Jon Shell Profile picture
May 25, 2020 12 tweets 3 min read Read on X
When I suggest an evictions ban, people say "why do we need one? Landlords would be stupid not to take 75% over zero!" That's a very wrong take.But when Doug Ford, business owner, says THE SAME THING?🤦‍♂️This article and thread explain why they're wrong.1/11
macleans.ca/opinion/should…
For context, the CECRA rent relief program launches today. Landlords can apply to get 50% of rent paid by the government with only 25% paid by small businesses hit by the pandemic. 75% total. This is a HUGE deal. It could save thousands of small businesses. But it probably won't.
The issue is that it's the landlord's choice. So, why wouldn't a landlord take 75% if their tenant is struggling so much they can't pay the rent? I mean, who are they going to rent to in this economy, amiright? Why would they evict? Great questions! Let's discuss. 3/11
First, they may prefer to evict, even in this tough economy. Their property may be worth more as a redevelopment. The rent value of their neighbourhood may have risen enough for it to make sense to evict and wait. And they may simply just not like their tenant. That happens.4/11
Second, even if their tenant is struggling, they don't need to settle for 75%. If a business is evicted, they lose everything. Much of fixtures and equipment can't be moved. Clients know their location. Might not get a loan to start over. The THREAT of eviction is powerful.5/11
So, even when a landlord is worried about re-renting, and wants to keep a tenant, they can STILL hold out for 100% of rent. Small businesses have to find rent somewhere by taking out new loans or a bigger mortgage. The livelihood of their family may depend on the business. 6/11
Or, often, they have to sign deferral deals, promising to pay the rent over time, maybe with interest. This will cripple the business for years, but again, they have no choice. Businesses forced to close to protect the community are being asked to carry the full burden. 7/11
Landlords are NOT being stupid by "choosing zero over 75%." That's simply not the choice they have. It's much more complicated, and they're just acting in their own best interests. That's what we would expect them to do. #onpoli 8/11
All this is why you need remove eviction as an option. You need to level the playing field and make #CECRA the most attractive option for landlords who want to keep their tenants. This is on the Provinces - evictions bans are provincial jurisdiction. 9/11
Should everyone know all of this? Of course not! If you haven't been in small business there's no way to know. But should Doug Ford? Damn straight he should. His business background is literally the reason he was elected. He knows how important this is. 10/11
That's what makes Doug Ford's approach so frustrating. He knows better. Yet he chooses to yell at landlords on TV instead of doing the things within his power to make a difference. He has abandoned small business and without explanation. This must change before its too late. END

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Jon Shell

Jon Shell Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @jonrshell

Mar 30, 2022
Powerful support for more employee ownership in Canada from a very credible source: @BMO is a top lender to majority employee-owned companies in the US.
Opinion: Canada needs policies that make it easier for business owners to sell to their employees financialpost.com/news/economy/o…
As BMO's Christine Cooper writes here, public policy in the US is highly supportive of employee ownership trusts, where all employees receive shares in their company at no cost. The results are proven and well documented.
As she writes: "Recent data ... show that employee-owners have a whopping 92 per cent more net wealth than their non-employee-owner counterparts. This trend is especially true for young people, single women, visible minorities and parents raising young children."
Read 6 tweets
Mar 7, 2022
Everyone should do their part to #StandWithUkraine️. That's why so many current and former @McKinsey and @BCG employees are speaking out as other consultancies leave Russia. In contrast, McK and BCG are *pretending* to leave, without actually leaving. A short thread of shame.
On March 3, both McK and BCG CEOs sent out letters to their former employees about severing ties with Russia. However, both letters said they would complete existing engagements with non-state-owned firms. This is a really important distinction and different from @Accenture et al
Consulting engagements will last from 6 weeks to a year. So, a lot of their current work might last through the end of the war. Presumably, they could start taking on new work at that time, meaning their #standwithukraine commitment might only amount to a few delays.
Read 7 tweets
Dec 21, 2021
It's not a fun or happy topic, but Provincial political leaders and small business advocacy organizations should be talking about an easier path to bankruptcy as a way to support small business in Canada. #onpoli #cdnpoli 1/ thestar.com/opinion/contri…
Many political leaders, and organizations like @CFIB, @CdnChamberofCom and @RetailCouncil have done great (and tireless) work over the past 20 months keeping businesses afloat amidst rotating shutdowns to protect public health. But for many no amount will help them survive. 2/
Encouraged by governments, many family-owned small and micro-businesses have taken on massive debts and owe huge back rent trying to keep the doors open. Those debts will come due amidst a much worse operating environment. In some cases paying it back will take decades. 3/
Read 9 tweets
May 14, 2021
If @LongosMarkets was an American grocery chain, there's a good chance it would now be owned by its employees. In Canada, it sold to @sobeys.

My op-ed about why the Cdn gov't embracing employee ownership is a big deal.
#cdnpoli (1/12)
@WinnipegNews winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analys…
@LongosMarkets is a great family-owned grocer, and their customers love it. So why did the Longo family sell out to one of the big three conglomerates?
Empire (Sobeys), Loblaw and Metro own 75% of the Canadian grocery market.
(2/12)
restobiz.ca/longos-ranks-a…
Maybe they got an offer they couldn't refuse!
Or, maybe they had no credible alternative.
That's not the case in the US, where US-ESOPs enabled family-owned @Publix, @WinCoFoods, @BrookshireBros and @HarpsFoodStores (and others) to stay independent by selling to their employees.
Read 12 tweets
Sep 28, 2020
#SaveMEC is about more than saving a co-op. It’s about preventing another Canadian icon from suffering the same fate as Tim Horton’s: a slow grinding decline under ownership that doesn’t care. So, let’s look at the unimpressive and troubling potential new management of MEC.
Short version: @MEC to be run by three middle-aged white men: a mediocre-at-best American investor, an out-of-work grocery CEO and a COO who might never have managed a store and runs a guns-and-testosterone shoe brand. This should go well!
Long version: First, the buyer, Kingswood, a PE fund out of LA. Its website claims it was founded in 2013, but it only sort of was. Until 2019 Kingswood seems to have been just one guy: Alex Wolf. His first real fund was raised last year, and MEC will be that fund's first deal.
Read 28 tweets
Jul 17, 2020
1/ Today we begin phase 3 in Ontario, or, as I like to call it "killing ourselves to pay the rent."
2/ As has been well documented, we know from other places that opening up bars lead to more cases and more deaths. So, people will die. Why are we killing them? To keep these businesses from going under. And what would drive them under? Rent. This is all about rent.
3/ When a bar (or movie theatre or gym) is closed, they lay off their staff and stop buying things. The things they already bought aren't perishable, so there's no cost to holding them. Most of what's left is rent. Bars could stay closed almost indefinitely with no rent.
Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(