UK

Grocery price inflation hits 14.7% and still too early to call the ceiling, says Kantar

By Tony Corbin in Industry News 8th November 2022

Take-home grocery sales rose by 5.2% in the 12 weeks to 30 October 2022 according to the latest figures from Kantar, the fastest rate of market growth since April 2021.

Four-week grocery price inflation has also hit another record high since Kantar began tracking prices in this way in 2008, now sitting at 14.7%.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “Yet again, we have a new record high figure for grocery price inflation and it’s too early right now to call the top.

“Consumers face a £682 jump in their annual grocery bill if they continue to buy the same items and just over a quarter of all households [27%] now say they’re struggling financially, which is double the proportion we recorded last November.

Consumer concerns

“Nine in ten of this group say higher food and drink prices are a major concern, second only to energy bills, so it’s clear just how much grocery inflation is hitting people’s wallets and adding to their domestic worries.”

Own label sales have jumped again by 10.3% over the latest four weeks, as shoppers adopt different strategies to manage their budgets.  The branded goods market grew far slower at 0.4%.

McKevitt added: “Food and drink spending is generally non-discretionary so it’s not easy for shoppers to cut back the amount they buy.

“Many are looking to reduce costs in other ways and the big shift to own label is still accelerating.  While some of the rise will be down to price inflation, we can clearly see the trend in sales of the very cheapest value own label ranges, which are up by a whopping 42%.

“These items currently represent just under 3% of the market, although retailers have been adding new products in recent months, so it will be interesting to see if this continues.”

Some consumers found light relief at Halloween this year although sales were down compared with 2021.

“Our data runs for the four weeks to 30 October so picks up all but the final purchases shoppers made for Halloween,” said McKevitt.

“The data shows just over one in ten households bought a pumpkin in October, but sales didn’t match the levels we saw last year.  There’s clear evidence that the new regulations for products high in fat, sugar and salt are changing the way these items are sold.  The proportion of confectionery bought on promotion during the month of October was 26%, down from 36% this time last year.”

“This time last year two million consumers had already bought their festive Christmas pudding.  We’ve seen 32% fewer shoppers doing that this time around, suggesting people are not trying to spread the cost of their purchasing – at least not in October.

World Cup

“This Christmas is going to be a bit different of course, with the men’s football World Cup kicking off on 20 November.  The novelty of two home nations playing for the first time in nearly 25 years should generate a lot of excitement and could boost sales at the tills depending on when the games fall.  Beer in particular does well when the football is on.

“During the 2018 men’s World Cup, the number of shoppers buying beer to enjoy at home tripled on the day of England’s first match against Tunisia.  The evening games for the 2022 tournament will likely generate the biggest sales including England’s match against the US on 25 November.”

‘Big Four’

Aldi was the fastest growing retailer in the latest period, increasing its sales by 22.7% year on year to now hold a 9.2% market share.  Lidl boosted sales by 21.5% to take its market share to a new record high of 7.2%.

Asda again led the traditional ‘Big Four’ with sales growing by 5.3%, maintaining an overall market share of 14.3%.  Meanwhile, sales at Sainsbury’s increased by 3.3% with its market share now at 14.9%.  The largest retailer Tesco had a 27.0% share and saw sales grow by 3.1%.  Morrisons’ market share is now 9.0%.

Iceland grew slightly ahead of the market, with sales increasing by 5.3%.  Co-op’s sales rose by 3.3%, while Waitrose’s sales dipped by 1.9%.  Online retailer Ocado held sales flat versus last year and it has a 1.6% share of the market which equals the share of symbols and independents.

Total Till Roll – Consumer Spend 12 weeks to 31 Oct 2021 Share 12 weeks to 30 Oct 2022 Share Change YoY     £m % £m % %     Total Grocers 28,893 100.0% 30,398 100.0% 5.2%     Total Multiples 28,406 98.3% 29,926 98.4% 5.4%     Tesco 7,964 27.6% 8,209 27.0% 3.1%     Sainsbury’s 4,385 15.2% 4,531 14.9% 3.3%     Asda 4,128 14.3% 4,346 14.3% 5.3%     Morrisons 2,878 10.0% 2,747 9.0% -4.6%     Aldi 2,290 7.9% 2,811 9.2% 22.7%     Lidl 1,800 6.2% 2,187 7.2% 21.5%     Co-op 1,819 6.3% 1,880 6.2% 3.3%     Waitrose 1,448 5.0% 1,421 4.7% -1.9%     Iceland 653 2.3% 688 2.3% 5.3%     Ocado 489 1.7% 488 1.6% 0.0%     Other Multiples 552 1.9% 618 2.0% 12.1%     Symbols & Independents 487 1.7% 472 1.6% -3.1%

No point raising Primark prices if consumers are cash-strapped - AB Foods boss


LONDON (Reuters) - There is little point raising fashion retailer Primark's low prices when consumers are short of cash, the boss of its owner said on Tuesday, adding that the group could expand its customer base if rivals take an alternative approach.


Shoppers holding newly environmentally themed bags stand outside a Primark store in Liverpool© Thomson Reuters

"With cash starved consumers there's not much point," George Weston, CEO of Associated British Foods, told Reuters.

He said if Primark raised prices further it would sell less and undermine its value credentials in the eyes of consumers.

"There's a chance we'll come through strongly with increased market share if others take different decisions on price," he said after AB Foods reported full year results.

Weston said Primark shoppers were generally being cautious on spending and budgeting more.

"People are buying essentials when they need them, not in anticipation of needing them," he said.

However, he noted that cold weather items, such as hats, scarves and coats, and items to keep people warm in the house, such as snuddies and thermal leggings have been selling "incredibly well, because we think people have been trying not to turn their central heating on."

Weston also reckons Christmas sales have started earlier.

"People are spreading their Christmas purchases across three or four pay days, rather than relying on cash that they have in hand in December," he said.

He said Primark stores in the UK were still performing better than stores in continental Europe."Northern Europe has a well developed habit of saving money when they know there's a bill to come, so Germany, Netherlands, Austria are all lagging on the sales front ... Spain and Italy are better," he said.

(Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Paul Sandle and Kate Holton)

Affirmative action isn’t discrimination. It’s politics right-wing justices abhor and will strike down 

 Opinion
Opinion by AlterNet - 
By John Stoehr

Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks.© provided by AlterNet

The Supreme Court appears ready to end affirmative action, or the use of race in college admissions. If the hoopla among liberals is any indication, the pending decision is a BFD. But let’s pause a minute.

First, consider what the Editorial Board’s Rod Graham said recently. Our neighborhood sociologist said the actual number of college students who’d be affected by a negative ruling is small, because the number admitted as a consequence of affirmative action is small.

Whatever the court decides, Rod said, colleges and universities will continue diversifying the racial constitution of their student bodies because it’s in their interest to. If the court rules against affirmation active, as appears to be the case, admissions officers will carry on. They will, Rod suggested, find other ways of achieving the same goal.

READ MORE: 'The wrong debate': Robert Reich takes aim at mainstream media's affirmative action panic

Second, consider the question at the center of the case.

Then dismiss it.

That question is this: Is it discriminatory to use race as a factor in college admissions? The plaintiffs think yes. The rightwing justices seem to think so, too. But that question presumes something.

That’s what we should focus on. Not the question. But the question’s presumption, which is this: the status quo is politically neutral.

READ MORE: Columnist likens U.S. Supreme Court’s right-wing supermajority to a ‘junta in long black robes’

Yeah, nah.

Related video: Supreme Court hears affirmative action arguments from UNC and Harvard students

Duration 1:32   View on Watch

The status quo is not “the way things are.” Saying so is itself a political statement. Why? Because, however we choose to define it, the status quo is the sum of history, a product of all decisions made before us, all the choices that arose from the politics of their particular time and place. Politics begets politics begets politics.

To say the status quo is “the way things are” is to say that any attempt to change the status quo – any attempt at politics – is inherently suspect on account of it being abnormal when compared to the normal. Instead of politics versus politics, which is what challenges to the status quo are, it’s the status quo (or “custom and tradition”) versus dark forces threatening God, country and family.

America was founded as a republic for rich white men. Therefore, each generation, brandishing the flag of liberal democracy and wrapping itself in the Declaration of Independence, has had to fight against an entrenched status quo to secure their constitutional rights and privileges. In America, the status quo is white power.

At each juncture, the status quo (white power) tried to depoliticize the fight, first by accusing advocates of liberal democracy of being troublemakers bent on smashing “custom and tradition,” as if custom and tradition were not themselves products of history and politics.

Eventually, defenders of the status quo resort to slander, smears and even sporadic violence. In one case, defenders broke apart the republic. To the confederates, the stakes were just too high to compromise. Slavery was democracy. Free the slaves, as they alleged Abraham Lincoln would, and enslave free white men. This wasn’t politics versus politics. This was the end of politics. This was war.

Normally, though, a majority of people – especially, a majority of elite stakeholders – recognize that the status quo, rather than standing up for “customs and traditions,” was standing against liberal democracy – and all the business opportunities that liberal democracy makes possible. Defenders of “customs and traditions” end up reconciling with challengers’ demands, thus establishing a new status quo.

The point here is that one kind of politics battles another kind before they come to terms. It’s politics versus politics, not good versus evil. When it’s politics versus politics, upright citizens can make political choices. When it’s good versus evil, as was the case in the antebellum south, there is no political choice. It’s the end of politics. It’s war.

Some allege that affirmative action is discrimination based in race. That seems right – if you forget about history and all the political choices made in the past that inform the present. In other words, the allegations ring true only if you take the humans out of history. Since that’s impossible, we are then forced to recognize an obvious truth.

Affirmative action is not discrimination.

It’s the opposite.

Indeed, it’s a compromise of one kind of politics (the civil rights movement) fighting and defeating another kind (Jim Crow apartheid). Its purpose, in the beginning, when Lyndon Baines Johnson initiated the policy, “was to overcome at least some of the accumulated human damage caused by 350 years of slavery and Jim Crow, and to ensure further progress toward equality,” wrote historian Nick Kotz.

Conservatives who trust you’ll forget history have made affirmative action seem like a social evil. Kotz wrote in 2005 that affirmative action programs have been “vigorously attacked in Congress and the federal courts and criticized for ‘discriminating’ against the white majority.” Kotz added: “With conservatives dominating the federal government, civil rights groups and other liberal organizations have waged a mostly defensive battle to protect the gains of the 1960s.”

In other words, the status quo (white power) never liked affirmative action on account of affirmative action challenging the status quo. And until this week, white power had no hope of defeating it.

That hope is now in sight, but only because white power managed to take affirmative action out of the political arena and put it in the courts, where justices who dislike affirmative action are going to say that it’s a social evil, rather than what it is, a product of politics.

Politics begets politics begets politics. So the fight to “ensure further progress toward equality,” as Kotz said, will continue – short of war, it never ended. It will carry on in different shapes driven by different motives. As Rod Graham said, it’s not like the Supreme Court’s decision will stop colleges from doing what’s in their interest to do. They have chosen to defend what is, to them, a new status quo.

Canadian company ‘deeply concerned’ that Iran may be using its engines in war drones

Tom Blackwell -National Post

An Iranian Mohajer-6 military drone was shot down by Ukrainian forces and shown off in a CNN broadcast last month. A logo of Quebec-based Bombardier Recreational Products was visible in photographs of the wreckage.


A Quebec-based company says it stopped selling aircraft engines to Iran in 2019 and is “deeply concerned” by reports that some of the motors are being used in Iranian military drones, including at least one flown by Russia in Ukraine.

Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) says it is investigating the reports, confirming that a string of thefts of the engines is one of several possible explanations for how they might have ended up in Iranian unmanned planes.

Its Austrian subsidiary Rotax did also once sell to the Islamic Republic, and a Tehran-based engine maintenance and overhaul company, Mahtabal , still describes itself as Iran’s official representative for Rotax aviation engines.

BRP — better known for its Ski-Doos, Sea-Doos and other recreational vehicles — stressed that the components are designed for light civilian aircraft, not military vehicles.

“We are deeply concerned and are taking this situation very seriously,” said spokeswoman Biliana Necheva. “We have already started an investigation into this matter to attempt to determine the source of the engines.”

It’s the second time in two years the company has been embroiled in controversy over use of the engines in warfare. It halted sales to Turkey after news emerged that that country’s Rotax-powered Bayraktar TB-2 drones were targeting Armenian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Ottawa also prohibited use in the Bayraktar aircraft of target-finding cameras made by another Canadian company. (Ironically, Ukraine is now flying the Turkish drones, with the federal government donating those same Ontario-made devices it had earlier barred Ankara from buying.)

Meanwhile, a water-jet and possible engine from one of BRP’s Sea-Doo jet skis was spotted by a British defence analyst in a photograph of a unique marine drone apparently used by Ukrainian forces. The autonomous boat was recovered recently by Russia after washing ashore in Crimea.

Asked about the latest news regarding the Iranian drones, Global Affairs Canada spokeswoman Lama Khodr said the government has a number of sanctions in place related to Russia and Iran, including bans on the export to the two countries of military equipment or goods that could be used in making weapons.

“Bombardier Recreational Products has opened an investigation into the situation,” she said. “We will follow developments closely.”

Canada's Sea-Doo powered the Ukrainian marine drone used against Russian fleet: analyst

Iran admitted last week what had become all but undeniable, that it had supplied Russia with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) now being employed in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. It said they were sold before the war started.

Most of the attention has centred around the Shahed-136 kamikaze drone, a frightening element of the ongoing Russian bombardment of Ukraine’s electrical and water infrastructure. The attacks have left millions of civilians with limited access to power and clean water.

The Rotax engine was spotted in a different model — the Mohajer-6 — that’s used for both surveillance and firing missiles. It was shot down by Ukrainian forces and first shown off in a CNN broadcast last month. The company logo figures prominently in photographs of what appeared to be a Rotax 912 engine.

The same part — or a facsimile of it — was also discovered in another Mohajer-6, downed by Kurdish forces in Iraq last month.

And a pro-regime news site — Iran Press News Agency — ran a story last year about yet another Iranian military UAV — the Shahed-129 — that it said was powered by the Rotax 914 engine.

Though it’s aircraft engines, known for their light weight and fuel efficiency, are primarily used in civilian craft, they do have a history with above-board defence applications, too. The United States’ Predator, which pioneered modern drone warfare, was driven by a Rotax 914 engine.

Necheva said the company’s internal controls — including a military-sales policy — strictly limit use of its products for defence purposes. BRP prohibits sales destined for military activity in Iran, Turkey or Russia, she said.

And it has not supplied any engines to Iran since 2019 “and none will be sold moving forward,” said Necheva.

Those found in Iranian UAVs could have been counterfeit — there are reports of copies being made in China — removed from civilian planes purchased by Tehran, or stolen, she said.

In fact, BRP-Rotax has documented a surprising string of thefts of over 150 of its engines from as long ago as 1996. Most were pilfered from airfields in the U.K. and Europe but at least one was taken here, at Carp, Ont., in 2009, according to a list on the company website.

An Iranian-American expert on Iran’s military and intelligence sectors, who asked to be identified only as Mehdi for security reasons, said Iran may well have used those methods to source engines. But he argued most of them were likely obtained through front companies.

He pointed to Tehran’s Mahtabal , whose website describes the firm as an “aviation engine repair and overhaul organization” and “the official representative of Rotax air engines in Iran,” according to a Google translation of the Farsi.

The site’s homepage features photographs of a series of Rotax engines, though it does not appear to actually be selling them, and hyperlinks from the images to BRP-Rotax web pages are broken.

BRP was sold by Bombardier Inc., in 2003, eventually becoming a publicly traded company. Bombardier had acquired Rotax in 1970.

‘BIG BANG’: Meteor destroyed man's California home?

Denette Wilford - Yesterday -  Toronto Sun

Firefighter walking towards blaze that destroyed home in California.

Michelle Bandur KCRA

on Saturday

A Nevada County man believes a meteorite hit his house catching it on fire! Penn Valley Fire is also investigating if that’s the cause after many people saw a bright ball fall from the sky and land in the area of the home. The family lost everything including one dog, another was saved. (The one in the picture) Here is their GoFundMe.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/my-sons-house-was-destroyed-by-f…

Did a meteor fall from space and cause a massive fire that destroyed a California man’s home?

Dustin Procita, a rancher in Nevada County, wasn’t sure what had hit his home on Friday night until after firefighters put out the blaze.

“I heard a big bang,” Procita told KCRA . “I started to smell smoke and I went on to my porch and it was completely engulfed in flames.”

The structure burned to the ground after the object — which witnesses saw flash across the sky — slammed into his house.

“Meteorite, asteroid — one of those two,” Capt. Josh Miller, of the Penn Valley Fire Department, told the news outlet. “I had one individual tell me about it first and like, ‘OK, I’ll put that in the back of my mind.’

“But then more people — two, three or four more — started coming in and talking about it.”

Miller added: “Everyone I talked to said it was a flaming ball falling from the sky and landed in that general area.”

Procita had just gone inside and was on his couch when the apparent meteor hit his home.

The house was instantly engulfed in flames, and crews battled the fire for several hours.

Procita was able to save one of his dogs but he was unable to get to the second one, according to a GoFundMe campaign created by his mother.

But after seeing footage others had taken of the incident, he counts himself “lucky that it was 30 feet away from me and not five.”

The farmer admitted he was shocked when they said it was a meteor

“I watched meteor showers and stuff as a kid,” he said, “but I definitely didn’t look forward to them landing in my yard, or through my roof.”

The investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing and could take up to two weeks.

Procita was able to joke about the so-called lucky fireball destroying his home.

“They say it’s a 1 in 4 trillion chance, so I guess I might be buying a lottery ticket today.”

LGBTQ students allege mistreatment, want change at Saskatchewan Bible college

REGINA — Jordan McGillicky says she was devoted to sports and her studies at a private Saskatchewan college but eventually felt driven away from the school because of her sexuality.


LGBTQ students allege mistreatment, want change at Saskatchewan Bible college

© Provided by The Canadian Press

She enrolled two years ago at Briercrest College and Seminary, an evangelical Bible college in Caronport, an hour east of her hometown of Regina. The college grew in prominence in 2013 after former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall, who has spoken at the school's chapel, gave it the right to grant university degrees, helping it attract students from across the country.

McGillicky didn't grow up in a religious home, but Briercrest was running sports programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I was not expecting what happened to me next, because it's advertised as such an open place," she said, noting the school's student code of conduct asks students to show respect for homosexuals.

"It's not."

McGillicky was hired as a resident adviser at the school, but said she was fired earlier this year after peers dug up photos of her and her then-girlfriend on social media and outed McGillicky as bisexual.

McGillicky said she has no documents showing why she was fired and the school did not respond to a question about the reason she lost the job.

"I was told either choose between $500 a semester (as a resident adviser) or … your potential soulmate, your potential wife," said McGillicky.

"I said no, because I didn't see it as fair."

The Canadian Press interviewed eight former LGBTQ students from across Canada who attended the college over the last two decades. They said they experienced homophobia, abuse and discrimination that left them fearful and vulnerable.

They said they are speaking out because they're concerned for current students at the college and want changes or the school defunded. Briercrest receives funding from the province and was given $250,000 for this school year.

One student said she was struggling with her sexuality and feeling suicidal and that a counsellor told her to pray it away. Another said a professor wrote a derogatory word on a white board in class to describe homosexuals. Others said speakers were brought in to teach them how to deny their sexuality, and they were encouraged to marry a person of their opposite sex.

Details of the allegations were put to Michael Pawelke, president of Briercrest. He declined to address thembecause of privacy reasons and because The Canadian Press did not provide in advance the names of the former students interviewed.

Pawelke also did not respond to a question about a 2019 school address in which he compared sex outside of heterosexual marriage to intercourse with animals, robots and corpses.

"It's a departure of the ideal. It's the truth we need to embrace," Pawelke said in a video of the address posted on the school's YouTube channel.

Pawelke said in an email to The Canadian Press that the school has clear statements on its stance on sexuality and does not promote sexual activities outside monogamous, heterosexual marriage.

The student conduct code also references a Bible verse saying those who practise homosexuality will never inherit the kingdom of God.

"By law, we have the freedom of religion. We are transparent about who we are and what we believe. Students attend voluntarily," Pawelke said in the email.

Like McGillicky, several students said they were outed after peers or faculty disclosed their sexual orientation to others without permission, resulting in bullying and alienation from their religion, family and friends.

Some students said they were invited to professors' homes for dinner, where the conversation topic was their sexuality. Others said they experienced or witnessed conversion therapy under the description of "counselling."

Conversion therapy attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Pawelke said Briercrest offers voluntary counselling anddoes not practice conversion therapy.

Ben Ross, who attended Briercrest between 2006 and 2010, said he was outed as gay at the town's post office, then assigned a paper at school.

"I had to write an essay on why I don't believe being gay is right, how I denounce all of it. And basically if I didn't do that, I wouldn't (be able to) graduate," Ross said from his home in Nova Scotia. He said he threw out the essay years ago, but his account was corroborated by a friend.

Some of the former students, including Ross, said they are now getting therapyfor religious trauma.

Lauren Jordan, who attended the school between 2013 and 2015, came out to one of her professors. She was told she couldn't graduate if she was gay and was encouraged to seek therapy, she said.

Jordan left the college instead.

"The fear still stays with me. The loss of relationships really stays with me. That trauma is not going to go away, but I certainly have come to terms with who I am and I am proud of who I am," Jordan said from her home in Barrie, Ont.

Documents and emails obtained by The Canadian Press show the Saskatchewan Party government was aware of alleged discrimination at the school after former student Jodi Hartung of Saskatoon raised concerns in 2015 with Pawelke and other officials.

In a letter to the government, Hartung said she was concerned and that some LGBTQ students were self-harming and had tried to commit suicide. She said she sent the letter after she was contacted "at an alarming rate" by students who felt unsafe on campus.

"I didn’t have an inkling that I was gay until I was 20 years old," Hartung said in an interview. "And at that point, I’m already halfway through my degree, heavily involved in the community and loved it there.

"You can’t just say, 'Hey, if you’re queer, don’t go there.' Because you’re undermining the experience of figuring out your sexuality and the journey that a lot of queer people are going on."

Her complaints landed on the desk of Premier Scott Moe, who was advanced education minister at the time. He asked an independent provincial college oversight board to investigate.

The board recommended institutions have policies and practices to ensure they meet obligations under the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code and the Saskatchewan Employment Act. It also recommended institutions be required to ensure students are informed of their rights and responsibilities.

In 2019, several advanced education ministers after Moe, the government rejected those recommendations.

"It wasn't felt at the time we needed to do anything, given (post-secondary schools') requirement to comply with provincial legislation, particularly the human rights code," Minister of Advanced Education Gord Wyant saidin an interview.

The government said it did adopt a recommendation that it write a letter to Briercrest and the complainant outlining the board's investigation.

Moe was not made available for an interview.

Pawelkesaid Briercrest has policies that address harassment, sexual misconduct, sexual assault and complaints.

"We have been following our policies and keeping them current … we have and will continue to co-operate with our accreditors and external partners."

Hartung said she tried to get help years ago from the college, but no changes were made.

She is still hoping that can happen.

"You either have to hate yourself or know that everybody around you hates you," Hartung said. "Often it’s a combination of both. That’s obviously horrific to your formation as a human."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2022.

Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press

Residents at London, Ont., care facility say bedbug, cockroach problem persists as they face rent hike

Bruce Residence is an Informal Residential Care Facility, which is a municipal classification.
 Rebecca Zandbergen/CBC News

Rebecca Zandbergen - CBC - YESTERDAY

Residents at a private care facility in London, Ont., say they're facing a big rent hike as bugs continue to run rampant, while a spokesperson for Bruce Residence says it could still be weeks before the bugs are eradicated.

Both residents and workers recently expressed concerns about the bug problem CBC News detailed in September.

"We got bad bedbugs. We got bad cockroaches. It's bad," said Chuck Pearce, 57.

Pearce has been living at the facility on Hamilton Road for two years after a traumatic head injury landed him in hospital. He now suffers from occasional seizures.

He gets a $1,090 Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) cheque each month. Until recently, he was paying $800 for rent, but that's going up by $200, leaving Pearce with less than $100 after his food and housing bills are paid.

"We have nobody to help us at all," he said.

"Rent has increased. It's inflation," said Joe Todd, a spokesperson for Bruce Residence who's also the chief operating officer.

"We're a business after all."

Bruce Residence is regulated through a City of London bylaw and has 49 units — right now 13 or 14 beds are empty, said Todd.

At the time CBC News first spoke to residents about the bug infestation, Todd said Bruce Residence owner Ethan Eswaran would not be available to comment. Todd admitted there was a bug problem, but said he was new to the position and planned to work at addressing it.

"We've got some new cleaning staff on board and they're doing an amazing job," Todd, who continues to act as spokesperson for Bruce Residence, told CBC News this week. "Everything's clean and spic and span. We got a new pest control service in and they're checking monthly. It's going a lot better."

Todd said he hopes the facility could totally eradicate the bug problem by January.

City of London spokesperson Jo Ann Johnson said staff inspected the facility in early October and there is still an outstanding order that the owner needs to address, although she wouldn't say what it is.

Todd wouldn't say either.

"That's between the owner and the city. It's not anyone's concern."


Bruce Residence, shown in this photo, has 'a new pest control service in and they're checking monthly. It's going a lot better,' says the chief operating officer.© Rebecca Zandbergen/CBC News

Chasing down rent

Christina Corey, a personal support worker (PSW) for 14 years, started working as the house manager at Bruce Residence last month, but quit after only a week on the job.

"Everything was a mess when I walked in," she said.

The bugs were everywhere, said Corey.

"They were all different sizes. Big ones. Little ones. People had them on their walkers even."

In the short time Corey worked at the residence, she was responsible for hiring cooks and cleaners, and bringing in more tenants. She also had to hand out medications, as did other staff, she said.

"I was shocked by that as well," said Corey. "The meds just get delivered to the kitchen and the kitchen staff who have zero training are handing out medication."

Corey also recalls talking to facility owner Ethan Eswaran about the tenants' rent.

Eswaran bought the property on Hamilton Road three years ago and runs three other similar residential facilities, in Strathroy, St. Thomas and Mount Brydges.

"His conversations were, 'You need to change the rent and you need to chase everyone down that owes rent,' and that's all he cared about, was the money part, right?

"Some of them didn't even have money left over for their medications which they were also paying for. And they didn't get a proper notice of increase of rent," she said.



Ricky Williams, 44, moved into Bruce Residence in December 2021 after having heart surgery.© Rebecca Zandbergen/CBC News

Ongoing problems

"My bedbugs are gone but unfortunately, the cockroaches have taken over," said Bob Campbell, 73, who has lived at Bruce Residence for about a year and a half. "They occupy my top drawer and if I have food in the room, they get into it."

Campbell's rent isn't changing because he was already paying more than most people, he said.

"I'm getting bit so bad [by bugs] and I can't go to sleep. It drives me nuts," said tenant Ricky Williams, 44. He moved into the building after undergoing heart surgery in December 2021.

Williams's legs are covered in blotchy red and purple marks — bedbugs wounds, he said.

"They keep getting bigger and bigger, and this one swelled right up," he said. "Orange and yellow juice started leaking out of me. Both legs —they're bad."


Ricky Williams shows the wounds on his legs that he believes have been caused by bedbugs

.© Rebecca Zandbergen/CBC News

Private member's bill to be tabled

"We're really concerned about vulnerable persons and the way that they're being taken advantage of in these facilities," said NDP Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch.

Next week, Burch hopes to table a private member's bill at Queen's Park. It's called The Protecting Vulnerable Persons in Supportive Living Accommodation Bill, which would license the dozens of private care facilities in the province.

Burch figures there are more than 30 provincially unregulated homes in Ontario. Some, like Bruce Residence, are licensed through municipal bylaws, and others aren't licensed. All of them, he argues, would be better served if the province oversaw them.

Burch's bill would include a complaint and inspection protocol, and also fine owners daily if their facilities aren't provincially licensed.

The NDP first tabled the legislation in 2018, and again in 2020, but each time was unsuccessful. Burch is hopeful this round will be different.

"We're trying to put partisan politics aside and convince the government to do the right thing. It's not about politics; it's about people who are suffering from some pretty serious conditions."

Hamilton housing and climate advocates protest Ontario's proposed 'More Homes Built Faster Act'

Bobby Hristova - 

Roughly 50 people gathered outside a Progressive Conservative constituency office in Hamilton on Thursday to protest a new proposed housing bill several groups say will be detrimental to tenants and the environment.

Members of organizations such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) — a tenant advocacy group with chapters in the Hamilton area — Environment Hamilton and Stop Sprawl HamOnt rallied outside MPP for Hamilton East—Stoney Creek Neil Lumsden's office, sharing concerns about the "More Homes Built Faster Act."

The demonstration in Stoney Creek was part of protests in other Ontario cities like London, Toronto and Ottawa.

The legislation, also known as Bill 23, is expected to be passed soon and is part of Premier Doug Ford's promise to build 1.5 million homes in 10 years.

It proposes a number of changes, including:
Asking Ontario's three dozen conservation authorities to look at the swaths of land they own to see what could be turned over for housing.
Stripping and changing the language used to evaluate a wetland's significance.
Changing a conservation authority's role in reviewing and commenting on planning applications on behalf of municipalities.
Scrapping development charges for affordable and attainable housing, as well as waiving all parkland requirements for that type of housing ("Affordable" is being defined as 80 per cent of average market rents or purchase price, while "attainable" is housing that costs no more than 30 per cent of a person's gross income).
Limit the amount a city can charge for parkland, and forcing a municipality to spend 60 per cent of its parkland reserves every year.
End exclusionary R1 zoning — the rules that allow only a detached single-family home to be built on a residential property.

Marnie Schurter, co-chair of ACORN's Hamilton Mountain chapter, told the crowd Thursday she had concerns about the timing of the bill.

"We are extremely disappointed the bill was announced right after the municipal election with the timeline to pass before new councils across the province are sworn in," Schurter said.

"The bill is focused on creating more [housing] supply but has little consideration for affordable housing and tenant protection."



People protesting Bill 23 taped a letter onto the front door of PC Hamilton East-Stoney Creek MPP Neil Lumsden's office on Thursday.© Bobby Hristova/CBC

Schurter said the legislation would make it harder to fight against property owners upping the cost of rent after renovations or demolitions. She said lower-income residents will be hit hardest.

A new report from the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton (SPRC) shows the number of renters in the city is growing at five times the rate of the number of homeowners.

Sara Mayo, a social planner with SPRC, said tenants should be able to see how much a past tenant paid for rent and should be able to appeal rent increases.

Gachi Issa, Hamilton Community Legal Clinic's Black justice co-ordinator, said she fears the bill will also impact people of colour living in the city, adding that the government's definition of affordable housing is unrealistic.

Schurter and others taped a letter to the front door of Lumsden's office, outlining some of their concerns.

Conservation authorities speak out

Conservation Halton and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) issued statements recently about the legislation.

"We think your stated outcomes are important but are concerned that your proposed legislative changes may have unintentional, negative consequences," reads a letter from Conservation Halton to Ford.

"Rather than creating the conditions for efficient housing development, these changes may jeopardize the Province's stated goals by increasing risks to life and property for Ontario residents."

NPCA said there should be a working group with conservation authorities, municipalities, developers and the agriculture sector.

The Hamilton Conservation Authority didn't issue a statement online.


Bill 23 is part of Premier Doug Ford's promise to build 1.5 million homes in 10 years.© Patrick Morrell/CBC

Angela Coleman, the general manager of Conservation Ontario, recently said she is concerned the new bill could mean interconnected watersheds, wetlands and natural areas are dealt with in a fragmented way.

Coleman said there could be "unintended consequences" if the work done by all 36 conservation authorities in Ontario shifts to 444 municipalities of different sizes and staffing levels.

Conservation Halton's letter included recommendations such as allowing conservation authorities to keep all responsibilities related to hazards, rather than potentially transferring them to municipalities.

Another recommendation is allowing conservation authorities to continue entering into agreements with municipalities to offer advice on environmental and natural heritage matters.



A group of roughly 50 Hamiltonians protested Bill 23 — proposed provincial legislation that would make sweeping changes to housing regulations.© Bobby Hristova/CBC

When asked for a response to concerns about how the bill could impact the environment, renters and municipalities, Victoria Podbielski, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, told CBC Hamilton "urgent and bold action is needed to address Ontario's housing supply crisis."

"The proposals would help cities, towns and rural communities grow with a mix of ownership and rental housing types that meet the needs of all Ontarians — from single family homes to townhomes and mid-rise apartments," she wrote.

"Our plan will build more homes near transit, unlock innovative approaches to design and construction, and get shovels in the ground faster."

Premier Doug Ford previously said the legislation will help people achieve their dream "to have a little white picket fence."

"When they put the key in the door, they know they're building equity into it, they can do the little tweaks to their house and increase the value of it. That's our goal," he said last week while previewed the bill in a Toronto Region Board of Trade event.

"We won't let the ideology and politics stand in the way of doing what's right for all Ontarians."