COVID solutions: Gift cards and accounts receivable
From an “Open letter to Canadians from oil and gas workers,” which you can read in full on the Financial Post website:
“After five years of battling anything and everything we thought humanly possible, the once- in- a- lifetime combination of an oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia and a global pandemic of unknown proportions has left oil and gas families with next to nothing. A barrel of Western Canadian Select now costs less than a foot- long sub. The companies that employ and support hundreds of thousands of
Canadians across this country are decimated … “After five years of a downturn, and many critical wounds, we have nothing left with which to fight. That is why we are asking the prime minister to implement specific policies to save our industry. Specifically, the Canadian drilling and service rig sector needs the federal government to introduce a payroll relief plan. We’re also asking the federal government to purchase our accounts receivable — at a discount. Doing this would give our companies instant cash flow and the federal government could collect these debts at a profit as oil prices recover.
From an email from Galen Weston, executive chairman of Loblaw Companies Limited to PC Optimum members, April 4:
“I heard (a story the other day) about a very kind customer who walked into one of our supermarkets and began handing out handwritten cards to our colleagues expressing thanks for their efforts. On top of that, each envelope had $ 40 in it. The store team was so appreciative of the sentiment that within minutes they made the decision to pay it forward by pooling all that money together to buy groceries for a few local seniors in need. I thought it perfectly captured the community spirit that is helping us all get through this …
“As we adjust how we run our stores, and we all adapt to new ways to shop and feed our families, food banks are doing the same. Just think of the challenge they’re facing. Like the in- school programs, they can’t gather and feed people like normal, and there are more Canadians at their door than ever before. Yesterday ( April 3rd), $ 100 million of federal funding to address this challenge was announced. And for our part, we are donating $ 5 million to top up the $ 15 million worth of our gift cards already being purchased by several charities in order to get food directly into vulnerable communities.”