Cultural Imperial posted:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/victoria-restaurants-face-chef-shortage-broken-industry-says-restaurateur-1.3148241


Hmmm. If only we had some sort of way to price things according to the wants and desires of individuals. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

And this is why I don't loving patronize small businesses. Get hosed you loving retard. It's almost as if this motherfucker is begging for an underclass of illegal immigrants to abuse.

EvilJoven posted:

When the revolution comes these people should be last in line for the guillotine.

Mederlock posted:

Since the average Canadian's wage has stagnated while the cost of living and inflation have gone up much higher in proportion to their wage, people aren't as readily able to afford what it actually takes to make real food. And chefs and other staff have been the ones bearing most of the economic brunt of the downward pressure on the industry due to that. Lots of this sort of poo poo is knock-on effects from a significant portion of Canadians shifting to lovely, low paying, and low quality jobs

Mederlock posted:

Since the average Canadian's wage has stagnated while the cost of living and inflation have gone up much higher in proportion to their wage, people aren't as readily able to afford what it actually takes to make real food. And chefs and other staff have been the ones bearing most of the economic brunt of the downward pressure on the industry due to that. Lots of this sort of poo poo is knock-on effects from a significant portion of Canadians shifting to lovely, low paying, and low quality jobs

Jan posted:

Just to buy us time to hang, draw and quarter them, right? Right!!??

Cultural Imperial posted:

https://twitter.com/CdnMortgageNews/status/620437788316536832



lol

Mantle posted:

I just moved from Victoria. The reason Foo is having trouble is because he charges $8.00 for a Viet pork belly sub.

Rime posted:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/162350160468834?view=permalink&id=861310620572781&ref=m_notif%ACif_t=group_comment_follow

I love babies living off their families dime so they can stay in the "best place on earth".

PT6A posted:

People aren't willing to pay what good food costs to make and serve, though. That's a very significant problem. That doesn't mean we should forgive the underpayment and other abuse of employees, but it is a serious obstacle to creating a liveable city/town.

Unfortunately, I don't see any way it can be fixed until people learn to tell the difference between Milestone's and something that doesn't taste like boiled rear end, but until that happens I guess I'll be cooking for myself.

Rime posted:

What does it cost though, how do you realistically set that level? I'm eating the best tasting and prepared food in my life, at amazing restaurants, and the most I've paid in one night was $20 and that included some totally baller wine service. To eat food this good in Vancouver would be well over $100/person at the table.

The problem is goods and services in The West have inflated their costs past the point of reality and entirely out of sync with what anyone there can afford to pay on a regular basis. So businesses die. They'll continue to die as the personal debt level taps out for more and more Canadians and jobs continue to pay less and less money.

Rime posted:

What does it cost though, how do you realistically set that level? I'm eating the best tasting and prepared food in my life, at amazing restaurants, and the most I've paid in one night was $20 and that included some totally baller wine service. To eat food this good in Vancouver would be well over $100/person at the table. (and then the portions would be pathetically tiny because you'd be at one of those pretentious as gently caress restaurants).

The problem is goods and services in The West have inflated their costs past the point of reality and entirely out of sync with what anyone there can afford to pay on a regular basis. So businesses die. They'll continue to die as the personal debt level taps out for more and more Canadians and jobs continue to pay less and less money.

Now understand, I'm not ignorant of the costs of operating when I ask this. I'm saying that, from the very bottom of the supply chain all the way to space rental, costs are out of touch with reality.

Melian Dialogue posted:

It probably helps that in the place where you paid $20 in one night, the kitchen is infested with rats, no one cleans anything, and there is barely an excuse for a health code or investigators or licenses or anything. Keeps costs down, and its the least "visible" thing (unless you do actually get sick) for businesses to cut back on.

But thanks for your insight on how Canada should be more like a third world post-USSR STALKER-esque country

Melian Dialogue posted:

It probably helps that in the place where you paid $20 in one night, the kitchen is infested with rats, no one cleans anything, and there is barely an excuse for a health code or investigators or licenses or anything. Keeps costs down, and its the least "visible" thing (unless you do actually get sick) for businesses to cut back on.

But thanks for your insight on how Canada should be more like a third world post-USSR STALKER-esque country

Melian Dialogue posted:

It probably helps that in the place where you paid $20 in one night, the kitchen is infested with rats, no one cleans anything, and there is barely an excuse for a health code or investigators or licenses or anything. Keeps costs down, and its the least "visible" thing (unless you do actually get sick) for businesses to cut back on.

But thanks for your insight on how Canada should be more like a third world post-USSR STALKER-esque country

Rime posted:

What does it cost though, how do you realistically set that level? I'm eating the best tasting and prepared food in my life, at amazing restaurants, and the most I've paid in one night was $20 and that included some totally baller wine service. To eat food this good in Vancouver would be well over $100/person at the table. (and then the portions would be pathetically tiny because you'd be at one of those pretentious as gently caress restaurants).

The problem is goods and services in The West have inflated their costs past the point of reality and entirely out of sync with what anyone there can afford to pay on a regular basis. So businesses die. They'll continue to die as the personal debt level taps out for more and more Canadians and jobs continue to pay less and less money.

Now understand, I'm not ignorant of the costs of operating when I ask this. I'm saying that, from the very bottom of the supply chain all the way to space rental, costs are out of touch with reality.

Decoy Badger posted:

PT6A only leaves his fetid darkened condo for the finest Grand Cru and caviar, unlike you plebs.

Rime posted:

I'm eating smoked black sea caviar as I type this. It cost the same as a Big Mac meal in BC.

Mantle posted:

I just moved from Victoria. The reason Foo is having trouble is because he charges $8.00 for a Viet pork belly sub.

JawKnee posted:

how much is the avg income where you are vs. how much you're spending?

PT6A posted:

Pretty much everything is way more expensive in Canada. Good ingredients? More expensive. Transportation costs? More expensive. Labour? Way more expensive. Rent in a desirable location? That's probably the biggest factor, too: very, very expensive!

I'd say there's pretty much no way you can get good food for under $20/plate (without drinks) in Calgary, and it's probably much the same throughout Canada. The economics simply aren't there. The problem is that people aren't willing to pay that, because they look at going out to a restaurant as a replacement for being able to cook a proper meal at home in a lot of cases (I admit I've been doing this more than I should lately, but that's because I just can't bear to heat up my apartment any further by cooking something).

unlimited shrimp posted:

Even the chain restaurants are getting bad. I went to a GTA Montanas a few months ago and all the entrees averaged about $15.00 before tax, tip or drink. A burger and beer would have cost me $25.00 when all was said and done. gently caress that.

jm20 posted:

You went to Montana's for a burger

PT6A posted:

Professor Shark posted:

Can you post pictures of your condo? I'm doing a thing in GBS and it'd add some authenticity to the gag

Rime posted:

Yeah, no, not in the slightest. Apt description of Bons off Broadway in Vancouver though!

But please continue to pretend you have any understanding of the world outside your laughable preconceptions. How little you know, sweet young child, how little you know.

Edit: PT6A, you should go to Tbilisi sometime. I know you like wine, spirits, and good food, you'd love it here. I have always hated wine but my god, the stuff they make in Georgia is off the chain delicious. And cheap. So cheap.

quote:

Home Capital plunges most since 2008 as new mortgages decline

As one of Canada’s largest alternative mortgage lenders, Home Capital Group Inc. is a popular target for investors looking to short the Canadian housing market.

Nearly 20 per cent of Home Capital’s free float is shorted, making it the fourth most-shorted stock in Canada, according to Bloomberg. These housing bears have been burned by Home Capital’s stock in the past, which had risen on the strength of the Canadian real estate market. But Monday’s plunge in the company’s share price went in their favour for a change, sending the stock price to its lowest level in nearly two years.

Home Capital’s shares fell almost 19 per cent Monday on news that the volume of single-family mortgages applications plummeted 27 per cent in the second quarter from a year earlier – even as home prices continued to soar in major markets.

The company sold $1.6-billion in new mortgages in the second quarter, well below the $2.5-billion that some analysts had predicted. It was the second straight quarter Home Capital has missed analysts’ expectations.

Company officials blamed increased competition for the mortgage business, particularly for prime borrowers, along with Home Capital’s cautious approach to issuing new mortgages amid falling oil prices and a sinking Canadian dollar.

Home Capital also said it ended relationships with some mortgage brokers after an internal review, which “caused an immediate drop in originations.”

Sources familiar with the company’s mortgage broker business say Home Capital cut ties with several brokers in Ontario, its largest market, after an internal audit found some brokers weren’t providing proper documentation for new mortgage applications. Company officials did not reply to requests to comment.

“It’s just a good, intelligent approach if you’re questioning the type of client information that’s being brought to you,” said mortgage broker Ron Butler, who does business with Home Capital. “This is something that Home Capital can recover from very quickly.”

The company said despite the drop in mortgage originations, it was keeping its target of 8-per-cent to 13-per-cent annual growth in diluted earnings per share in the medium term, and expected to report diluted earnings per share of $1.03 for the second quarter, down from $1.05 in the same period last year.

“We are confident that the steps we have taken in the first half of 2015 were necessary to ensure the continued long-term profitability of our business, in spite of the short-term impact on originations,” chief executive officer Gerald Soloway said in a statement. Originations had begun to rebound toward the end of the quarter, he added.

However, several analysts slashed their ratings on Home Capital, warning the company’s growth estimates were too optimistic. “We expect the competitive prime mortgage environment, macro concerns and changes to its broker relationships to constrain total originations over the next six to 12 months,” wrote Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd.’s Asim Imran in cutting his target share price by 20 per cent to $44.

The bulk of Home Capital’s mortgage business comes from uninsured mortgages to borrowers who have been turned down by the major banks or other traditional lenders, often home buyers with tarnished credit, self-employed workers or new immigrants. The company’s uninsured mortgage business dropped 16 per cent in the second quarter from a year earlier.

The company’s lower-margin prime mortgage business, which lends to higher-quality borrowers who qualify for mortgage insurance, took the biggest hit. Home Capital said it originated $280-million in insured mortgages in the second quarter, down 55 per cent from $619.6-million in the same period last year.

Home Capital’s shares have fallen from a high of $55 last fall on investors’ concerns that lower oil prices would hurt the country’s housing market. But analysts shrugged off concerns that Home Capital’s sinking share price was a warning sign of an impending home price correction.

“We think this is an HCG-specific growth issue,” wrote Royal Bank of Canada analyst Geoffrey Kwan, “not an early signal of rising losses or broader housing stress.”

Melian Dialogue posted: