Weekly Regional Business Intelligence
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Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc. | |
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Siskinds reaches $70M class-action settlement with TD Asset Management
London-based Siskinds LLP announced this week that it had reached a $70.25-million settlement with TD Asset Management in a class action suit alleging that discount brokers were taking improper commissions. In short, class action members alleged they were paying fees for self-directed online brokers ― TD Direct Investing, in this case ― that they shouldn’t have been, since fees are meant to reflect investment advice, which online brokers can’t provide. The case was first brought by Richmond Hill retiree Gary Stenzler in late 2017. Siskinds stands to get a nice payday out of this one, too ― its cut will be just shy of $18 million, pending court approvals.
The upshot: This could be just the first such settlement you’ll see, as Siskinds has proposed class actions filed against the discount brokerages of additional Canadian banks (including RBC Direct Investing, BMO InvestorLine, CIBC Investor’s Edge, Scotia iTRADE and National Bank Direct Brokerage), most of which were charging trailing commissions at one point. “Siskinds LLP has filed proposed class actions against various mutual fund trustees and managers challenging the trailing commissions they have paid to discount brokers on mutual funds under their management,” Siskinds LLP stated. “The class actions seek damages for the mutual fund investors.”
Read more: BNN Bloomberg | CP24
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Western and its facilities workers reach tentative deal to end six-week strike
Western University and the union representing the school’s facility management workers have reached a tentative agreement, the union and school announced on Wednesday, potential ending a six-week long strike as early as next week. “We were able to reach an agreement that makes progress on key priorities, and we’re happy to be getting back to work,” president of CUPE Local 2361 said. “This has been a difficult round of bargaining, and we greatly appreciate the support and patience of Western students, our community, and especially the other labour groups on campus.” Details of the deal were kept under wraps, but Western has suggested its offer included a roughly 20 per cent wage increase over the four years of the contract. Local members are expected to vote to ratify the deal on Friday.
The upshot: The union’s picket lines had been particularly effective at snarling traffic and rerouting LTC buses (whose drivers’ union traditionally do not cross the picket lines) and it had become a fairly acrimonious strike, particularly after Western hired replacement workers to keep campus garbage from piling up and as frustration over picket line traffic disruptions mounted within and outside Western’s walls. The pickets had even extended to city hall, where the union was hoping to influence the mayor, who sits on the school’s board of governors, to push for a deal. In any case, it will be a sigh of relief for students in particular, but also the city’s motorists, to see the two sides reach a negotiated deal.
Read more: London Free Press | CTV News London
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Jill’s Table marks quarter century of business
A happy 25th birthday to downtown kitchenware and specialty food retailer Jill’s Table. The culinary store, which has built a loyal following over the years ― in no small part due to owner Jill Wilcox’s popular cooking classes, food travel and interminable culinary passion ― started way back in the halcyon days of 1999 (starting in Covent Garden Market and then moving to 115 King Street), and the store has been a source of high-end and hard-to-find ingredients and cookware ever since. “Sometimes it feels like just yesterday that I donned a hard hat and work boots to start building a little store in the corner of Covent Garden Market,” wrote Wilcox on the store’s blog. “Within two years, we moved to our current location at 115 King where we continued to grow and expand: we built a kitchen, started a gift basket business, and during the pandemic developed an e-store.”
The upshot: If you want to get in on the celebration ― or if you’re looking to get ahead on your holiday shopping ― Wilcox has released a new anniversary cookbook called Jill’s Favourites. Or perhaps you found time this week to stop by the store, where Wilcox has been hosting celebration days all week; they’re also selling special edition anniversary products, including a snazzy $270 Jill’s Table-branded four-quart All-Clad pan ― “one of my absolute favourite all-time vessels,” Wilcox said. “We couldn’t have done it without you … loyal customers and the amazing people who have been part of the Jill’s Table team over these two and a half decades.”
Read more: CBC News London
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Provincial development charge exemptions punch $28M hole in city budget
City hall is facing a significant shortfall in development charge revenue, the mayor told council this week. Provincial development charge exemptions, part of Bill 23, are costing the city over $28 million in 2024, significantly more than the $5 million the city had budgeted for development incentives. What does that mean? Well, for starters, it eats up the rest of the $29 million budget surplus the city was expected to run this year (about half of the surplus is going into reserves), leaving, in the end, a $6.6 million hole in the budget going into 2025. In 2023, in response to criticism from municipalities, the province had agreed to make cities whole, but no plan to do so has been brought forth. “This is an unsustainable problem, and we need a solution to it,” Mayor Josh Morgan told councillors. “The pressure on the property taxes is only going to go up unless we have an avenue to seek relief.”
The upshot: London is running headfirst into a catch-22 in provincial housing policy. While politicians, homebuilders and economists (including Ivey’s own Mike Moffatt, one of the federal government’s housing policy whisperers these days) have been pleading with cities to cut development charges on new homes, municipalities are saying that provincial measures like Bill 23 (though it’s not the only source of exemptions) are making it very hard for municipalities to actually do that without cutting elsewhere ― at a time when budgetary demands from social services, police and infrastructure investment are only growing. Morgan, like many other mayors, doesn’t seem completely sure of how the city can respond. “We have to find a pathway to deal with this, because the development in these areas isn’t going away in a fast-growing city,” he said. “That solution isn’t going to be hoping we have enough surplus every year to backfill development charge exemptions on an annual basis. We need a permanent solution.” Translation? Unless the city wants to start hiking the property tax, it needs the province to pony up.
Read more: CTV News London
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Folk music act The Pairs snags Song of the Year honours
London folk music trio The Pairs took home Song of the Year honours at this year’s Ontario Folk Music Awards. Made up of longtime friends Hilary Watson and twin sisters Noelle and Renee Coughlin, the group won the award for their song Annie’s Daughter. “This song is an ode to the resilience of children, and a plea to grown-ups to pay close attention to the ways in which young people push against the confines of our rigid systems and structures,” the band said of the winning song.
The upshot: The Unesco City of Music stays winning. The London group has been building buzz on the folk music scene over the past few years, and released their second full-length album last year, with a forthcoming album expected this spring ― exactly the kind of thing you might hope to catch at, say, a free folk music festival in Vic Park held on a lovely summer weekend. Well, that may or may not be on the cards for next year ― but if you want to catch the band, they’re playing a show at Aeolian Hall on November 24.
Read more: Roots Music Canada
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Club House debuts audio cookbook featuring actor Gerry Dee
Just in time for Thanksgiving, London-based McCormick Canada and its Club House brand are putting out a holiday audio cookbook, Club House Culinary Soundscapes, narrated by Canadian comedian, actor and host of Family Feud Canada, Gerry Dee. “This first-of-its-kind cookbook is an audio journey through a Thanksgiving meal, featuring the sounds of cooking classic Club House recipes and family favourites, submitted by Canadians,” McCormick said in a release. This, at least, has got Gerry Dee’s tummy rumbling. “Some of these recipes sound incredible so when we do this next year, I think everyone should have to send in their dish to me and I can crown a champion that way,” he said.
The upshot: It’s basically a Thanksgiving tradition: rooting around your cabinet for a bottle of savoury spice purchased while Paul Martin was prime minister, and when you find it ― there it is, the Club House brand on the bottle, timeless if perhaps a bit faded by the years. (Can’t vouch for the freshness, though.) The audio cookbook just one way that McCormick marks the season ― McCormick and Club House is donating 6,000 meals to food banks across Canada this year. The audio cookbook is free to listen to ― and maybe popping two earbuds in and tuning out the family is the best way to actually get the cooking done. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
Read more: Club House
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Dispatch: October 11, 2024
A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week.
View listings here
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