Its latest results have done little to rectify the soured relationship between franchisor and franchisee. If anything, they've turned up the rhetoric. "The lacklustre quarterly earnings [Restaurant Brands] announced this morning are just one more indication that RBI needs to adjust the methods they employ in managing the various organizations under their umbrella," Dave Hughes, president of the Great White North Franchisee Association (GWNFA) wrote. "While RBI continues to be profitable, the same cannot be said for Tim Hortons franchisees. RBI's profits are at the expense of the store owners, who have been squeezed at every level of their operations by head office." Spain isn't Canada In a classic public relations move of leading with your strengths, RBI announced at the same time as its earnings that it had signed a joint-venture agreement with an unidentified partner to take Tim Hortons to Spain — one more country in its international expansion plan.