Jun 28, 2007
Residents of east end Toronto, represented by city councillor Paula Fletcher, are demanding that developers come clean with their plans for a parcel of land now occupied by Toronto Film Studios. Rumours have circled for months now that Wal-Mart is a central tenant to the development plan being put forward by Rose Corp. and SmartCentres Inc. Wal-Mart often plays a central role in SmartCentres' plans, serving as the anchor for other big box stores.
In response to the developers keeping mum about Wal-Mart's presence, and the overall nature of which stores will be included, residents mobilised for last Tuesday's community council meeting, denouncing the project and expressing their worry about the effect of a big-box development on a neighbourhood that is in the process of rebuilding.
"It is tantamount to shooting this fledgling neighbourhood in the head," local resident Victoria Dinnick told cbc.ca.
Councilor Fletcher also submitted a motion calling on the developers to submit a detailed plan about what they plan to do with the 700,000 square foot complex. The motion will be going to Toronto city council next month.
Read more...Posted by tim
Jun 27, 2007
Wal-Mart recently proclaimed itself the number one corporate purchaser of green energy in Canada, vaunting its goals to increase energy efficiency at its supercentres by signing a three-year deal with wind-power provider Bullfrog Power in Alberta and purchasing renewable energy for a quarter of its BC stores through BC Hydro.
Read a little bit deeper, though, and the green paint starts to flake off that bright, shiny Wal-Mart sign along the highway. As a comparison, Wal-Mart Canada states their renewable energy plan will equal of taking 3,875 cars off the road for one year over the three year lifespan of their deal with Bullfrog. Sounds like a lot of cars. But break it down and we see that it would average out to just under 1,300 cars per year. Still sounds like a decent amount, right?
Now, let's compare: according to Wal-Mart's own figures, 1 million Canadians shop at Wal-Mart every week. With most stores built at highway intersections outside of downtown, the large majority of Wal-Mart shoppers drive to the store. Even assuming that Wal-Mart customers begin carpooling, with four people to a car, that still means 250,000 cars visiting Wal-Mart in Canada every week, or over 35,500 cars every day - 10 times the number of cars Wal-Mart says it will take off the road in energy savings over three years.
Ok, but still, 3,875 cars are 3,875 cars, and any less cars on the road is good - except Wal-Mart is still expanding. Going further with our math, each of Wal-Mart's stores, on average, should receive 120 cars (with four customers inside, remember) every day. That would equal 840 car trips in one week. So if Wal-Mart continues to open new stores (as it plans to do in Stratford, ON) and expand current locations (as it hopes in Guelph, ON), it would only take one new store about a month and a half to completely counteract Wal-Mart's vaunted energy plan.
That's just one store. And Wal-Mart has its sights set on 15 to 20 new stores. I wonder who gets to sweep up all those green paint chips?
Posted by tim
Jun 6, 2007
Wal-Mart Canada is a private company, part of Wal-Mart International, which is entirely owned by Wal-Mart, Inc. Why is this important? Because it means that Wal-Mart Canada never needs to disclose its exact sales figures, making it difficult to judge it's economic impact or actual size within the Canadian retail market.
But a recent Toronto Star interview with Wal-Mart Canada CEO Mario Pilozzi sheds a bit of light on it: Wal-Mart now sells more than half of the general merchandise goods in Canada, and last year outperformed their US namesake.
But how big are they, really? How much profit do they make that could go back into better salaries, better benefits? The only time Canadians came close to knowing was when the Guelph Mercury published sales figures obtained during the protracted fight against Wal-Mart by the city's residents. Wal-Mart promptly sued the Mercury for disclosing the numbers, and although the Mercury won, the article, and the numbers, have disappeared from public sphere.
Want to ask Wal-Mart Canada how much profit they made last year? Visit this page, but be brief - they only give you 150 words to make your comment!
Posted by tim
Jun 5, 2007
The folks at Good Jobs First, who back in 2004 published a major study showing Wal-Mart received over $1 billion in government subsidies in the US, have done it again. Wal-Mart Subsidy Watch, their latest project, is an online searchable database of US local, state and federal subsidies to the world's largest retailer. Does a company that makes over $11 billion in profit a year need government subsidies to exist? "That a company with a predatory business model and a poverty-wage labor policy can even qualify for job subsidies suggests many public officials still don't get it," said Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First. "When they sit down at the table with Wal-Mart, the prize at stake is not a new Wal- Mart; the prize is access to more market share."
Posted by tim
May 25, 2007
After several months of a hard fought campaign, residents of Gibsons, British Columbia, have won an incredible victory, successfully forcing Wal-Mart to back down from building in their community. According to a member of Sunshine Coast Citizens for Responsible Development, the developers of the site are now looking for new tenants. The SCCCRD came together in response to Wal-Mart's attempted entry and led a concerted grass-roots campaign to spread awareness of the negative impacts the big box store has had on small communities. For more on their campaign, visit http://scccrd.com/
Posted by tim
Mar 20, 2007
Wal-Town will be screening in French three times next week. The first will be on Wednesday March 28th at the CinéRobotèque de Montréal at 7pm. The screening is in conjunction with the Ciné-débat series of the Institut Nouveau Monde (INM), so we're looking forward to a good discussion following the film. The two other screenings will be in Quebec City on Thursday (noon) and Friday (1pm) as part of the Festival du cinéma des trois Amériques. Visit the screening dates page for complete details.
Posted by tim
Mar 13, 2007
Tonight we'll be screening the film at Ryerson University at 6:30pm. While this is our "official" wrap up screening for the tour, we still have two more screenings he in Toronto, and will be announcing more Quebec screenings in the meantime. Find all the details here.
Three new documents have been posted on the research page, too. The first two compile all the facts found in Wal-Town the Film (one with just the sources listed, the other with all the actual source documents included). The third piece is a great article from Stephan J. Goetz and Anil Rupasingha entitled "Wal-Mart and County Wide Poverty." The title speaks for itself, and is a great read for anyone looking for detailed information on how Wal-Mart helps to perpetuate poverty, not alleviate it.
Posted by tim
Mar 5, 2007
The town of Gibsons, on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia, is currently mobilising to keep Wal-Mart out. residents fear the big box behemoth could destroy local businesses and community. Also concerning is the environmental impact that a new development will have on area. To help them in their campaign, please visit the website of the Coast Reporter and vote against the new Wal-Mart in their online poll. (Please note that the same computer can only vote once per day. If you have multiple people using the same computer, please vote one day apart from each other).
For more on the battle over Wal-Mart in Gibsons, read Wal-Mart Confirmed from the Coast Reporter.
Posted by tim
Feb 21, 2007
While we are still planning to organise as many screenings of the film as possible, we'll be officially wrapping up Wal-Town Tour 07 in Toronto in March. We'll be in and around the city for 4 screenings in 4 days starting March 12th and running to the 15th. The big event, though, will be in downtown Toronto at Ryerson University. We're also planning to use our stay in Toronto to announce the next phase of the campaign, so stay tuned!
For complete details on our Toronto stops, check out the recently updated tour dates page.
Posted by tim
Feb 13, 2007
Halifax marked the wrap up of the Atlantic leg of the tour, as well as our longest stop in any one city. Over four days, we screened the film three times, twice in Halifax and once in Wolfville. While we screened the film in three very distinct venues -- the Al Whittle Cinema at the Acadia Co-op Theatre in Wolfville, and the Spring Garden Road Public Library and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax -- they were all linked in one distinct way. All three venues are community and publicly supported institutions.
Read more...Posted by tim
Feb 3, 2007
Tim and I spent a couple days out in Newfoundland, an island that has 2.5 times more Wal-Marts than the rest of Canada, per capita. There's a lot of heritage in Newfoundland. Some families have been there over 500 years, lending a rich history and sense of community to the old villages and towns that dot the island. This heritage and history is already being theatened by steep decline in Newfoundland's traditional industrie, and the homogenous big-box model offered by Wal-Mart is threatening things even further.
Overall we had a good response. Here's some brief thoughts about our time there.
Read more...Posted by jason
Feb 1, 2007
Driving down the long, cold Klondike highway on route to Dawson City, Ezra and Rob fear they may run out of gas.
Posted by rob
Ezra and Rob lurk among giant land sloths while Wal-Town plays to a crowd in Whitehorse, Yukon. This hushed update is recorded on a fancy new camcorder "borrowed" from Wal-Mart that evening.
Posted by rob
Jan 31, 2007
As we zig zag across the vast expanse of this country, we are desperately trying to keep up to date with our blog responsibilities, but alas, the constant organizing, meeting with local activists and traveling sometimes sets us back. So, as I write this from Dawson City, Yukon, I would like to tell you about our northern events, but you'll have to wait! For now, I'm writing two updates on our British Columbia events, which happened in Gibsons, Vancouver, Courtenay, Victoria and Salmon Arm. Between our video blogs, I'll post this update -- on Vancouver and Courtenay -- and another on Victoria and Salmon Arm. Gibsons is further down the list and deserves its own post to be sure. One thing is certain: we were worried briefly that we concentrated too many events in BC, but as it turns out there are a high percentage of Wal-Marts in that province and luckily a high percentage of citizens either engaged in action or ready to take up the fight agains the Beast of Bentonville. In Vancouver, this was immediately clear to us...
Read more...Posted by ezra
Jan 30, 2007
From people of faith to politicians, artists to tradespeople, student activists to senior citizens, the fight for preserve our communities isn't isolated to one section of residents or another. We've been seeing it in the audiences that have been coming out and the people who have put us up. In Saint John, it was Chris and Claudine, a young artist couple, who put us up and showed us around town. In Moncton, it was Marco, a young father and researcher with the student union at the University of Moncton who organized the screening. In Summerside and Charlottetown, it has been Jacquie Robichaud, daycare worker and NDP activist, Leo Cheverie, union activist and UPEI employee, and Kay Profit and her son, Fr Jim Profit in town visiting from Guelph where he helped lead the stand-off against Wal-Mart. Monday night, it was Kirk and J'nan Brown, who, according to Kirk, came to the island for five years and haven't left for 30.
Read more...Posted by tim
Jan 28, 2007
You can make the Miramichi a commuter town with a good four-lane highway. And what's wrong with that? As long as they are making the money and going to spend it at Wal-Mart.
-- Francis McGuire, co-chairman of New Brunswick's Task Force on Self Sufficiency
The above quote comes from the Telegraph Journal, New Brunswick's provincial paper, which, like most big things in this region, is owned by Irving, the province's homegrown timber and petroleum giant. The quote is telling, if not terrifying. But it's not without its reasons, either.
Read more...Posted by jason
Jan 27, 2007
Standing in front of City Hall, Ezra slams Courtenay's right-wing mayor, Starr Winchester, for being a big-box booster.
Posted by rob
Jan 26, 2007
Landing in Fredericton on Wednesday, the eastern leg of the tour got off to a bit of an inauspicious beginning when Jason & I realized that our suitcase with the DVD screeners, posters, and most of our flyers had not made the trip from Montreal with us. But beginnings don't always predict outcomes, and by Thursday morning our lost luggage had made it to Fredericton with plenty of time to spare before our screening that night at the Underground Café and Alternative Bookstore.
Posted by tim
Jan 25, 2007
Ezra discovers that traces of Wal-Mart can be found nearly anywhere, including on the beautiful beaches of BC's Sunshine Coast.
Posted by cp
After lunch with my Aunt and Uncle just outside of Powell River, we drove to down the beautiful Sunshine Coast, weaving our way through Arbutus and Cedar trees along one of the most beautiful coastlines on the planet. It turns out however, that we’re not the only ones who have discovered the warmth and beauty of the small communities dotting this coast. In recent years there has been an influx of people purchasing homes and setting up local businesses as well. While many locals in towns such as Sechelt and Gibsons seem a little concerned with the impact an increasing population will have on the coast, they are extremely worried about the unsustainable development that is bringing big box stores including Wal-Mart. And as we have seen, the big box stores bring increased traffic, pollution, and sprawl. Folks in Gibsons have learned that a large piece of land has been purchased on the outskirts of the municipality and that the mysterious owner has plans to “develop” the site into a 116,000 square foot store with a parking lot to match. A local organizer with the group Sunshine Coast Citizens Concerened for Responsible Development described the potential opening of such as store as the equivalent of 100 small stores opening simultaneously in Gibsons. Just the environmental impact alone seems to be enough for residents to wary, especially in a community where the largest stores – such as London Drugs – are around 20,000 square feet.
Read more...Posted by ezra
A new study from the United States points to how Wal-Mart, and other big box stores, are radically remaking the social fabric that makes up our communities. In their study, Stephan J. Goetz and Anil Rupasingha find that the presence of Wal-Mart in our communities seriously diminishes our "social capital" - the networks, norms and social trust that help us to coordinate and cooperate in our own communities. Visit our research section to download the entire study. For more information, read the related entry The Hometown Advantage.
Posted by cp
Jan 23, 2007
Ezra and Rob recap the previous day's follies in Winnipeg, while Sergeo naps in the background. Geez!
Posted by cp
So we've heard through the grapevine that people have been enjoying our video blogs, but are in want of actual details about our events on this tour and not just our silly antics ... WELL I'm going to start augmenting our insanely entertaining video blogs with some serious literature in the form of text bloggage (yes, just when you thought we couldn't talk about ourselves more). This is the first one ...
Winnipeg was our first stop and we had two screenings in one night at the Winnipeg Cinematheque. Aiden and Karen and friends had put up nearly 100 posters for us and we had an excellent article written by Marlo Campbell in Uptown magazine, the Winnipeg free weekly that covers culture and entertainment. Unfortunately the Tragically Hip played that night, and well, as much as we like to think we're rock stars and Wal-Mart is the foremost issue that every citizen is eager to run out and discuss, our attendance was a little low. We found out later that a real bitter film critic had also published a "review" of the film earlier that day, and editors had added insult to injury, gasoline to the fire, by giving it the title: Attention Wal-Mart Shoppers: Nothing to See Here. It was, in a word, disheartening. [we will be posting the bad reviews and our rebuttals, sent to be published, hopefully, in the letters sections of various papers, here sometime in the future] But the event was pretty excellent - nearly 100 people showed up in total for both screenings and they all stuck around to have an engaged discussion at the end. Afterward, Aiden and Karen (friends from the first tour) took us and about a dozen others out for some beers at the nearby legion. Rob instantly turned off the television with our hidden-agenda device, the TV-B-Gone.
Read more...Posted by cp
Jan 22, 2007
The local activists in Saskatoon, including the folks at SHEEP Economics and Peter at Turning the Tide Bookstore managed to spread the word about our event to such an extent that despite very little media attention, we had nearly two hundred people show up at the Broadway Theatre, great numbers all things considered. The SHEEP activists joined us on stage and informed the audience of their upcoming actions against Wal-Mart and informed us about Wal-Mart’s closing of one store in order to open a massive super centre store in another location. It seems that the folks in Saskatoon feel that they don’t need another Wal-Mart, but unsurprisingly, The Beast from Bentonville only listens to the sounds of cash registers, not the wishes and demands of the communities it pushes its way into. Luckily, Saskatoon has a vibrant and committed activist community resisting the mart. Before we left town we stopped by Turning the Tide and picked up some great books for the road including No one Makes you Shop at Wal-Mart: The surprising deceptions of individual choice by Canadian writer Tom Slee, and Wal-Mart: The Face of 21st Century Capitialism, a compilation of essays and articles from the Santa Barbara conference on Wal-Mart in 2004.
Posted by ezra
Today at 6:30pm, residents of Burlington, ON, will be holding a vigil & lament to protest the decision by city council to allow a new Wal-Mart to be built in their town.
"Our city is being inundated with Walmart, its application to build a second one just prevailed at the OMB [Ontario Municipal Board] and it has an application before city council to expand its less than year old 12000 m2 store to 19000m2. These stores are 6 km apart!" writes Ian Graham, a resident of Burlington.
Wal-Mart also won the right to build in Guelph by going through the OMB, and is currently going through the same process in Stratford, ON.
For Immediate Release
Jan 19, 2007
Contact: Tracey Pingle - (905) 335-4669
Wal-Mart wins, Council concedes defeat for Downtown BigBox Store. Citizens Group plans lament and Vigil at
460 Brant Street, Burlington, ON
Citizens Lament the Intrusion of yet another BigBox format retailer in beautiful Downtown Burlington.
Burlington - Citizens will hold a Lament and Vigil for Local Community Monday Jan 22nd, at the Upper Canada Cinema, at 6:30pm, with a screening of Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price.
Click to get more information and the full press release
Posted by cp
Jan 21, 2007
Just like Wal-Mart, multinational breweries work hard to kill the local competition. Rob and Ezra discover the lack of locally brewed beers in Manitoba, and suggest some ways to correct the deficiency.
Posted by cp
Strolling the snow-covered streets of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Rob and Ezra tell of an encounter with a big-box bashing Air Canada flight attendant.
Posted by cp
Jan 19, 2007
In the first videoblog of the 2007 tour, Ezra and Rob report from 30,000 feet above ground, en route from Montreal to Winnipeg.
Posted by cp
Jan 18, 2007
New stops have been added to the upcoming Wal-Town Tour, including Gibsons, BC, and McMasters University (Hamilton).
Also, check out the downloads page for our newest pamplet, Wal-Mart & You: How to Beat the Beast of Bentonville in Your Town
Posted by cp
Jan 10, 2007
We've confirmed 19 cities so far - and counting! Check out the tour schedule to find out when we'll be screening the film in your area.
We've also posted a media page, where you can download the press release announcing the tour and high resolution photos.
Posted by cp
Jan 9, 2007
We are now officially selling Wal-Town - The Film on DVD! Buy a copy today and support Wal-Town continue the fight against the Beast from Bentonville. [Watch the trailer]
Posted by cp
Dec 10, 2006
The plans for Wal-Town Tour '07 are coming along! We've managed to set up screenings of the film in several cities already. Below is a list (still a little tentative) of when and where we'll be stopping. If you are interested in getting involved in any of these towns, please e-mail rob[at]uberculture.org for the Western tour and tim[at]uberculture.org for the eastern tour.
Posted by cp
Dec 5, 2006
Great news here at Wal-Town: Early in 2007, uberculture will kick off our latest Wal-Town tour, taking us across the country once again to join communities in fighting Wal-Mart. We will be organizing screenings of Wal-Town The Film, participating in public discussions on Wal-Mart's impact on local communities, and pulling publicity stunts and culture jams to draw attention to the dirty record of this big-box giant.
As in previous years, we are calling on your support to make this tour a success and help stop the beast of Bentonville! We are looking to raise $5000 from our friends and supporters across the country. You can pledge as little as $2, and when trekking across the wintery Great White North, every penny counts!
Click the Beast on the left to donate and help fight Wal-Mart in Canada!
Beginning January 20, Wal-Town 2007 will visit roughly 30 cities across Canada, from St. John's, Newfoundland to Victoria, BC. This time around we will also be heading up north to the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Labrador and Northern Quebec.
While we've confirmed a few dates, we're still looking for community organisations, labour unions, social justice groups and concerned citizens who can help to co-ordinate screenings in their towns. We will also post the tour schedule as soon as it becomes available. If you are interested in helping to organise a screening in Western Canada, please e-mail Rob at rob[at]uberculture.org. For Eastern Canada, please e-mail Tim at tim[at]uberculture.org.
Thank you again for your continuing support in this ever important struggle to protect our communities and rights! We are also once again grateful to the United Food and Commercial Workers for their support and sponsorship, as well as the National Film Board of Canada which has been integral in helping us screen and promote the film and establish contacts across the country.
Posted by cp