Channelling populism.
Tim Hortons controversy shows Canadians are 'addicted to a low-wage economy,' says author
Controversy over the heirs of the Tim Hortons empire cutting worker benefits at their smalltown Ontario franchise is bad for the entire Tim Hortons brand, says writer Douglas Hunter.
CBC News reported Wednesday that the owners of a Tim Hortons in Cobourg, Ont., are eliminating paid breaks and cutting back on employee benefits to compensate for Ontario's minimum wage hike.
The franchise owners are Ron Joyce Jr. and his wife Jeri-Lynn Horton-Joyce. The former is the son of Ron Joyce, who co-founded the chain in 1964. The latter is the daughter of Tim Horton himself.
As It Happens host Carol Off spoke to to Hunter, the author of Double Double: How Tim Hortons Became a Canadian Way of Life, One Cup at a Time.
This afternoon, the premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, called the owner of this franchise, Ron Joyce Jr., she called him "bully." Would you agree with that?
It's setting up the way I think the premier would like it to go, which is the heir to a large restaurant fortune taking on the minimum-wage people. And I have great empathy for the minimum-wage people, but I think this is turning into kind of a binary fight.
There's 3,500-plus Tim Hortons in Canada. There's 1,400 McDonalds in Canada. We have a big low-wage, minimum-wage service sector and this is the trickle-down we're having from the minimum-wage increase and it's playing out through the industry, and now we're finding out how it's working — for good or for ill.
Tim Hortons controversy shows Canadians are 'addicted to a low-wage economy,' says author - Home | As It Happens | CBC Radio
Tim Hortons controversy shows Canadians are 'addicted to a low-wage economy,' says author
Controversy over the heirs of the Tim Hortons empire cutting worker benefits at their smalltown Ontario franchise is bad for the entire Tim Hortons brand, says writer Douglas Hunter.
CBC News reported Wednesday that the owners of a Tim Hortons in Cobourg, Ont., are eliminating paid breaks and cutting back on employee benefits to compensate for Ontario's minimum wage hike.
The franchise owners are Ron Joyce Jr. and his wife Jeri-Lynn Horton-Joyce. The former is the son of Ron Joyce, who co-founded the chain in 1964. The latter is the daughter of Tim Horton himself.
As It Happens host Carol Off spoke to to Hunter, the author of Double Double: How Tim Hortons Became a Canadian Way of Life, One Cup at a Time.
This afternoon, the premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, called the owner of this franchise, Ron Joyce Jr., she called him "bully." Would you agree with that?
It's setting up the way I think the premier would like it to go, which is the heir to a large restaurant fortune taking on the minimum-wage people. And I have great empathy for the minimum-wage people, but I think this is turning into kind of a binary fight.
There's 3,500-plus Tim Hortons in Canada. There's 1,400 McDonalds in Canada. We have a big low-wage, minimum-wage service sector and this is the trickle-down we're having from the minimum-wage increase and it's playing out through the industry, and now we're finding out how it's working — for good or for ill.
Tim Hortons controversy shows Canadians are 'addicted to a low-wage economy,' says author - Home | As It Happens | CBC Radio
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