Latest / VOCM On Demand / VOCM News Mid-Day Update September 28th

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VOCM News Mid-Day Update September 28th · VOCM On Demand

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  Speaker 1: Local news now, a VOCM News Update.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Sarah Strickland. An economic panel led by the private
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  Speaker 2: sector is recommending that all four Atlantic provinces work together
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  Speaker 2: to form a single economy while maintaining their own provincial governments.
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  Speaker 2: The panel says the region has to work as one
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  Speaker 2: to strengthen its ability to compete globally. NL business owner
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  Speaker 2: and former finance minister Kathy Bennett is on the Atlantic
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  Speaker 2: Economic Panel along with Chair Don Mills, the former owner
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  Speaker 2: and CEO of Corporate Research Associates. Linda Swain has more.
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  Speaker 3: Boulder Ambition's Greater Prosperity for All shows that while the
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  Speaker 3: region fell to 82% of the national average in labor productivity,
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  Speaker 3: Newfoundland and Labrador has far surpassed the national average at 121%.
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  Speaker 3: Slowing population growth at just 1% across the region is
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  Speaker 3: a major source of concern. Newfoundland and Labrador's access to
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  Speaker 3: power far exceeds that of its Atlantic counterparts at 8,280 megawatts,
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  Speaker 3: nearly double that of New Brunswick, the next greatest power
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  Speaker 3: generator in the region. Among the core recommendations is working
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  Speaker 3: together as a single economic unit and the development of
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  Speaker 3: an integrated regional electricity system to help power economic growth
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  Speaker 3: through affordable, reliable power.
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  Speaker 2: The province's fish processing sector is being hit hard by
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  Speaker 2: a labor crunch, and the problem is only expected to
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  Speaker 2: get worse as the population continues to age. That's according
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  Speaker 2: to a new report by Food Processing Skills Canada, which
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  Speaker 2: says that labor shortages are going to hit the local
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  Speaker 2: food processing sector harder than any other province. Kevin Elder,
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  Speaker 2: who is with the organization, says government has significant work
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  Speaker 2: to do in order to recruit the necessary number of
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  Speaker 2: workers by 2035. And the hiring challenge that is there
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  Speaker 2: is massive.
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  Speaker 4: You're almost hiring everyone that's currently working in the sector
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  Speaker 4: again in another nine years, which is a huge ask
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  Speaker 4: for the industry. For Newfoundland and Labrador, they had the
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  Speaker 4: highest percentage of their food and beverage manufacturing workforce that's
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  Speaker 4: over 55, which was 41%, and no other province is
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  Speaker 4: above 33%. And they also had the fewest people under
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  Speaker 4: 25 working in the sector at only 9.5%, and no
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  Speaker 4: other province was in the single digits.
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  Speaker 2: Walmart in the U.S. is expanding digital labels on shelves,
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  Speaker 2: but says it is not using personal information to set prices.
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  Speaker 2: Here's ABC's Wayne Cabot.
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  Speaker 1: Digital price labels let stores change prices instantly from a
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  Speaker 1: central computer. Walmart says customers that are browsing that item
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  Speaker 1: will not be profiled. CEO John Furner says shoppers' income,
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  Speaker 1: purchase history, or willingness to pay won't affect the price.
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  Speaker 1: Neither will the time of day they're shopping. Last month,
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  Speaker 1: the Federal Trade Commission said that it's putting companies on
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  Speaker 1: notice that the practice of personalizing pricing could violate consumer
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  Speaker 1: protection laws. Wayne Cabot, ABC News.
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  Speaker 2: And that's your news. I'm Sarah Strickland.