OTHER NEWS

Quebec Election called for October 3

Quebec’s general election campaign has officially begun and election day is slated for October 3. The five main parties and their pre-election seat count (63 seats needed for majority) was:

• François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Quebec (76 seats)
• Dominique Anglade’s Quebec Liberal Party (27 seats)
• Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Manon Masse’s Quebec Solidaire (10 seats)
• Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s Parti Quebecois (7 seats)
• Eric Duhaime Conservative Party of Quebec (1 seat)
• 4 independent MNA’s

The CAQ is hoping to form a second majority government. Polls are suggesting Legault will cruise to victory. Most polls show Legault with support in the mid-40 per cent range – more than double that of his closest adversary, the Liberals. Poll-aggregator website QC125.com pegged the probability of Legault’s party winning a majority government at more than 99 per cent.

Meanwhile, Quebec Liberal Party Leader Dominique Anglade was already dogged by questions Sunday morning about the fallen stature of her once-mighty party. Despite forming the official Opposition before the legislature was dissolved, the Liberals have less than 17 per cent support, according to the latest Leger poll – and they are polling at about seven per cent with the francophone majority.

The left-of-centre Quebec Solidaire, which in 2018 won seats outside Montreal for the first time in its history, positioned itself against what it called the tired old parties of the past 30 years. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, his party’s leader in the legislature and choice for premier, said the CAQ is nothing but a coalition of the two legacy parties – the Liberals and the Parti Quebecois – whose time has run out. The old parties, he said, have allowed the environment and the health-care system to deteriorate while they have proposed “patchwork” solutions.

Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, whose sovereigntist party is far from the days when it was a serious contender for government, appealed to Quebecers’ emotions. He said his “Cinderella team” will go further than anyone expects.

Conservative Party of Quebec leader, Eric Duhaime, took the party from near obscurity less than two years ago to one that is receiving about 14 per cent in the polls and has a good chance of picking up some seats. The party’s only member of the legislature before it was dissolved was Claire Samson, who won in 2018 with the CAQ but switched parties in 2021. Duhaime told reporters Sunday in the Quebec City area that his party is promising to cut income taxes, reduce the size of government and exploit the province’s natural resources – including its fossil fuels.

Federal Cabinet Shuffle – Trudeau swapping procurement and Ontario economic development ministers

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweaked his cabinet Wednesday swapping his procurement minister for his Ontario economic development minister. 

Filomena Tassi was moved out of the role of minister of public services and procurement and into the new role of minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. Tassi’s husband suffered two strokes last year and that her move came after she requested a lighter workload. 

Helena Jaczek is the new minister of public services and procurement. In her new role, Jaczek will be responsible for overseeing the purchase of vaccines and personal protective equipment that have been critical to fighting back COVID-19 over the past two years. 

Jaczek, a doctor who practiced medicine at the Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, previously served as the minister of health and long-term care, the chair of cabinet, and the minister of community and social services in Ontario.

Ontario – RPRA’s Registry will open soon for producers of Blue Box materials to submit their Supply Report

Starting in 2022, producers are required to annually report to RPRA the weight of Blue Box material supplied to consumers into Ontario in the previous calendar year. This year, producers will be reporting their 2021 supply data, which will be used to calculate their 2023 management requirement.

The deadline to submit the Blue Box Supply Report and pay the associated 2022 program fee is October 31, 2022.

When and how will producers submit their report?

Producers will be reporting through RPRA’s online Registry. The new Blue Box Registry portal is in the final development phase. In the coming weeks, we will email producers about the opening date of the Registry and how to submit their supply report.

What do producers need to report?

• 2021 supply data in each of the seven material categories – beverage container, glass, flexible plastic, rigid plastic, metal, paper, and certified compostable products and packaging
• If applicable, any deductions
• A list of the brands that make up their 2021 supply data
• Newspaper producers will need to identify what percentage their newspaper supply counts towards their total Blue Box materials supplied

Resources to help you prepare for reporting

• Visit our Blue Box producer webpage for more information on reporting
• Review RPRA Blue Box FAQs
• View the recording and presentation slides from RPRA’s recent webinar focused on Blue Box producer requirements

If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, you can contact RPRA directly at registry@rpra.ca or call 1-833-600-0530.

Alberta using record-breaking resource windfall to pay back $13.4B in debt

Alberta’s United Conservative Party government is making the highest ever repayment of debt in the province’s history — $13.4 billion — thanks to a record-breaking surge in resource revenues. 

Revenue from non-renewable sources like oil and natural gas is forecast to be $28.4 billion by the end of the 2022-23 fiscal year, $14.6 billion more than predicted in the February budget. 

The windfall allows the province to repay $13.4 billion in debt due this year without having to resort to refinancing. The move will reduce Alberta’s forecasted debt from $93.1 billion to $79.8 billion by March 31, 2023. 

ECONOMIC IMPACT & RESOURCES

Canada’s GDP edged up 0.1% in June

Canada’s gross domestic product edged up 0.1 per cent in the month of June, with 0.8 per cent real GDP growth in the second quarter of this year, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

The Canadian economy grew at an annual rate of 3.3 per cent during the second quarter, its fourth consecutive expansion. After flat growth in May, 14 of 20 industrial sectors had a slight expansion in June, with client-facing industries — like travel and restaurants — driving much of the growth after the easing of public health and border restrictions.

But the data agency said there are early indications that the real GDP came down by 0.1 per cent in July, particularly in manufacturing, retail trade, wholesale and utilities sectors. In its ongoing campaign to cool inflation, the Bank of Canada increased borrowing rates to 2.5 per cent in July, with another rate hike expected on Sept. 7.

Household spending rises, housing investment declines. The report says businesses ramped up their investments in inventories, engineering structures and machinery and equipment.

Meanwhile, household spending on semi-durable goods rose, with the jump driven by an increase in spending on clothing and footwear as more people headed back to the office.

At the same time, housing investment declined in the second quarter along with household spending on durable goods. Disposable income rose — as did household incomes, with higher compensation of employees — but savings rates declined from 9.5 per cent to 6.2 per cent in the second quarter. By comparison, that rate was 2.7 per cent at the end of 2019, the agency said.

NEWS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES

FAST Act passes the California Senate

Monday, California lawmakers approved Assembly Bill 257, the so-called Fast Recovery Act (FAST Act). The bill will create a new 10-member Fast Food Council with equal numbers of workers’ delegates and employers’ representatives, along with two state officials, empowered to set minimum standards for wages, hours and working conditions in California.

A late amendment would cap any minimum wage increase for fast food workers at chains with more than 100 restaurants at $22 an hour next year, compared to the statewide minimum of $15.50 an hour, with cost of living increases thereafter.

The Senate approved the measure on a 21-12 vote, over bipartisan opposition. Hours later the Assembly sent it to Gov. Gavin Newsom on a final 41-16 vote.  Debate split along party lines, with Republicans opposed, although three Democratic senators voted against the measure and several did not vote.

Restaurant owners and franchisers cited an analysis they commissioned by the UC Riverside Center for Economic Forecast and Development saying that the legislation would increase consumers’ costs. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration also fears the measure would create “a fragmented regulatory and legal environment.”

IFA Reaction

Following Monday’s passage of the FAST Act in California, IFA President Matt Haller has done interviews with a number of national and state media outlets to highlight the harm this bill could bring to local franchise businesses and what it means for Californians – and potentially other states should it get signed into law. He appeared yesterday on Fox Business with Neil Cavuto and other mentions throughout the day, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt on Tuesday evening, as well as CNBC’s The News with Shepherd Smith, after speaking on the bill on NPR in Southern California countering the bill’s sponsor Assemblywoman Wendy Carillo earlier in the day. Jeff Hanscom has also done a number of interviews to share the franchise perspective on the bill, including CalMatters and KFI radio. 

Haller said ““AB 257 is a discriminatory measure designed to target the franchise business model. The bill creates an arbitrary standard for one sector of workers while punishing small business owners and their customers. Franchising has opened the door for hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams and millions of workers to establish a career, but this bill stands to break all that down while raising prices for Californians and forcing restaurants to close their doors. Gov. Newsom should stand up for local businesses, the people of California, and responsible government, and veto this legislation.”

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