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Get ‘er done

Get ‘er done

#Elxn43 and the latest on the baby formula shortage

Srivindhya Kolluru
May 30, 2022

Good morning.

If you haven’t noticed already, the so-called ~vibe shift~ has arrived at the B*tchcoin News HQ. We have a new look and feel, but we’re still publishing the same great content made for women by women — in one simple email every Monday.

Claire is still advising and writing, but we’ve got a new editor at the helm: Vindhya Kolluru, a long-time writer for B*tchcoin.

Let us know what you think of the new B*tchcoin by hitting reply below — we’d love to hear from you.

— Vindhya Kolluru, Editor, and Claire Porter Robbins, Founder

* Market data as of 8:00 pm ET Sunday, May 29.

POLITICS

“Get er’ done” as my people say

Credit: Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, Ontario NDP, CBC, Green Party of Ontario

Mark your calendars: Thursday, June 2 is Election Day in Ontario.

So far, opinion polls suggest that Progressive Conservative Doug Ford will coast to re-election. It’s been a somewhat sleepy, but far from normal campaign with two party leaders testing positive for Covid, Ford taking a moderate tone while his counterpart in Alberta, Jason Kenney, went down in flames and a whole lot of ink spilled about buck-a-ride-transit.

So, who’s even running? There are four main parties vying for Ontario’s 124 provincial seats:

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, led by incumbent Premier Doug Ford;
Ontario New Democratic Party, led by Andrea Horwath;
Ontario Liberal Party, led by Steven Del Duca;
Green Party of Ontario, led by Mike Schreiner.

There is a ton of overlap between platform promises left-of-centre, but here’s where Ontario parties stand on key issues:

Housing: At the rate things are going, we’ll count ourselves lucky if we can afford to buy a shoebox-sized condo in this housing market. To address Ontario’s worsening housing crisis, Conservatives, Liberals and New Democrats pledged to build 1.5 million new homes over the next decade, while the Green Party has promised 182,000 permanently affordable community housing rental units.

The Liberal Party, Green Party and NDP plan to bring back rent control, with the NDP’s Andrea Horwath pledging to ensure a new tenant’s rent is equal to what the previous tenant paid.

Wages: The New Democrats want to freeze taxes for low- and middle-income families and, along with the Liberals and Greens, raise the minimum wage to $16 by 2023. The PC Party plans to increase the minimum wage by 50 cents in October to $15.50. The NDP, Green Party and Liberal Party also want to bring back the basic income pilot project in some form.

Healthcare: If elected, the NDP will commit ~$1.2 billion to a Universal Mental Health Care plan that would allow Ontarians to access free psychotherapy services using their provincial health insurance, while the Green Party wants to make mental health spending 10% of Ontario’s healthcare budget.

Reproductive health has taken centre stage in recent weeks after a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion revealed abortion rights are under threat in the U.S. NDP leader Horwath has pledged to make birth control free under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) as part of a $475 million pharmacare program that would cover at least 125 medications.

The bottom line: Voter turnout was just 58% in the last provincial election. The leader of Canada’s most populous province has enormous sway in our political system — make sure your vote is counted.

— Paisley Sim

On our radar

💻 Seattle-based Flying Fish Partners, a women-led venture capital (VC) firm focused on software start-ups, has tapped Tiffany Linke-Boyko to head its Canadian operations.

💄 Emily Weiss stepped down as CEO of Glossier and has been replaced by Kyle Leahy, who joined the beauty company as COO last November following stints at Cole Haan and Nike. Weiss will remain at Glossier as executive chairwoman.

💰 Volt Capital, a cryptocurrency VC firm founded by Soona Amhaz, debuted a US$50 million fund — its backers include industry heavyweights Elad Gil, Balaji Srinivasan and a16z general partners Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon.

HEALTH

Check up on aisle five...

Jaye Haych / Unsplash

In some parts of Canada, the baby formula aisles are looking a little sparse, prompting talks of a potential shortage.

Let’s back up a bit: This all started in the U.S. when Abbott Laboratories shut down their Michigan factory due to alleged contaminated formula, leading to the deaths of two infants. The closing of the factory has severely impacted the domestic production of baby formula and has seen shelves in the U.S. run out of baby formula quite quickly.

The factory has been waiting since February for approval from the U.S. FDA to re-open, but that could take almost two months and it certainly doesn’t help that the U.S. (and Canada!) has pretty strict rules around importing baby formula.

Meanwhile, in Canada: The temporary shutdown of Abbott Laboratories has led to a shortage of baby formula for infants with certain medical conditions and allergies. While it hasn’t affected all provinces, some retailers and buyers may be experiencing low quantities as a result of panic buying.

There is a baby formula plant in Kingston, but it has yet to receive full approval from Health Canada (and it sure doesn’t help that Canada primarily imports baby formula from the U.S. due to an ugly mix of trade rules and export politics).

Why it's a big deal: There are so many reasons that people use formula, including adoption, lack of childcare and as a supplement to breastmilk. The shortage has particularly impacted those who don’t have access to paid leave or, for other reasons, can't breastfeed their babies.

What’s next: We’re not sure when the shortage will end, but families in the U.S. and Canada remain hopeful that Abbott will open up again without any life-threatening issues and that they will be able to fully access baby formula. Health Canada is preparing for a sunflower oil shortage which could add further strain on Canada's baby formula supply.

— Michelle M.