Grocery

Canadians need more competition in grocery. In our new brief, CAMP lays out a policy roadmap for federal and provincial governments for a more competitive grocery market.

As food prices continue to rise, one Toronto city councillor is proposing non-profit, city-run grocery stores as a possible solution.

According to Keldon Bester, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project, “there is in our competition institutions, and reflected in parts of government, a ‘first do no harm’ kind of approach.” That attitude is complemented by so-called “regulatory humility,” he adds, which means the state plays the role of an uncertain broker, unwilling to assume the worst of companies. He says this approach misses the “one-way nature of these things,” and so it becomes less likely that we can reverse their concentration and entrenchment.

On Feb. 16, members of the House of Commons Agriculture Committee, including Liberal MP Kody Blois, left, NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, and Bloc Québécois MP Yves Perron, sent an open letter to the CEOs of Walmart and Loblaws calling on those companies to adopt a grocery code of conduct. 

Keldon Bester, executive director of the Canadian Antimonopoly Project, welcomed the announcement of an investigation by the Bureau.

“I’m glad to see the office moving quickly,” he said.

Property controls also make it more attractive for companies to consolidate as a way of expanding, said Bester.

“If the prime real estate is wrapped up in these kinds of agreements, if a company wants to expand, they are encouraged to buy up and reduce competition,” he said.