Across Canada government-run hospitals have lost big bucks running cafeterias and restaurants.

One might think a hospital could at least break even when selling chocolate bars and sandwiches to staff or people from the public who stop by the hospital’s cafeteria for a bite to eat, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in most instances.

We know this because many hospitals have disclosed their losses on more than one occasion. But oddly enough, the Saskatoon Health Region (SHR) has bucked the national trend; refusing to disclose details about how much it makes each year with the Starbucks franchise it operates. Starbucks is putting up quite the fight over release of the details too.

Consider that hospitals in Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia have all disclosed their big losses by running Tim Hortons franchises in their facilities. At each of their Tim Hortons locations, government workers serve up double-doubles and report to government managers.

In the case of a large hospital complex in Nova Scotia, they expect to lose an astounding $1.4 million at the four franchises they operate in 2013.

Think about that for a second. You take one of Canada’s most successful restaurant franchises, you put it in government hands and bureaucrats find a way to lose money in each instance. Talk about a spectacular display of incompetence.

In Manitoba, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, a donation-based taxpayers watchdog group, obtained data on the revenues and expenditures of every hospital cafeteria in the province. The results showed millions in losses each year, but at least getting the info was actually a fairly easy process.

In Saskatchewan, getting such details is a different story.

Last year, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation started to look into the Starbucks franchise operated by the Saskatoon Health Region (SHR). They opened the Starbucks up back in 2004 at the Royal University Hospital.

We asked for the total revenues and expenditure figures for the Starbucks each year since it opened. We wanted to know if the venture was costing taxpayers money or whether it was profitable. Again, this is usually a straightforward request in most provinces.

Surprisingly, our request was denied by the SHR. Both the SHR and Starbucks refused the request citing confidentiality. Suspecting it was some kind of a misunderstanding, we communicated to the health authority that we weren’t looking for confidential information such as how much it paid for coffee beans or things like the cost of making its cookies. We recognize such details could reasonably be considered confidential. We just wanted the big picture results. But the SHR still refused.

When we raised a stink about being denied, the Saskatoon Health Region told a local media outlet they made $130,000 in profit last year.

Years ago, when the hospital was about to open its Starbucks, they also reportedly told the Associated Press details on their operating license, expected annual profit and royalty rate.

So why can the SRHA disclose some details to the media, but refuse to release that same type of info to a taxpayer watchdog organization like ours? By doing so, they’ve shot their own argument in the foot.

And that’s exactly what we pointed out in our argument to the Provincial Information and Privacy Commissioner.

One could shrug their shoulders at this and dismiss it as small potatoes, but it’s the principle that’s important. If the SHR can get away with keeping this info private, someday another government body might try and do the same with a much larger contract.

There’s something to ponder the next time you sip on a Grande Frappuccino.








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