CBC: Media Sponge for Loblaws PR
If you’re not already boycotting Loblaws (or Roblaws, as many folks have labeled), now’s the time to take a stand!
Sick of seeing this when you want to pick up some apples or milk?
Tired of being harrassed or treated like a criminal when you want to go shopping to spend your hard-earned money to keep your family fed?
Here’s some extra information:
- Council of Canadians: Boycotts work!
- Loblaws is out of control, where 59% of Reddit users vote to extend the boycott indefinitely. (Agreed).
- Manulife partnership with Loblaws to require purchase of pharma products at Loblaws-owned locations.
- CBC: Why some Canadians are boycotting Loblaws (nice move CBC – moving such an important story to the KIDS page of your site).
- Is the boycott working?
- Unions say no to the boycott (no surprise there). Thanks unions for looking out for just your members and not all Canadians.
Some people ask ‘why don’t you want to enrich one of the most monopolistic commercial entities in Canadian history’?
Or ‘why aren’t you OK with Loblaws implementing some of the biggest price hikes on groceries in the history of Canada without anyone holding them to account?’
Within two weeks of the boycott, Loblaws has already pretended that they’ll abide by a new ‘Code of Conduct’ for grocery shoppers.
This was just the first in a list of demands from a very vocal Reddit group.
Will joining a ‘Code of Conduct’ work?
No. Loblaws will break its own rules.
Example: Loblaws is trying the good old, traditional touchy-feelie PR approach.
Like this pablum story that the CBC sopped up about a young Chinese immigrant who’s learning English while working for T&T, a chain that our governments let Loblaws buy several years ago.
I was born in Sarnia, Ont. My parents were from the Guangdong province of China but grew up in Hong Kong. They spoke fluent Cantonese and wanted me to stay connected to my culture but there were few Chinese speakers in our small city.
So, when I turned five, I started going to Saturday Chinese school, but nothing clicked with me. After eight years of this additional schooling, I convinced my mom to let me drop out. She relented but said, “Son, there will be a day you will regret not learning Chinese.”
She was right. Every time I went back to Hong Kong to meet family, I realized the gaping holes left in my life from not speaking the language.
Sixteen years had passed since that conversation when one day, I came across a T&T Supermarket job fair and it seemed like a sign.
It was 2008 and I was working full-time as a secondary school teacher in the Toronto area, but I decided to apply. I got an interview right on the spot and they gave me the opportunity that I was looking for — a part-time job working in a Chinese-speaking environment.
T&T was like school for me. I asked questions and spoke Cantonese as much as I could. However, through the process I also picked up Mandarin along the way.
I was surrounded by Chinese food and music. Even the constant change in store decorations that marked different Chinese holidays on the calendar made me feel more connected to my roots.
Ugh …
Moving Forward, Better Solutions
There are SO MANY bigger issues with all of this. What can you do?
For starters, join the boycott. Send a message with your dollars and to your MPs.
Once you’ve done that, let’s get some serious action from the people who would rather starve us and treat us like criminals than provide decent food at decent prices.
Canadian politicians need to stop going to the Westons for advice on food policy and municipal planning.
Loblaws will do what’s good for Loblaws. This has to end by pushing municipal planners to stop building their suburbs around Loblaws and Weston-owned suppliers.
Another approach? We as consumers have to discover resources related to other shopping options.
Try AltGrocery for starters: https://www.altgrocery.ca/.
Push your MPs to allow tax-deductability of participation with Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) farmers.