Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 23, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A7 THINK TANK PERSPECTIVES EDITOR: BRAD OSWALD 204-697-7269 ? BRAD.OSWALD@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A7 THURSDAY APRIL 23, 2020 Ideas, Issues, Insights FRED THORNHILL / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Comforting words - rather than action - from executives such as Loblaw Companies' executive chairman Galen Weston amount to little more than pandering. Frustration mounts on both sides of border I F you look past the lunacy, you can sense the real desperation on the faces of some of the protesters in the United States as they attend anti-lockdown rallies. Many are just desperate to get back to work in order to keep food on the table and a roof over their head. For them, an uncertain prospect of death may seem preferable to the certainty of homelessness. Anti-lockdown rallies have been seen in several states, including Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio, California and Minnesota, since last the weekend. The expec- tation is that such gatherings will lead to a surge of COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile, U.S. President Trump seems to be on the side of protesters, suggesting that some state gov- ernors may have gone too far in restricting people's freedoms. Trump is also eager to re-open the Ameri- can economy for business, even though COVID-19 infection rates in that country continue to climb. For Americans, the social safety net provided by government is not nearly as robust as in Canada. At the end of March, the U.S. Senate passed a roughly $2-trillion coronavirus response bill that was to keep businesses and individuals afloat. It included a one- time payment of US$1,200 for some Americans. The package also included an extended unem- ployment insurance program for laid-off workers that will allow for four months of "full pay," rather than the usual three months for most. It also raised the maximum unemployment insurance benefit by US$600 per week. Mortgage relief is available, but the rules behind it have caught most Americans by surprise. Ac- cording to an article published in USA Today, some banks have told homeowners that while they may be given a three-month mortgage holiday, at the end of the three months, the banks expect repay- ment in one lump sum. The banks identified were Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Chase - three of America's largest financial institutions. In contrast, Canada's government has rolled out several programs designed to ease the hardship caused by COVID-19 and the resultant layoffs and economic upheaval. Seemingly weekly, new programs are announced to help small businesses, students, seniors and the unemployed deal with the economic uncertainty ahead. This includes the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), made available to those who sud- denly are out of work. CERB provides $500 per week for up to 16 weeks. As well, Canadian banks are also providing mortgage relief and, so far, there are no stories of having to repay the mortgages back in one lump sum after the mortgage holiday is over. However, there is concern that this may leave a mark on the mortgage holder's credit history. These are details that still need to be worked out. The bottom line is that the differences between the two countries could not be more stark. So when I see the protests in the U.S., I do have some sympa- thy because I appreciate the fear these people must be feeling. I know that I have spent some sleepless nights my- self over the last month. It won't take much to tip my household over the edge, and I know I am not alone. Canada's government may have a stronger social safety net than the one offered in the United States, but it's not infallible and the pressure it's being forced to bear means something may break soon. There's a sentiment that is going around right now that after the pandemic is over, we should not be returning to normal, that maybe it's time for our old normal to be over. What we buy and who we buy from needs to be examined. Choose local first. Sup- port Canadian companies first. But it's more than that: we need to see the big corporations offer us something in return for our loyalty. Canadian credit-card companies and banks need to tell us that this is the year they will lower their inter- est rates on credit cards to make credit manageable. They can hire more staff, instead of making us wait on hold for hours on end. This is also the year that banks can stop paying obscene bonuses to their top executives while accumulating billions in profits. Otherwise, all those "empathetic" emails I have re- ceived from my bank and credit card company about how they are "there for me" will have been a lie. In a year when we've discovered that our most essential workers are often working part-time and paid hourly, it's time that the large companies that rely on their labour started paying them what they are worth (and not just a one-time bonus). That means a full-time position that includes such benefits as health care and sick leave. Otherwise, those updates from Loblaw/Shopper's Drug Mart/ Superstore CEO Galen Weston, one of Canada's highest-paid executives with a net worth of over $9 billion, will seem like pandering. In a year when we have talked about the imple- mentation of a basic income, maybe it's time to talk about the implementation of fair taxation laws that ensure those in the top one per cent finally pay their fair share - and do so without first trying to find every available loophole. According to the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives' senior economist Sheila Block, 87 of Canada's richest families hold the same amount of wealth as the 12 million poorest Canadians. These 87 families have, on average, more than 4,400 times the wealth of the average Canadian family. It's time that these families give back to the country that built their empires. Here's my message to corporate Canada: stop sending me emails about how we're all in this together, and instead tell me what you're paying in taxes to get this country working again. Otherwise, as the economic fallout continues, don't be surprised if people on this side of the border start taking to the streets to protest in frustration, too. Shannon Sampert is a retired political scientist who now works as a media consultant. www.mediadiva.ca. shannon@mediadiva.ca Twitter: @CdnMediadiva Fearful customers a huge challenge for grocers RESTAURANTS are hard hit by the COVID-19 crisis. Many won't recover, and some are already closed for good. And grocers, despite the infl ux of millions of new dollars, are managing unpreced- ented pressure points. Grocers are in a high-volume, low-margin business. The $80 billion shifting over from the decimated food-service sector may have been a godsend at the beginning. However, the CO- VID-19 crisis has been anything but easy for the grocery industry. Before the crisis, according to a survey by An- gus Reid, 18 per cent of Canadians either avoided the grocery store or intended to avoid it. However, 52 per cent now tell pollsters they intend to avoid the grocery store. And 20 per cent of those polled say they're shopping for someone else. This is up from four per cent prior to COVID-19. That's an incredible jump. In a period of one month, what was pleasant social spacing at the grocery store is now seen as an inherent health threat by many. Unlike other supply chains, grocery stores are open systems. Everyone has access. Anyone can come in, touch anything and everything, and leave. That's scary during a pandemic. We still know very little about COVID-19 and how it's transmitted, or how long it survives on certain surfaces. There are many unknown fac- tors that make it difficult for grocers to manage risks. With masks, glass partitions, new cleaning protocols and a change in foot traffic in stores, grocers have coped well so far. Stores are likely cleaner than some operating rooms. Expectations have changed, and grocers are complying. Salaries are also going up to compensate em- ployees for doing things differently. And let's be honest: working in a grocery store today entails more risk than just a few weeks ago. So the anxi- ety for employees also has to be addressed. This month alone, more than 40 grocery stores across the country closed because at least one employee contracted the virus. The outbreak is also affecting processing. Olymel in Yamachiche, Que., F. M�nard in Ange- Gardien, Que., and Maple Leaf in Brampton, Ont., all shut down plants for days due to employees contracting the virus. Communities may be inconvenienced by some of these closures, but the measures taken mean food security isn't compro- mised. In just a few weeks, grocers have also had to deal with different consumer demands. Instead of accommodating shoppers looking for quick fixes for lunch, dinner or the following day, stores must now serve customers looking for cooking ingredients. Home cooking is clearly part of most people's lives now. So we shouldn't be surprised to see shortages of staples such as flour, yeast, eggs, sugar and but- ter. However, supply chains are slowly replenish- ing shelves. But committing to the new normal is the challenge for grocers when things return to where they were. Eventually, consumers will need less flour, butter and other ingredients. It's hard to commit to capital projects when the ef- fects of the pandemic could be temporary. Yet some things may become permanent. Canada's traditional grocers reluctantly devel- oped online strategies. Before Amazon's acquisi- tion of Whole Foods in 2017, the main fixation for most players in the industry was foot traffic. The more people who visited stores, the better. Last year, a survey by Dalhousie University suggested that barely four per cent of Canadians were considering buying food online. But as of April 8, 22 per cent of Canadians are thinking of buying food online regularly, including after the crisis is over. Accommodating online shoppers is no longer just about convenience. It's also about safety and risk perceptions. The in-store grocery experience of the future is clearly uncertain. Few know how COVID-19 will forever change the way grocery stores are oper- ated. But some things we're accustomed to, such as ready-to-eat displays and self-serve counters, will certainly face a rethink. On the other side of the pandemic, grocers will have some serious work to do, and it will be difficult to overlook the stay-at-home trends in the marketplace. On the bright side, people are cooking more and saving money - lots of money. But the food- service sector will eventually be back, and all of us will want to treat ourselves. During this crisis, grocers are delivering - and delivering big. But the aftermath will be incredibly challenging. Sylvain Charlebois is senior director of the agri-food analytics lab and a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University. - Troy Media COVID-19 and Canada-U.S. relations SINCE the 2016 election of Donald Trump, there is no disputing the fact that the Canada- United States relationship has experienced its most diffi cult period since 1945. And, un- fortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the problem. In late March, in an effort to contain the novel coronavirus, Trump raised the bizarre possibility of deploying 1,000 U.S. soldiers along the 9,000-km Canada-U.S. border so as to intercept any unauthorized crossers. Just the thought of the White House contemplating such a move (which was eventually scrapped) raised immediate objections from Canada. As Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Free- land explained, "In terms of what we are doing about it, we are very directly and very forcefully expressing . that in Canada's view, this is an entirely unnecessary step which we would view as damaging to our relationship." At one of his regular coronavirus briefings in Washington, the president also acknowl- edged that U.S. troops could be used to block illegal shipments of Chinese steel from com- ing into the U.S. via Canada. "We have a lot of things coming in from Canada. We have trade, some illegal trade, that we don't like.. We don't like steel coming through our border that's been dumped in Canada so they can avoid the tariff," he said. Since the Canadian government is already closely monitoring the Chinese steel issue, it's hard to know exactly what Trump was talking about. On the face of it, the whole idea of stationing soldiers along the border makes very little sense - except for its U.S. domestic political utility. Another point of contention between the two countries is Trump's decision to deport back to their home countries asylum-seekers turned away by Canadian border officers. In the words of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official, "In the event an alien cannot be returned to Mexico or Canada, CBP will work with interagency partners to secure return to the alien's country of origin and hold the alien for the shortest time possible." Forcibly returning legitimate refugees to the country in which they were persecuted is not something that Canada endorses, and officials have expressed those sentiments to their U.S. counterparts. Earlier this month, Trump once again invoked the Korean War-era Defense Produc- tion Act to block Minnesota-based 3M Com- pany from exporting desperately-needed N95 respirator masks to Canada. That's hardly the way for the White House to treat a neighbour, friend and America's best customer. But this is what happens when "America First" policies are put into practice against supposed allies. Not surprisingly, Canada quickly made its con- cerns known about the uncharacteristic medical equipment interruption to the highest levels of the U.S. government. Freeland once again stated bluntly, "I do want to assure Canadians that our government - as has been demonstrated by our action - is prepared to do whatever it takes to defend the national interest." There was even some loose talk about Can- ada fashioning some sort of retaliatory action against Washington. At one point, Canadian officials highlighted the fact that disrupting economic exchange between the two countries - especially given its highly integrated nature and long-standing supply chains - only ends up damaging both nations. Additionally, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opaquely referred to the possibility of Cana- dian medical professionals - many of whom work in COVID-19 hotspots in Michigan - being prohibited from crossing the border into the U.S. But Ottawa, wisely, thought otherwise. Besides, it hardly makes sense for Canada to take out its frustrations with the Trump admin- istration against Detroit-area hospitals in the midst of a deadly pandemic. More to the point: I can't imagine a beleaguered Trump would take kindly to such a bilateral provocation. For a variety of reasons, Canada does not want to get into a war of retaliation with the U.S. Simply put, we would get clobbered. So it would be wise for the Trudeau government to ditch any chatter about reciprocal retaliatory measures against Trump. The unfortunate reality is that the Canadian government does not possess the requisite leverage to have any pull with the U.S. We may have it sometime down the road, when issues around shortages of fresh water and rare- earth metals become more acute in the U.S. But until that happens, and as long as Donald Trump occupies the White House, Canada is best served by biting its collective tongue and looking the other way. We just don't have any other option right now, I'm afraid. Peter McKenna is professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown. SHANNON SAMPERT SYLVAIN CHARLEBOIS PETER MCKENNA A_07_Apr-23-20_FP_01.indd A7 2020-04-22 6:19 PM ;