The not-so-Great Canadian Corporate Greed thread

[MolsonExport]

Corporate pressure led Shoppers Drug Mart staff to bill unnecessary medication reviews, pharmacists say

Internal letter describes push for billable work as as 'borderline abusive'

CBC News spoke with former Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy employees who believe the company is taking advantage of the MedsCheck service by pushing staff to bill for consultations patients don't necessarily need. The company can then bill the province up to $75 per call.

Eight former Shoppers Drug Mart employees said intense pressure from management pushed staff to cold-call customers regularly. In an internal letter obtained by CBC News that was emailed to company leadership last July, a group of pharmacy owners said the "borderline abusive" pressure to do more MedsCheck calls was affecting their ability to provide the best patient care.

...
Several pharmacists said top-down pressure from "corporate" or "upper management" led them to schedule or make "unnecessary" MedsCheck calls to customers who were technically eligible for the program but not what they would consider to be high risk.

Over the course of the pandemic, the value of Galen's shares in George Weston Ltd., founded by his great-grandfather and led by Weston as CEO, have swelled from $5.9 billion to $10.8 billion.
https://macleans.ca/culture/food/the-power-list-galen-weston-is-the-countrys-most-powerful-and-controversial-grocery-mogul/

[WhipperSnapper]

Galen Weston's biggest mistake was to think he could step into the role played by the head of President Choice in advertisements during the 80s and 90s. In 2023, all he has done is made himself a media target for the like of Molson to obsess about.

Canada is a country of oligopolies with eyes focused on the US. Nearly everyone hired into a "C" position is a privileged elite that will layoff one below the minimum for a mandatory public release to cover their signing bonus or severance

In my opinion that is more egregious than Galen Weston's wealth doubling in size due to the value in shares in his family business which has nothing to do with sales. See Tesla's capitalization vs General Motors.

Groceries in Toronto have doubled everywhere. I personally find Metro to be a lot more expensive than Loblaws. Sobeys is not cheaper than Loblaws. The higher prices have blow up revenues however, the profit margins have been stable. As far as I know, both Metro and Sobeys are faceless corproations.

[Nouvellecosse]

Pointing out examples of corporate greed isn't meant to imply that those examples are unique or are worse than others. It's to highlight general problems with the system. Like if you're in a dictatorship and complain that your dictator isn't very nice, the complaint isn't that the dictator should be nicer but that dictatorships suck and you want democracy. Even though many democratically elected politicians also suck. You just don't want whoever it is who happens to suck to have complete control.

[MolsonExport]

^thanks for "getting it".

Plus, I just don't like Galen. Who could? His company conspired with other oligopolies in the grocery industry to control bread prices, for more than a decade. His PC/no-name products often weigh half of what is listed on the packaging. Blatant false advertising, at best, and more likely outright fraud. Not an obsession, but the guy is certainly an asshole (there are just so many examples to corroborate this), so I don't understand at all why someone without any connection to Galen (presumably?) would feel personally slighted. Such as the likes of Whippersnapper. Galen brought it completely on himself.


‘It’s crazy how much more we pay for less now!’: Loblaws customer buys chip bag labeled as 200 grams. It only weighs 103 grams.

For sure, Galen is not the only case of corporate greed in Canada. But he has become the face of it.

Shoppers discover boxes of Cheerios, bags of Loblaws chips that weigh far less than advertised

The banks are similarly engaged in such egregious behaviour, basically forcing their hapless employees (many of whom seem only slightly more intelligent than a bag of hammers) to upsell customers into financial products and insurance that they don't need/want.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Pointing out examples of corporate greed isn't meant to imply that those examples are unique or are worse than others. It's to highlight general problems with the system. Like if you're in a dictatorship and complain that your dictator isn't very nice, the complaint isn't that the dictator should be nicer but that dictatorships suck and you want democracy. Even though many democratically elected politicians also suck. You just don't want whoever it is who happens to suck to have complete control.

Well said.

[ssiguy]

Loblaws and Sobeys run the roost in Canada's food & pharmacy retail and it shows by their prices and often complete dominance in smaller markets. Even in the big cities, it's hard to go shopping without setting foot in one of the too. Empire is just an also ran as is Save-On being just small regional market providers. I'm surprised Loblaws hasn't bought them out yet.

[urbandreamer]

Have any of you actually met Galen? I ran into him and his girlfriend (now wife) years ago at Toronto Fashion Week. He's a typical rich kid, probably similar to Ssiguy, or my cousin lol. (My cousin won't allow me, a pauper, near her mansion.)

Aside from the Sobeys, the real assholes in the grocery biz are the middle managers who run the supply chain and especially the franchise/store owners. I'm thinking about the time I caught Bob, of Uptown Waterloo's Independent Grocer, screaming, kicking and throwing things at his employees.

Thrifty Foods and Save On are absolute robber barons. So are those small town Co-ops/Sobeys on the Prairies.

[Gresto]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Plus, I just don't like Galen. Who could?

He is uniquely loathsome, with his "Aw shucks/Who, me?" grin and milquetoast pullovers only exacerbating the repellent impact of his avarice and indifference.

[Proof Sheet]

My contribution to this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oeCaDC-mUE

Brad Lamb. A critter amongst critters. Greed for the sake of greed.

Another one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJN7BJuLUFI

Molson..I think he grew up in your neck of the woods. The entitlement from Kevin is so awful. He does stretch the truth about Brador and its %.

[Wigs]

I couldn't watch that Brad Lamb video. Not sure if coke head or just has a cold with the relentless sniffling

[harls]

Extra Virgin Olive oil, only 20$ a litre.

It's no-name brand too, so you know it's just a blend of the shittiest stuff they can find.

Get lost, Roblaws.

[urbandreamer]

Food Basics had theirs on sale for $20 for 3L. Maybe that's the reason for the invasion of Gaza: to drive up olive oil prices?)
.Btw, it's $46 @ No Frills for NN 3L; PC brand 3L is $53. 3L @ Walmart from the same supplier is $39, even better price than Costco.

I generally find Food Basics and No Frills have the most consistent prices. Freshco is good for oddball items or ethnic foods. Anyway, FB is my preferred shop now, although I'm surrounded by No Frills so time vs $ means I'm here more often, like today. I buy their bags of bulk bruised NN carrots, beets etc, blanch and freeze them. Likewise, celery, cilantro, parsley can be blanched, cooled and frozen for months. Since I don't eat red meat or pork - GERD has benefits in inflationary times - I've discovered those 4 tubes of ground turkey/chicken for $10 adequate and only seafood/fish and whole chicken I buy organic/fresh.

[Wigs]

Roblaws! Galen Weston needs another Castle

[urbandreamer]

He's got a nice horse farm in Caledon I drove by last Saturday. And my robber baron high school classmate is neighbours with him in Bermuda. Maybe his wife is shopping for an olive grove in Gaza?

He lives in a surprisingly modest Admiral Road home, across the street from that other thief writer Margaret Atwood!

I used to see his late father driving around the Annex in the late 1990s, in his mint 1978 VW Rabbit. Remember, WASPy people aren't flashy like the mob!

[1overcosc]

IIRC the total amount of olive oil consumed annually worldwide is about five times the annual production.. ie. 80% of olive oil is fake.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by harls

Extra Virgin Olive oil, only 20$ a litre.

I buy olive oil at the Kirkland Boutique

https://www.americastestkitchen.com/...ve-oil-tasting The problem is the size of the bottles.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

IIRC the total amount of olive oil consumed annually worldwide is about five times the annual production.. ie. 80% of olive oil is fake.

If you want to guarantee it's been lab tested to verify it's authentic EVOO
https://www.aboutoliveoil.org/79-cer...tic-olive-oils

[urbandreamer]

There's some really good gourmet olive oil in small batch shops I sometimes splurge on, like the Olive Pit or Olive Your Favourites in Stratford. Worth it.

When you stop eating red meat, processed foods and alcohol, suddenly you can afford high quality spices (obviously with reflux that means only minute quantities of black pepper) and olive oil. Also, for cheese/dairy I've reduced to Parmigiano Reggiano, filtered skim milk taken with lactase tablets and I make my own yogurt in an Instant Pot.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by harls

Extra Virgin Olive oil, only 20$ a litre.

It's no-name brand too, so you know it's just a blend of the shittiest stuff they can find.

Get lost, Roblaws.

Assuming the same ratio as that bag of chips MolsonEx posted, then that “3L” container contains in reality only 1.5 liter of oil and so it’s actually $40/L

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Corporate pressure led Shoppers Drug Mart staff to bill unnecessary medication reviews, pharmacists say








Over the course of the pandemic, the value of Galen's shares in George Weston Ltd., founded by his great-grandfather and led by Weston as CEO, have swelled from $5.9 billion to $10.8 billion.
https://macleans.ca/culture/food/the-power-list-galen-weston-is-the-countrys-most-powerful-and-controversial-grocery-mogul/

That must explain why I got called by a pharmacist at the Shoppers I get my prescriptions from. The pharmacist told me that she didn't really enjoy having to call people but that it was something her employer was requiring her to do. She is an immigrant from India so a number of people think she is part of a scam.

The consultation I had wasn't useless because she did go over the medications I take regularly and discussed side effects and asked me many questions to make sure I was doing okay with the meds. She even contacted my doctor's office after to suggest something which ended up getting me a much better asthma puffer.

But I can see a good portion of the MedsChecks not being useful. It's very questionable if Loblaws is profiting from them!