, Mexicans would stop entering the U. S. to work and would stop risking their lives in the drug trade. So, if Mexican and U. S. politicians had any intelligence, they could solve their shared problem in a heartbeat, and each save billions in tax dollars. The U. S. would not need the costly fence and border security, and Mexico could dramatically reduce the cost of its war on drugs. This may even leave jobs open for Americans. But I did say if. DAN CECCHINI Winnipeg Attack of consultantitis Some years ago a virus attacked city hall and infected some politicians. This virus is called consultantitis. The primary symptom of this malady is an uncontrollable desire to hire consultants. In the years since, millions upon millions of scarce tax dollars have been spent on consultant services. It is very encouraging to hear that recently councillors are attempting to cure this infection and have decided not to spend $ 400,000 on a pedestrian bike path study that was to have been carried out by a consultant. There is no doubt that planning for the future is necessary, and there are times when consultants with a specific expertise may be required. It is also true that, at this time, as stated by the mayor and some councillors, the $ 400,000 would be better spent on actually building paths. Meanwhile, there is nothing stopping the mayor and area councillors, along with the administration, to engage citizens in public consultation meetings and continue the planning process. JOHN G. KUBI Winnipeg God's healing touch I'm sure the feelings expressed by April Phillips in her July 16 letter, Wishing Reynolds well , expresses the feelings of hundreds or even thousands of us all toward Lindor Reynolds. We pray that she will benefit from the healing touch and power of God and that her health will be restored in the days ahead. Unto God's gracious mercy and protection we commit you. JIM SLATER Winnipeg HAVE YOUR SAY: The Free Press welcomes letters from readers. Include the author's name, address and telephone number. Letters may be edited. Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, R2X 3B6. Fax 697- 7412. E- mail letters@ freepress. mb. ca Letters represent the opinions of their writers and do not reflect the opinions of the Winnipeg Free Press or its staff. �� LETTER OF THE DAY Re: Delta getting $ 10- M revamp ( July 13). There is an interesting cost comparison between the revamp of the Delta Winnipeg Hotel - lobby, ballrooms, 393 guest rooms, etc. - and the renovation of 60 Manitoba Housing units on Beliveau Road. While $ 10 million will be spent on the entire hotel, the 60 housing units will cost taxpayers $ 7.6 million ( Manitoba Housing units get makeover , July 10). Perhaps the NDP government should have hired the hotel's contractors. GLORIA JOHNSTON Winnipeg Let us compare reno costs WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES A worker renovates the grand ballroom of the Delta hotel on July 12. Keeping up with the Waltons A_ 08_ Jul- 17- 13_ FP_ 01. indd A8 7/ 16/ 13 6: 05: 09 PM ;