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The government’s response is in regards to a list of grievances outlined in a letter sent to Bains earlier this month by lawyers representing the Great White North Franchise Association, which represents about half of Canadian Tims franchisees.

In the letter, the attorneys cite numerous commitments that Brazilian firm 3G Capital, which owns RBI, made to the federal government when it acquired Tim Hortons in 2014, including maintaining franchisee relationships, the rent and royalty structure for five years and existing employment levels at Tims franchises across Canada.

They say the company has failed to live up to those commitments, and that “appropriate remedies” should be made to franchisees.

“The franchisees are increasingly concerned with RBI’s self-serving attempts to significantly increase its margins at the expense of the franchisees,” the letter stated.

The franchisees specifically say that the company has effectively changed the rent and royalty structure by saddling franchisees with increasing costs and requiring them to renovate stores at their own costs.

RBI announced last month that the coffee-and-doughnut chain and its restaurant owners will invest $700 million to spruce up almost all its Canadian locations over the next four years, but the franchisee group was quick to point out it believed the plan was ill-conceived and would cost individual restaurant owners about $450,000.

In response to word that the federal government is looking into the franchisees’ claims, a spokesman for Tim Hortons said the company hadn’t been notified of any official inquiries.