2 bodies believed to be from B.C. wash ashore Sable Island, N.S.
Nova Scotia RCMP say a boat containing the bodies of two people believed to be from British Columbia washed ashore the Sable Island National Park Reserve earlier this week.
Profits in the Canadian grocery sector will likely exceed $6 billion in 2023, setting a new record as they rise eight per cent from last year, according to the Centre for Future Work.
New research by the progressive research institute found that food retailers are now earning more than twice as much profit as they did pre-pandemic.
Jim Stanford, economist and director of the Centre for Future Work, is set to present the report's findings on Monday to a House of Commons agriculture committee meeting on stabilizing food prices.
Citing Statistics Canada data, the report said the net income margin on food and beverage retailing has consistently exceeded three per cent of total revenues since mid-2021, more than double the average margin between 2015 and 2019.
The data shows retailers took advantage of the pandemic and its aftermath to increase their profits, Stanford said in a news release.
"An industry can't double its profits, if it is merely passing on higher expenses," he said.
Eric La Fleche, president and CEO of grocer Metro Inc., is scheduled to present during the first half of the committee meeting.
Last week, executives from Loblaw Cos. Ltd., Walmart Canada and Empire Co. Ltd. appeared before the committee.
The major grocers have been under pressure from the government to enact plans that will help stabilize food prices for Canadians. Earlier this fall, the heads of the five biggest grocery companies were summoned by the government to present their plans.
The grocers have also faced pressure to sign on to a grocery code of conduct that's nearing completion, which proponents say will help level the playing field between suppliers and large retailers.
On Thursday, federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said he and his provincial counterparts, along with federal Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, will be meeting to discuss options for both provincial and federal governments if the major grocers don't sign the code.
Loblaw chairman Galen Weston told MPs last week that the company is concerned certain provisions in the code will raise grocery prices for Canadians as it gives too much negotiating power to large multinational manufacturers.
He said the grocer will sign the code, but not in its current form.
Walmart Canada CEO Gonzalo Gebara told MPs the company is "not in a position at this time to commit" to the code. He said the current version includes provisions that "create bureaucracy and cost, cost that will inevitably end up on shelf prices."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2023.
Nova Scotia RCMP say a boat containing the bodies of two people believed to be from British Columbia washed ashore the Sable Island National Park Reserve earlier this week.
Pierre Poilievre says NATO allies treated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau like a human pinata at the leaders' summit this week — but he still won't commit to the alliance's spending goal.
Three men across Ontario are speaking out after losing hundreds of thousands of dollars to a cryptocurrency investment scam, including one man in Brampton who lost $226,000.
Joe Biden remains defiant that he'll remain in the U.S. presidential race despite a disastrous debate performance that triggered a wave of calls for him to end his candidacy.
With calls for Joe Biden to step down growing louder, many believe the U.S. president's press conference on Thursday was a 'make-or-break' moment.
A truck driver found a 1-year-old alive in a ditch off an interstate highway in Louisiana this week, a day after the boy’s 4-year-old brother was found dead near the same freeway in what investigators think was a case of abandonment around the time tropical storm conditions hit the area, authorities said.
A youth who disappeared during a flash flood in Wolfville, N.S., Thursday night has died.
One person has been hospitalized after falling from a swing ride at Canada's Wonderland.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have added a tiny bit of fuel to the fire surrounding their marriage. Amid speculation that the pair are struggling in their relationship after marrying about two years ago, the couple has listed their 12-bedroom, 24-bathroom California home for sale.
A rare ammonite fossil – about 75 million years old - has been discovered in eastern Saskatchewan.
Seven-year-old goalie Hudson Hardill is an unlikely Calgary Flames fan, being that he lives in Peterborough, Ont., and his dad Chris is a Toronto Maple Leafs fan.
A WestJet employee's chance encounter on a recent flight spiced up her life in a big way.
A Kelowna, B.C., man says he's always liked gnomes because they have a 'bit of mystery' to them. And he recently got a taste of that whimsy when his garden gnomes disappeared, and came back to him in a peculiar fashion.
After more than 50 years, Toronto's iconic 'Leslieville dollhouse' will soon have a new owner.
One man is bringing a blast from the past to a Winnipeg community.
Some say a photograph is simply a memory frozen in time – and a high school graduation photo taken in Churchill, Man. takes that adage to a completely new level.
A rising track and field star overcame a big hurdle in his dream to represent Canada at the Olympics.
Would-be homebuyers who backed out of a deal to purchase a B.C. property in a hot real estate market have been ordered to pay the seller the difference between what they offered and what he was able to sell the home for when the market cooled.