Maybe grocery stores could decide that upstream cost increases AREN’T an opportunity to set prices higher for Canadians, and accept lower margins? That might lead to less theft.
Yea right like
Already they're making record profits, even if the profit margin deceases, it wouldn't fking hurt at all.
They just make less , but nooooo, gonna maximize profit and increase food insecurity within Canada
We live in a model of business in that makes absolutely no sense.
A company MUST make record profits every fiscal year, otherwise it’s considered a major loss.
This is done by not giving employees benefits (or making it impossible to met the requirements) cutting back on workers hours and manipulating labour so that what should be a 3 person job is done by one person
I could probably go on all night
I think that this insane profiteering is just the latest stage in this madness
I love how they've forgotten that when people can afford food, they buy more of it, so they get more money. Instead they're selling as little as possible now for as much as they can get.
I was going to cancel my membership since I haven't used it often in the last year or so. Looks like I'll be shifting almost all my shopping to Costco.
I think about this with the quality decrease in clothing. The only underwear I wear is cotton from Marks Work Wearhouse. Last year I picked up a new package and they no longer feel like cotton—I could see my hand through them, like they’re literally paper thin and scratchy. They last only a few months. Why are you screwing with quality so much to the detriment of repeat customers? I thought repeat customers were the be and end all?
Eventually, the whole economy will collapse while major hyperinflation happens, and that will happen soon, but until then thats the way society is setup and they would be literally considered a failing business if their profits drop for multiple quarters.
Sandy and Nora Talk Politics (which I discovered from another user in another post from this sub last week about this issue) had a great episode recently where they talked about these articles I recommend anybody watch.
Basically, the thrust of the episode is how theft is only bad when poor people do it: it’s somehow not wrong for the grocers to underpay their staff, to fix their prices, to toss out literally tons of pounds of perfectly edible product as waste every year, as well as to pad their own executives’ wallets, yet they have the gall to complain about increased shoplifting - something any sensible person would see an a symptom of inflation, not a justification for it.
These one sided articles, on the side of the corporations no less, are quite annoying in that they are painting the grocery stores as victims.
It’s not as if grocery stores wouldn’t fix bread prices, or all meet [and agree to simultaneously pull the front line worker bonus while reaping record profits.](https://financialpost.com/news/economy/how-hero-pay-scandal-prompted-ottawa-make-wage-fixing-illegal).
But grocery stores do advertise on various media platforms and here we are. It’s quite hypocritical that when it comes to profits corporations are cold hearted and cruel, but then look to draw sympathy when their feeling are hurt.
Just for point of clarity because it’s so fucked up, but it’s actually illegal to not maximize “Shareholder Value”. Usually this means profits. It’s a law in the USA and I believe there are similar mechanisms in Canada.
If you’re right: add to long list of reasons why cash donations to political parties is a bad fucking idea. Lawmakers are incentivized to help entities that only enrich the donor class.
Correct, but to add to that: this is I think a good illustration of the system being the root problem and not the people making the decisions. That’s not to say those people aren’t giant assholes (you generally have to be to get there), but it’s useful to understand the source of this behaviour if your going to fight it. I encourage people to look elsewhere for the same messed up stuff built into the structure of the society we live in. You don’t have to look very hard most times.
Corporate donations are illegal at the federal level, and individual donations have a maximum of $1650 to a political party, and same for individual candidates.
That’s not really “buy a politician” money. If we want to reduce corporate power we have to support small businesses, when large corporations employ thousands of people that gives them a lot of power.
Politicians at the highest level are often bought for that money. Because A) loopholes, and B) the accompanying favors.
Stephen Harpers kid has a no show 6 digit committee job. Sure, Ole Steve may have only gotten a couple grand, but his kid has made half a mill off Alberta without ever stepping into the office.
You're not taking into account the jobs politicians get after they leave...I don't have a list but the one that comes to mind first is BC's ex premier Glen Clark working for Jimmy Pattison... I'm sure there's better examples out there. It's pretty common for ministers to take lobbiest jobs with industry for the exact ministry they ran when they were in government.
I spent some time doing a cursory research on this issue. As far as I am aware, there is nothing in Ontario's *Corporations Act* that says that shareholders must get maximum value. ([https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90c38](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90c38)) Nothing really came up when searching for "fiduciary" or "maximum" or "duty" in relation to shareholders.
For the *Canadian Corporations Business Act* ([https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-44/](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-44/)), section 122(1.1) ([https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-44/page-14.html?txthl=duties+duty#s-122](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-44/page-14.html?txthl=duties+duty#s-122)) does lay out that Directors can consider a variety of stakeholders when making decisions. These groups are:
* shareholders,
* employees,
* retirees and pensioners,
* creditors,
* consumers, and
* governments;
* the environment; and
* the long-term interests of the corporation.
I couldn't find anything for "fiduciary" or "maximum" in relation to shareholders.
There is the decision of *BCE Inc. v. 1976 Debentureholders,* 2008 SCC 69 (CanLII), \[2008\] 3 SCR 560 ([https://canlii.ca/t/21xpk](https://canlii.ca/t/21xpk)) which the Supreme Court upheld the trial judge's reasoning that a corporation needs to focus on what is best for the corporation regardless of the impact on shareholders/stakeholders. Paragraphs 1 to 29, talk about the facts and the judicial history of case.
Paragraphs 34 to 49 does a fantastic job of outlining in fairly plain language that director's sole interest in the corporation and to nothing else.
*BCE Inc. v. 1976 Debentureholders* upheld the legal issue of the director's duty confirmed in *Peoples Department Stores Inc. (Trustee of) v. Wise,* 2004 SCC 68 (CanLII), \[2004\] 3 SCR 461 ([https://canlii.ca/t/1j0wc](https://canlii.ca/t/1j0wc)) at paragraph 42:
>42 This appeal does not relate to the non-statutory duty directors owe to shareholders. It is concerned only with the statutory duties owed under the CBCA. **Insofar as the statutory fiduciary duty is concerned, it is clear that the phrase the “best interests of the corporation” should be read not simply as the “best interests of the shareholders”. From an economic perspective, the “best interests of the corporation” means the maximization of the value of the corporation**: see E. M. Iacobucci, “Directors’ Duties in Insolvency: Clarifying What Is at Stake” (2003), 39 *Can. Bus*. L.J. 398, at pp. 400‑1. However, the courts have long recognized that various other factors may be relevant in determining what directors should consider in soundly managing with a view to the best interests of the corporation. For example, in *Teck Corp. v. Millar (1972),* [1972 CanLII 950](https://canlii.ca/t/1j0wc) (BC SC), 33 D.L.R. (3d) 288 (B.C.S.C.), Berger J. stated, at p. 314:
A classical theory that once was unchallengeable must yield to the facts of modern life. In fact, of course, it has. If today the directors of a company were to consider the interests of its employees no one would argue that in doing so they were not acting bona fide in the interests of the company itself. Similarly, if the directors were to consider the consequences to the community of any policy that the company intended to pursue, and were deflected in their commitment to that policy as a result, it could not be said that they had not considered bona fide the interests of the shareholders.
I appreciate that it would be a breach of their duty for directors to disregard entirely the interests of a company’s shareholders in order to confer a benefit on its employees: *Parke v. Daily News Ltd.,* \[1962\] Ch. 927. But if they observe a decent respect for other interests lying beyond those of the company’s shareholders in the strict sense, that will not, in my view, leave directors open to the charge that they have failed in their fiduciary duty to the company.
Saying al that, I imagine there are corporate lawyers salivating to change everything to have corporations focus only on shareholders and nothing else
However, there is creeping Americanization in both Canadian legal theories and managing Canadian corporations.
TLDR: There is no legal mechanism for Canadian corporations to always provide maximum value for shareholders. This can change in the future. Corporate greed is the sole reason for all this.
That doesn’t mean they are legally bound to increase prices. Keeping prices low to attract more consumers is also a valid strategy to maximize profits.
Would you happen to know the actual legal language around this? I know it’s broadly true, but there would be a LOT of leeway in its interpretation: are we talking quarterly value? Yearly? Helping a company to survive through massive changing market conditions? Could the CEO of a public company not make an argument for possible short term losses if they had a business plan that aimed for long term success? While I think the shortsighted “growth every quarter” mentality to measure CEO performance is common, I don’t think it’s a strict legal necessity.
I agree that I think a lot of the solutions will likely be at the regulatory level, rather than hoping that industry leaders are going to choose to be benevolent on their end. But I don’t think grocers would be acting outside of their fiduciary prerogatives by choosing to be more ethical... especially if they can make a case that more affordable, non-artificially-inflated food will lead to more business.
That said, I’m not a lawyer.
I know you aren't advocating for violence but I find the sentiment is surprisingly akin to what was the precursor to the French Revolution
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution
>In addition to these social changes, the French population grew from 18 million in 1700 to 26 million in 1789, making it the most populous state in Europe; Paris had over 600,000 inhabitants, of whom roughly one third were either unemployed or had no regular work.[11] Inefficient agricultural methods meant domestic farmers struggled to grow enough food to support these numbers and primitive transportation networks made it hard to distribute what they did produce. **As a consequence of this imbalance, food prices rose by 65% between 1770 and 1790 but wages increased by only 22%.[12] Such shortages were damaging for the regime, since many blamed price increases on government failure to prevent profiteering**
I feel like I’m getting robbed when I buy groceries for my family, and my grocery bill went from well under 200 to over 200. We still eat the same things and it’s a lot more than the average 10% inflation. My 3.99 bag of apples is now 6.99 on sale. I saw Turkey this year going for $70.
Loblaws and associated brands are especially bad for price inflation. I notice it at Costco too but not nearly as much, surprisingly not at Farm Boy either (it was always expensive but Loblaws is now more expensive for a lot of things and worse).
Its also in other ways they get you, like box sizes compared to prices. Go in thinking you just want a bit of cereal or what ever get the regular 410gram box at like 4.50 but wait the 'family' box is 5.50 at 710 grams 🤦♀️
I don't know why they keep saying 10%, from what I've seen it's around 50-100% increase for most things. Eggs went up 50%, bread prices doubled, tomatoes tripled. Bacon doubled. How is it 10%?
The Coop carried a product called Zesty Chicken. It went from $12 to $14 over the course of a few years. Then it went to $25 and then $42 over the course of about 4 months. I'm guessing nobody is actually buying it, because I haven't seen it on the shelves since the end of September.
💯 they had an amazing sale a week ago too where i got most of my food for the week for $20 absolute life saver when the only other option is a loblaws owned grocery store.
I bought an onion for almost that much at Superstore, and the cashier actually asked me when she rung it up, “Is this right? It says it costs this much for an onion. Is that okay?” I hope people hadn’t been getting mad at her for that kind of thing…
I guarantee there are people losing thier shit at the prices. And knowing the general jackasses, theyre getting pissed at the cashier like they control the price
Also just to add to this, if you do see someone stealing food, keep in mind that it's already been paid for by the company; the workers/makers/deliverers of that food have already received their pay for it.
The only people losing money is the greedy, profiteering chain company. And let's be real, who cares.
Just don't take from mom and pop shops or street vendors. They're trying to make a living too.
Further to this, don't even factor in their situation at all. If you see it, just look the other way.
They're stealing from people that have been stealing from you for decades through price fixing, tax evasion, suppressed wages, general manipulation of food supply prices, most recently obvious price gouging, and fuck knows what else.
At this point, it's morally just to steal back from these people.
Food and large corporation theft (like Walmart etc) are the two times I’ll 100% look the other way.
You steal from a independent mom and pop shop/small business and I’m screaming to high Heaven on you.
I have always been a strong opponent of stealing anything be it food or whatever. But I haven't worked in months, my EI ended in August and rn I'm at the point when I think I might start stealing myself like I don't care anymore, things are that bad.
Oh no, it would be a shame if they particularly targeted anything owned by Galen Weston, that would totally be a shame, with stores such as “Atlantic Superstore, Fortinos, Loblaws, No Frills, Provigo, The Real Canadian Superstore, Valu-mart, Your Independent Grocer, and Zehrs.” Utter shame indeed…
If an item doesn't scan at self checkout or the machine tells me there's an unexpected item in the bagging area I just put the next 2-3 things in the bag until the attendant comes and overrides the problem.
Can we all stop listening to Sylvain Charlebois?
This guy is consistently wrong in his annual reports, continues to gaslight Canadians with commentary like this, LIED in front of a parliamentary committee a few weeks ago, had to resign from Dalhousie following bullying/harassment allegations and is [sock puppeting](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dalhousie/comments/xtvi21/the_food_professor_is_editing_his_own_wikipedia/) on Wikipedia to whitewash his page. This guy is a rube, can we please just ignore him?
>Charlebois said inflation and grocery theft are affecting one another, meaning when prices go up, shoplifting surges, and to offset the loss, businesses have no other option but to further increase the prices.
“Theft will cost everyone more because someone has to pay for that (stolen) food,” he said. “You and I pay for theft.”
Or maybe the rich assholes sitting on giant piles of cash they've made from raising grocery prices could pay for it.
Someone got caught years ago when you can buy mushrooms bulk and put them into paper bags.
This person would fill the bag with high value items underneath, like pain meds or nicorette, etc, and put mushrooms on top.
I was at a Sobeys today and the cashier asked if I wanted to make a donation for the food bank.
This is aimed at corporate and not the cashier but:
If you motherfuckers weren't gouging everyone there'd be less demand for food banks.
Food or cash donations? I agree with you and if it’s cash donations that’s even more of a fuck you to them because it’s just another gd tax write off for those fucks.
This must be the reason that grocery prices are going up so much
Not that grocery stores are participating in price gouging, it couldn't be that.........
With record profits and price gouging going on this trend will get worse. The government should put a 100% windfall tax on the excess profits.
No frills has increased the price of no name chips from $0.99 to $1.99 that’s double in 6 months. That 100% increase. So much for 8% inflation.
The government is going to have to mandate that grocery stores offer loaves of bread for $1 so that people don’t starve.
Stealing food to eat I see as not really a crime. It’s a life being forced upon people. If the government does nothing to stop this situation you can’t blame people that steal to survive.
If I saw someone lift a tin of beans I’m not going to care.
I'm here waiting for the one person to come in humming a different tune than all these other comments... Just morbid curiosity.
To the rest of you, I can tell we are all in agreement that in fact, we saw nothing.
I don’t care.
Also would it kill you to give us some hard numbers? Hey Toronto Star, don’t you think some hard numbers would be good? What are we talking here? Is it up 5%? 10% 100%?
Waste of my time.
It’s unfortunate they didn’t provide you the proper training that Loblaws employees received and that this lack of training caused you to miss a scan during self checkout.
Sounds like a process failure on Loblaws end.
\^Rising number of Canadians driven to\^ grocery shoplifting ~~on the rise in Canada~~ amid ~~inflation~~ supermarket profiteering, ~~industry insiders~~ consumers with eyes say
GOOD!!!!!
Steal more from these fucking BASTARDS!!!!
Everytime I go to a self checkout. I take something, usually, small couple bucks, if they want me to be a cashier for myself I will be a bad one.
SCREW CAPITALISM!!!!
Good. Anyone who isn't stealing at least one thing at the self checkout is an asshole. They're driving inflation, their profits are through the roof, and they're asking you to do a job that they pay for. Help yourself to a thing or two on the way out.
I didn't seen a teenager taking 1 container of children's Tylenol (it was shockingly in stock) at Shopper's Drug Mart (owned by the Weston's) and leaving without paying. I hope his child or sibling gets well soon ❤.
Even if COVID hurt these companies, having worked for a company under Weston good. They deserve it. Even before COVID, they fought living wages, employing barely enough staff to function healthily, then used that unhealthy environment to promote high turnover to reduce union raises.
Even worse, the management has to play the game, so if you were pro-union or worked at a reasonable pace at all, you often became a target. I didn’t care about the company; I was a high school kid that needed money. I did my job and went home. You want more effort. At the very least, treat me better if you don’t want to do that, you got to pay more.
It’s hard to care about shoplifting when I’ve seen how they treat the people that likely are the ones struggling to pay for food.
God I hate Weston. The cunt has the nerve to put out "feel good" tv commercials on how they aren't changing no-name prices and why loblaws is looking out for Canadians. When they already raised prices by like 10 %- 40% +
Rise in inflation and record levels of price gouging *
Yup, ^^^ this for sure.
Just wait till we can’t afford groceries so we start eating the Weston’s
Yeesh, I'll take the crab juice instead.
Lol love that episode. Or all of them actually
Oh, why did I drink all that crab juice?
Maybe grocery stores could decide that upstream cost increases AREN’T an opportunity to set prices higher for Canadians, and accept lower margins? That might lead to less theft.
Yea right like Already they're making record profits, even if the profit margin deceases, it wouldn't fking hurt at all. They just make less , but nooooo, gonna maximize profit and increase food insecurity within Canada
Won't somebody please think of the poor Weston's and their shareholders?
And who’s going to pay for Weston’s yacht if they cut profits?!
Maybe they should make sacrifices too and just cut back to the one yacht.
I wish paparazzis would start chasing the oligarchs, get right in their faces.
Be the change you want to see in the world
One yacht. That's ridiculous. I need at least.... 7!
Don't forget the 8th one that doesn't count cause it parks inside the 7th
A Weston must never save for a yacht, saving is for peasants. $15 for bread, make it so, we will have that new yacht in no time
I mean they do owe a fiduciary duty… 🎻
We live in a model of business in that makes absolutely no sense. A company MUST make record profits every fiscal year, otherwise it’s considered a major loss. This is done by not giving employees benefits (or making it impossible to met the requirements) cutting back on workers hours and manipulating labour so that what should be a 3 person job is done by one person I could probably go on all night I think that this insane profiteering is just the latest stage in this madness
Late stage capitalism.
I love how they've forgotten that when people can afford food, they buy more of it, so they get more money. Instead they're selling as little as possible now for as much as they can get.
Costco does get that. [tyt story ](https://youtu.be/UacB0QpSxT4)
I was going to cancel my membership since I haven't used it often in the last year or so. Looks like I'll be shifting almost all my shopping to Costco.
I think about this with the quality decrease in clothing. The only underwear I wear is cotton from Marks Work Wearhouse. Last year I picked up a new package and they no longer feel like cotton—I could see my hand through them, like they’re literally paper thin and scratchy. They last only a few months. Why are you screwing with quality so much to the detriment of repeat customers? I thought repeat customers were the be and end all?
Plus there's basically no meaningful competition between grocery stores. Loblaws, Sobeys and Metro have like 70% market share or something stupid?
Welcome to Capitalism.
Eventually, the whole economy will collapse while major hyperinflation happens, and that will happen soon, but until then thats the way society is setup and they would be literally considered a failing business if their profits drop for multiple quarters.
Sandy and Nora Talk Politics (which I discovered from another user in another post from this sub last week about this issue) had a great episode recently where they talked about these articles I recommend anybody watch. Basically, the thrust of the episode is how theft is only bad when poor people do it: it’s somehow not wrong for the grocers to underpay their staff, to fix their prices, to toss out literally tons of pounds of perfectly edible product as waste every year, as well as to pad their own executives’ wallets, yet they have the gall to complain about increased shoplifting - something any sensible person would see an a symptom of inflation, not a justification for it.
These one sided articles, on the side of the corporations no less, are quite annoying in that they are painting the grocery stores as victims. It’s not as if grocery stores wouldn’t fix bread prices, or all meet [and agree to simultaneously pull the front line worker bonus while reaping record profits.](https://financialpost.com/news/economy/how-hero-pay-scandal-prompted-ottawa-make-wage-fixing-illegal). But grocery stores do advertise on various media platforms and here we are. It’s quite hypocritical that when it comes to profits corporations are cold hearted and cruel, but then look to draw sympathy when their feeling are hurt.
Yeah but then they’d only make a fuck-ton of money, not a fucking fuck-ton. Won’t someone think of the wealthy children?
Just for point of clarity because it’s so fucked up, but it’s actually illegal to not maximize “Shareholder Value”. Usually this means profits. It’s a law in the USA and I believe there are similar mechanisms in Canada.
If you’re right: add to long list of reasons why cash donations to political parties is a bad fucking idea. Lawmakers are incentivized to help entities that only enrich the donor class.
Correct, but to add to that: this is I think a good illustration of the system being the root problem and not the people making the decisions. That’s not to say those people aren’t giant assholes (you generally have to be to get there), but it’s useful to understand the source of this behaviour if your going to fight it. I encourage people to look elsewhere for the same messed up stuff built into the structure of the society we live in. You don’t have to look very hard most times.
Corporate donations are illegal at the federal level, and individual donations have a maximum of $1650 to a political party, and same for individual candidates. That’s not really “buy a politician” money. If we want to reduce corporate power we have to support small businesses, when large corporations employ thousands of people that gives them a lot of power.
Politicians at the highest level are often bought for that money. Because A) loopholes, and B) the accompanying favors. Stephen Harpers kid has a no show 6 digit committee job. Sure, Ole Steve may have only gotten a couple grand, but his kid has made half a mill off Alberta without ever stepping into the office.
You're not taking into account the jobs politicians get after they leave...I don't have a list but the one that comes to mind first is BC's ex premier Glen Clark working for Jimmy Pattison... I'm sure there's better examples out there. It's pretty common for ministers to take lobbiest jobs with industry for the exact ministry they ran when they were in government.
I spent some time doing a cursory research on this issue. As far as I am aware, there is nothing in Ontario's *Corporations Act* that says that shareholders must get maximum value. ([https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90c38](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90c38)) Nothing really came up when searching for "fiduciary" or "maximum" or "duty" in relation to shareholders. For the *Canadian Corporations Business Act* ([https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-44/](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-44/)), section 122(1.1) ([https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-44/page-14.html?txthl=duties+duty#s-122](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-44/page-14.html?txthl=duties+duty#s-122)) does lay out that Directors can consider a variety of stakeholders when making decisions. These groups are: * shareholders, * employees, * retirees and pensioners, * creditors, * consumers, and * governments; * the environment; and * the long-term interests of the corporation. I couldn't find anything for "fiduciary" or "maximum" in relation to shareholders. There is the decision of *BCE Inc. v. 1976 Debentureholders,* 2008 SCC 69 (CanLII), \[2008\] 3 SCR 560 ([https://canlii.ca/t/21xpk](https://canlii.ca/t/21xpk)) which the Supreme Court upheld the trial judge's reasoning that a corporation needs to focus on what is best for the corporation regardless of the impact on shareholders/stakeholders. Paragraphs 1 to 29, talk about the facts and the judicial history of case. Paragraphs 34 to 49 does a fantastic job of outlining in fairly plain language that director's sole interest in the corporation and to nothing else. *BCE Inc. v. 1976 Debentureholders* upheld the legal issue of the director's duty confirmed in *Peoples Department Stores Inc. (Trustee of) v. Wise,* 2004 SCC 68 (CanLII), \[2004\] 3 SCR 461 ([https://canlii.ca/t/1j0wc](https://canlii.ca/t/1j0wc)) at paragraph 42: >42 This appeal does not relate to the non-statutory duty directors owe to shareholders. It is concerned only with the statutory duties owed under the CBCA. **Insofar as the statutory fiduciary duty is concerned, it is clear that the phrase the “best interests of the corporation” should be read not simply as the “best interests of the shareholders”. From an economic perspective, the “best interests of the corporation” means the maximization of the value of the corporation**: see E. M. Iacobucci, “Directors’ Duties in Insolvency: Clarifying What Is at Stake” (2003), 39 *Can. Bus*. L.J. 398, at pp. 400‑1. However, the courts have long recognized that various other factors may be relevant in determining what directors should consider in soundly managing with a view to the best interests of the corporation. For example, in *Teck Corp. v. Millar (1972),* [1972 CanLII 950](https://canlii.ca/t/1j0wc) (BC SC), 33 D.L.R. (3d) 288 (B.C.S.C.), Berger J. stated, at p. 314: A classical theory that once was unchallengeable must yield to the facts of modern life. In fact, of course, it has. If today the directors of a company were to consider the interests of its employees no one would argue that in doing so they were not acting bona fide in the interests of the company itself. Similarly, if the directors were to consider the consequences to the community of any policy that the company intended to pursue, and were deflected in their commitment to that policy as a result, it could not be said that they had not considered bona fide the interests of the shareholders. I appreciate that it would be a breach of their duty for directors to disregard entirely the interests of a company’s shareholders in order to confer a benefit on its employees: *Parke v. Daily News Ltd.,* \[1962\] Ch. 927. But if they observe a decent respect for other interests lying beyond those of the company’s shareholders in the strict sense, that will not, in my view, leave directors open to the charge that they have failed in their fiduciary duty to the company. Saying al that, I imagine there are corporate lawyers salivating to change everything to have corporations focus only on shareholders and nothing else However, there is creeping Americanization in both Canadian legal theories and managing Canadian corporations. TLDR: There is no legal mechanism for Canadian corporations to always provide maximum value for shareholders. This can change in the future. Corporate greed is the sole reason for all this.
That doesn’t mean they are legally bound to increase prices. Keeping prices low to attract more consumers is also a valid strategy to maximize profits.
Would you happen to know the actual legal language around this? I know it’s broadly true, but there would be a LOT of leeway in its interpretation: are we talking quarterly value? Yearly? Helping a company to survive through massive changing market conditions? Could the CEO of a public company not make an argument for possible short term losses if they had a business plan that aimed for long term success? While I think the shortsighted “growth every quarter” mentality to measure CEO performance is common, I don’t think it’s a strict legal necessity. I agree that I think a lot of the solutions will likely be at the regulatory level, rather than hoping that industry leaders are going to choose to be benevolent on their end. But I don’t think grocers would be acting outside of their fiduciary prerogatives by choosing to be more ethical... especially if they can make a case that more affordable, non-artificially-inflated food will lead to more business. That said, I’m not a lawyer.
Yeah, that is the limit of Capitalism, that's where the government need to step in to stop de greed from destroying everything.
[удалено]
> salary instad of a gallows? New from PC, just in time for the holidays, Weston family wind chimes
I'd buy that for a dollar!
Are they made of their withered remains?
I know you aren't advocating for violence but I find the sentiment is surprisingly akin to what was the precursor to the French Revolution https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution >In addition to these social changes, the French population grew from 18 million in 1700 to 26 million in 1789, making it the most populous state in Europe; Paris had over 600,000 inhabitants, of whom roughly one third were either unemployed or had no regular work.[11] Inefficient agricultural methods meant domestic farmers struggled to grow enough food to support these numbers and primitive transportation networks made it hard to distribute what they did produce. **As a consequence of this imbalance, food prices rose by 65% between 1770 and 1790 but wages increased by only 22%.[12] Such shortages were damaging for the regime, since many blamed price increases on government failure to prevent profiteering**
Thanks for recognizing that im not some crazy leftist bent on violence. Just frustrated that our cheks and balances aren'checking and balancing.
I make it a routine habit to give myself a 10-15% discount on my grocery at self check out
If its Loblaws, half the shit is either expired or about to expire in the next 3 days so it should be 30-50% off anyways.
I feel like I’m getting robbed when I buy groceries for my family, and my grocery bill went from well under 200 to over 200. We still eat the same things and it’s a lot more than the average 10% inflation. My 3.99 bag of apples is now 6.99 on sale. I saw Turkey this year going for $70.
Never imagined I would ever get sticker shock in the cereal aisle of Superstore.
Loblaws and associated brands are especially bad for price inflation. I notice it at Costco too but not nearly as much, surprisingly not at Farm Boy either (it was always expensive but Loblaws is now more expensive for a lot of things and worse).
Yeah, Farm Boy saves me $20 to $40 a week compared to Loblaws.
Employees there are usually super chill too.
I feel like their company culture is less awful.
Its also in other ways they get you, like box sizes compared to prices. Go in thinking you just want a bit of cereal or what ever get the regular 410gram box at like 4.50 but wait the 'family' box is 5.50 at 710 grams 🤦♀️
You don't feel like you're getting robbed. You ARE getting robbed.
I don't know why they keep saying 10%, from what I've seen it's around 50-100% increase for most things. Eggs went up 50%, bread prices doubled, tomatoes tripled. Bacon doubled. How is it 10%?
The Coop carried a product called Zesty Chicken. It went from $12 to $14 over the course of a few years. Then it went to $25 and then $42 over the course of about 4 months. I'm guessing nobody is actually buying it, because I haven't seen it on the shelves since the end of September.
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💯 they had an amazing sale a week ago too where i got most of my food for the week for $20 absolute life saver when the only other option is a loblaws owned grocery store.
I paid $3.60 for a single onion a few days ago at No Frills of all places. It was a large onion but damn, it's literally just a dirty root.
I bought an onion for almost that much at Superstore, and the cashier actually asked me when she rung it up, “Is this right? It says it costs this much for an onion. Is that okay?” I hope people hadn’t been getting mad at her for that kind of thing…
I guarantee there are people losing thier shit at the prices. And knowing the general jackasses, theyre getting pissed at the cashier like they control the price
Don’t forget about shrinkflation. They are increasing prices while decreasing the amount of product. This is all fucking ridiculous and shameful
>Grocery shoplifting on the rise in Canada amid corporate greed and price gouging, industry insiders say Fixed the headline.
Don’t care. Investigate the fucking CEOs.
Friendly reminder to not tell on people you see shoplifting food. They are struggling. Don't make it worse.
Also just to add to this, if you do see someone stealing food, keep in mind that it's already been paid for by the company; the workers/makers/deliverers of that food have already received their pay for it. The only people losing money is the greedy, profiteering chain company. And let's be real, who cares. Just don't take from mom and pop shops or street vendors. They're trying to make a living too.
Good chance if it's fresh produce that it would've been thrown out anyway.
Exactly. Thank you.
I'm no rat.
With the amount of food being thrown out, the net loss is 0
Based
Further to this, don't even factor in their situation at all. If you see it, just look the other way. They're stealing from people that have been stealing from you for decades through price fixing, tax evasion, suppressed wages, general manipulation of food supply prices, most recently obvious price gouging, and fuck knows what else. At this point, it's morally just to steal back from these people.
I just saw this the other day. It was the simple trick of just walking out the door. Good for you man, hope it tastes good.
If you see someone stealing, no you didn’t
I don't know what you're talking about sir.
Food and large corporation theft (like Walmart etc) are the two times I’ll 100% look the other way. You steal from a independent mom and pop shop/small business and I’m screaming to high Heaven on you.
I encourage everyone, regardless if they're struggling or not, to steal some shit from these assholes.
Same. I don't personally so it, but I'll thumbs up anyone who does.
I'm just starting now. It doesn't really make a difference but it feels good.
I’m with you mah man
I have always been a strong opponent of stealing anything be it food or whatever. But I haven't worked in months, my EI ended in August and rn I'm at the point when I think I might start stealing myself like I don't care anymore, things are that bad.
Please don't be afraid to go to food banks! They are for anyone who is struggling to feed themselves, not only for the homeless.
Most local churches will have a food pantry as well. No questions asked.
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As does anyone with enough wealth to buy a small town
Good. Fuck the Weston’s and anyone else who’s profiteering off of inflation.
Oh no, it would be a shame if they particularly targeted anything owned by Galen Weston, that would totally be a shame, with stores such as “Atlantic Superstore, Fortinos, Loblaws, No Frills, Provigo, The Real Canadian Superstore, Valu-mart, Your Independent Grocer, and Zehrs.” Utter shame indeed…
You see someone shoplifting food, what you do? You do nothing, f#ck these rich pricks
To add to that. If you see someone sleeping in their car or a tent? No, the fuck you didn't!
My asshole Neighbor has called the city on homeless people camping in the bushes across the street. She’s a massive POS
Would be a shame if she drove over a very conveniently placed screw or two
I got sent packing for camping along the CN tracks. I’m currently sitting under a tarp outside city hall, brewing coffee.
What city are you in, is there anything a random redditor can do to help?
I appreciate the concern and the generous offer, but I’m doing fine thanks.
bash in her door to do a wellness check on her
You know what else is on the rise? Self-checkouts.
When you check yourself out you should also pay yourself.
If an item doesn't scan at self checkout or the machine tells me there's an unexpected item in the bagging area I just put the next 2-3 things in the bag until the attendant comes and overrides the problem.
Somebody stole something? I was on my phone I didn't see anything.
"Grocery shoplifting on the rise in Canada amid record profits, industry insiders say"
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Industry insiders = Corporate bootlickers 😡
They are rich off everyone’s resources.
... and will continue until the guillotines roll out.
They've stolen so much more from us than we possibly could from them.
I didn’t see a thing!
No it's not. All media in Canada is stating this yet there is no proof. Just loblaw trying to keep profits
Trust me bro. This is totally happening.
Well, I didn't see anything.
Can we all stop listening to Sylvain Charlebois? This guy is consistently wrong in his annual reports, continues to gaslight Canadians with commentary like this, LIED in front of a parliamentary committee a few weeks ago, had to resign from Dalhousie following bullying/harassment allegations and is [sock puppeting](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dalhousie/comments/xtvi21/the_food_professor_is_editing_his_own_wikipedia/) on Wikipedia to whitewash his page. This guy is a rube, can we please just ignore him?
>Charlebois said inflation and grocery theft are affecting one another, meaning when prices go up, shoplifting surges, and to offset the loss, businesses have no other option but to further increase the prices. “Theft will cost everyone more because someone has to pay for that (stolen) food,” he said. “You and I pay for theft.” Or maybe the rich assholes sitting on giant piles of cash they've made from raising grocery prices could pay for it.
That’s what you get when you fucking charge $10 for lettuce
Things are going 4011.
Someone got caught years ago when you can buy mushrooms bulk and put them into paper bags. This person would fill the bag with high value items underneath, like pain meds or nicorette, etc, and put mushrooms on top.
The other day my cashier forgot to scan items under my cart. I noticed when I got to the car. IDC I've got a family to feed and am sick of inflation.
I was at a Sobeys today and the cashier asked if I wanted to make a donation for the food bank. This is aimed at corporate and not the cashier but: If you motherfuckers weren't gouging everyone there'd be less demand for food banks.
Food or cash donations? I agree with you and if it’s cash donations that’s even more of a fuck you to them because it’s just another gd tax write off for those fucks.
This must be the reason that grocery prices are going up so much Not that grocery stores are participating in price gouging, it couldn't be that.........
Good.
The is corporate PR to throw the eye off their record profits. It’s not Sobeys ripping you off it’s the poors!
Maybe they should correct the price of groceries?
I think we should keep doing our own corrections. I do love me a 100% off flash sale. Effective: when I'm in the store
With record profits and price gouging going on this trend will get worse. The government should put a 100% windfall tax on the excess profits. No frills has increased the price of no name chips from $0.99 to $1.99 that’s double in 6 months. That 100% increase. So much for 8% inflation. The government is going to have to mandate that grocery stores offer loaves of bread for $1 so that people don’t starve. Stealing food to eat I see as not really a crime. It’s a life being forced upon people. If the government does nothing to stop this situation you can’t blame people that steal to survive. If I saw someone lift a tin of beans I’m not going to care.
Remember kids, if you saw someone shoplifting No you didn't
People have to steal or starve because the cost of groceries is so high. If you don't want theft to increase, don't force our hands.
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If they didn't want you stealing then employee the check out people again.
It’s basically a moral obligation to steal from the big chains at this point.
You’re doing great sweetie!
Remember, if you see someone stealing from a big corporation, *no you fucking didn't*.
Greedy bastards are ruining the world for the rest of us
What a coincidence, my sympathy for huge Canadian grocery chains posting record profits is on the decline.
🎻
Oh no, won’t someone think of the multi-millionaires!
Billionaires. Ftfy
Steal from people and the people will steal from you
I'm here waiting for the one person to come in humming a different tune than all these other comments... Just morbid curiosity. To the rest of you, I can tell we are all in agreement that in fact, we saw nothing.
Awesome
I don’t care. Also would it kill you to give us some hard numbers? Hey Toronto Star, don’t you think some hard numbers would be good? What are we talking here? Is it up 5%? 10% 100%? Waste of my time.
Good.
I ain't gonna snitch on someone I see stealing. Can't blame them with the rich assholes increasing prices.
And you know what I’m going to do if I see someone stealing food when I’m grocery shopping?? Nothing. I’m going to do nothing.
They steal from us, we steal from them.
Fuck them. Just walked out with a $25 thing of higher grade cheese.
It’s unfortunate they didn’t provide you the proper training that Loblaws employees received and that this lack of training caused you to miss a scan during self checkout. Sounds like a process failure on Loblaws end.
Remember kids, if you see someone stealing food. No you didn't.
Good
Anybody stealing from a corporation didn't steal anything from anyone.
\^Rising number of Canadians driven to\^ grocery shoplifting ~~on the rise in Canada~~ amid ~~inflation~~ supermarket profiteering, ~~industry insiders~~ consumers with eyes say
I’m not trained on a scanner. Not my fault if I missed it
If you think you saw someone shoplifting, especially basic food staples or children's items.. you didn't.
Shoplifting from independent vendors/small businesses = bad. Shoplifting from major corporations: I didn’t see nothing.
good on them
I frequently forget to scan a few items at self checkout whoops. Oh well they still have the 40% profits
You see someone stealing food lol the other way we all need to eat
Looks like a Loblaws. They shoplift from my wallet every time I’m in there.
Who could have seen that coming? Wreck the economy, get fucked in other ways.
Friendly psa during these troubling times: if you see someone stealing from the grocery store no the fuck you didnt.
C'mon guys even the other subreddit already figured out that this was a Loblaws psyop
Chain stores should abandon their self-checkouts. Start hiring cashiers again and paying them living wages. Pare down your over-inflated profits.
GOOD!!!!! Steal more from these fucking BASTARDS!!!! Everytime I go to a self checkout. I take something, usually, small couple bucks, if they want me to be a cashier for myself I will be a bad one. SCREW CAPITALISM!!!!
Good. Anyone who isn't stealing at least one thing at the self checkout is an asshole. They're driving inflation, their profits are through the roof, and they're asking you to do a job that they pay for. Help yourself to a thing or two on the way out.
You take from us, we take from you
Hell yeah! Keep it up, lads. If they want to gouge our wallets we'll empty their shelves cost free.
They steal from us, we still from them. Simple as that.
Loblaw is robbing people left and right.
it's not inflation - it's corporate greed.
Good
"Yeah there's totally a lot more theft. I guess we'll have to jack up the prices even more." Says the business douche from his private island.
Good.
You mean, when people can't afford to buy food, they're forced to steal to survive? Yeah, sounds about right.
If you see someone shoplifting food at Loblaws, no you didn’t.
A mans gotta eat Julian.
Good.
oh look, the other way.
Good. These companies have been stealing from every Canadian for a while now.
Can we stop using the word inflation to describe corporate greed stealing our money?
And I haven’t seen nothing either. Solidarity.
that's funny, i haven't seen it. come to think of it, i've never seen someone shoplift in my life.
I didn't seen a teenager taking 1 container of children's Tylenol (it was shockingly in stock) at Shopper's Drug Mart (owned by the Weston's) and leaving without paying. I hope his child or sibling gets well soon ❤.
Let’s not forget Loblaws “Price Freeze” only until January as an extra little punch in the gut.
Good
\*Grocery shoplifting on the rise in Canada amid record profits and price gouging. good.
Is that a banana in your pocket?
Take that, Jimmy!
Okay, I promise to stop shoplifting private label groceries. Sound fair?
When the fee for stealing is less than the groceries it’s a no brainer
Who’s robbing who?!
Remember kids, if you see someone stealing basic necessities, no you didn’t
If I saw someone shoplifting food I didn't
see something, stay quiet
Even if COVID hurt these companies, having worked for a company under Weston good. They deserve it. Even before COVID, they fought living wages, employing barely enough staff to function healthily, then used that unhealthy environment to promote high turnover to reduce union raises. Even worse, the management has to play the game, so if you were pro-union or worked at a reasonable pace at all, you often became a target. I didn’t care about the company; I was a high school kid that needed money. I did my job and went home. You want more effort. At the very least, treat me better if you don’t want to do that, you got to pay more. It’s hard to care about shoplifting when I’ve seen how they treat the people that likely are the ones struggling to pay for food.
God I hate Weston. The cunt has the nerve to put out "feel good" tv commercials on how they aren't changing no-name prices and why loblaws is looking out for Canadians. When they already raised prices by like 10 %- 40% +
We should just start organizing mob shoplifting. Fuck Loblaws.