HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-03-23, Page 51
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 • Huron Expositor 5
www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com
French's ketchup war win for the underdog
Everyone loves an
underdog.
In the world of
ketchup, the recent under-
dog has been French's. It
doesn't enjoy the same
name or brand recognition
as Heinz, Aylmer or Hunt's,
nor has it been around for as
long as they have.
Yet this month its value
among Ontario's consumers
skyrocketed. French's might
be the new kid on the condi-
ment block, but it's sud-
denly a hot commodity.
Its elevation began a few
weeks ago when an Orillia
man praised the ketchup in a
Facebook post that went viral.
Brian Fernandez said he pur-
chased the new ketchup after
being a loyal Heinz supporter
for years. Angry that Heinz in
2014 closed and then sold its
food processing facility in
Leamington, Ont, Fernandez
was pleased to leam the
Ontario tomatoes formerly
grown for Heinz are now
being grown for French's,
which is buying the paste
from the plant's new owner.
Fernandez's praise
heartened Leamington, and
caught the attention of Essex
MPP Taras Natyshak, who
proposed that French's
ketchup be served at
Queen's Park.
But the story didn't end
there. Last week, Loblaws
decided it wouldn't be
stocking French's ketchup in
its stores, a decision ostensi-
bly made because of insuffi-
cient sales. The public out-
rage that followed was
intense, and after being vili-
fied through social media,
the grocery giant relented.
The aches and pains of old age (security)
In Switzerland just over
four years ago, safely dis-
tant from the scrutiny of
Parliament, then -prime min-
ister Stephen Harper indi-
cated he would change Old
Age Security so that seniors
would start collecting benefits
at age 67 rather than 65. His
subsequent budget showed
that the change would be
phased in starting in 2023.
Thursday, in New York, also
distant from Parliament,
Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau announced he'll
undo that measure in his
budget next week
Our first concem is that a
Canadian leader would
announce a major budget
measure while in another
country. It's disrespectful. We
did not expect Trudeau to
emulate the avoidant tenden-
cies of his Tory predecessor.
Second, this latest
announcement does not tell
Canadians much beyond that
the prime minister is undoing
another policy of the Harper
government, as if no further
explanation were needed.
The announcement
letter to the editor
Harming rural interests
To the editor,
I have to comment on the
Wynne government's latest
disrespect to rural Ontario.
At the time she was elec-
tioneering to be the pre-
miere, she told us that
under her watch turbine
developments would no
longer be forced into com-
munities that didn't want
them.
That prompted over 80
municipalities (including
Central Huron) to pass
motions declaring them-
selves "unwilling hosts" to
the brutally bad form of
corporate wind develop-
ment the gov't had rammed
into rural Ontario to that
point.
Soon after taking office, a
flurry of new wind approvals
came out with many in areas
that had already expressed
opposition. Ms. Wynne and
her trusty new Energy
Minister defended the
apparent lie by saying that
these approvals were
already in the works and
didn't really count as "on
their watch':
Well last week the latest
approvals came out under
"their watch" and SUR-
PRISE... 3 of the 5 wind con-
tracts went to corporations
planning to build in com-
munities that had clearly
voted against the wind
developments.
Dutton- Dunwich had
even gone to the trouble of a
referendum vote that went
84% against the wind project
and still a contract was given
to a large Chicago based
developer. This from a pro-
cess that we were told would
be transparent and almost
certainly require the support
of local communities.
Wrong again. Apparently
commitments only need be
— reflecting an election
promise, to be sure, and
repeated in the mandate let-
ter of Social Development
Minister JeanYves Duclos —
is vague about how the retire-
ment -age plan fits with other
measures.
Does the announcement
mean Trudeau will also act
on related parts of the elec-
tion platform? Will this
budget increase the GIS 10
per cent, as per the election
platform? Will there be a new
Seniors Price Index? If you
can announce the first part of
kept to the GTA now.
What is most bizarre
about these approvals is that
anyone who has been
watching Ontario's grid
knows it is retarded to add
more wind to the system
now. Windy nights and
weekends are driving real
costs thru the roof as we
export the electricity to the
US for little or nothing in
return. At the same time
rural Ontario's farms, homes
and businesses are getting
hit with the biggest portion
of the electricity price
increases.
We are actually wasting
our own hydro and nuclear
assets, while we bleed
money out of province to
pay for a corporate owned
wind turbine fleet. It is
totally contemptible if you
are concerned with public
assets, people's rights, the
environment or better use of
French's ketchup had
again won the day. It was a
victory for the little guy. It
was a victory for the
underdog.
Lost in the ketchup kerfuf-
fle were a few facts. French's
still processes its grocery store
ketchup in Ohio. And while
Heinz doesn't make ketchup
anymore from Ontario toma-
toes, it still makes other prod-
ucts from Ontario crops. And
those products come from
the Leamington area and are
made in the former Heinz
plant
the pledge early, you can cer-
tainly flesh out the second.
Finally, to the actual policy.
Many countries have raised
the retirement age, con-
cemed about the pressures a
population that is living
longer will place on govem-
ment pension systems. That
was the impetus for the Tory
measure back in 2012.
Trudeau is not persuaded
this policy is sound and
Thursday alluded to the com-
plexities of pension policy
over adopting a "simplistic
solution. He maybe right
our scant funds.
To illustrate how badly
we don't need these new
wind projects, during the
last full year of IESO data,
we paid wind turbines
NOT TO PRODUCE an
amount of electricity 4x
greater than what these
new wind approval WILL
produce.
This lack of fiscal, envi-
ronmental or democratic
sense was justified 6 years
ago by the supposedly des-
perate need to replace
Ontario's small amount of
coal generation. Here's a
bulletin Kathleen...we did
that 2 years ago and in fact
our own refurbished nuclear
plants provided 85% of that
energy. So why do you con-
tinue to harm rural interests
and the public good under
this dirty green cloak?
-Robert Budd
Moreover, there are other
food companies that con-
tinue to buy their tomatoes
from Ontario growers and
continue to make their
ketchup in Ontario. They
haven't gone anywhere.
Whether they find a spot in
the Queen's Park cafeteria
remains to be seen.
The French's episode
illustrates a growing frustra-
tion that, despite Ontario's
reputation for having some
of the best agricultural land
and most skilled farmers in
Canada, much of our food is
that a more nuanced view is
needed, but scuttling the
reforms of a previous govern-
ment simply restores the sta-
tus quo ante. How is that less
simplistic?
If the budget does contain
the GIS increase and a "Sen-
iors Price Index" for all, other
questions will arise, such as
why older people need their
own cost index separate from
h. ea orthhuronex i ositor.co
increasingly being sourced
from the U.S. and beyond.
Heinz's departure from Can-
ada only highlighted the
problem.
That French's would so
quickly become the darling
of Ontario consumers
speaks to several lessons,
but the primary one might
be French's isn't the only
underdog in this story.
Some consumers believe
they share that same distinc-
tion, and they want more of
their food to originate from
where they live.
the Consumer Price Index.
Certainly it would be more
generous — which sounds
like pandering to one group
of voters.
The Liberals, we hope,
will flesh out their OAS pol-
icy quickly. And when they
do, perhaps the prime min-
ister will share his thoughts
from somewhere inside
Canada.
HAVE AN
OPINION?
The Huron Expositor
welcomes letters to the
editor. They must be
signed and accompanied
by a phone number for
information clarification.
It is importantto note, letters
will not be printed without
the author's name attached.
All letters are subjectto
editing due to possible
space restriction.
Letters can be dropped off at
the office, mailed or emailed:
The Huron Expositor
8 Main St.
P.O. Box 69
Seaforth, ON
NOK 1WO
Shaun.Gregory@sunmedia.ca ,j
www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com