Canada's industry minister 'disappointed' in grocers' cost stabilization measures

Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says he's "disappointed" in the lack of transparency Canadian grocery store giants have offered so far when it comes to tackling food inflation.

As a result, he's sending a letter to Canada's Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell, to express his dissatisfaction with their lacking cooperation, but so far is stopping short of independently pursuing further remedies such as the once-threatened tax measures.

Citing "record profits" in the grocery retail sector, Champagne says he's confident the Competition Bureau will be empowered to "further address the concerns of Canadian consumers."

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This comes after Champagne called grocery executives to Ottawa last fall to discuss the federal Liberal government's demand that grocers come up with a plan to "stabilize" prices.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's thanksgiving ultimatum of coming up with a credible plan to address the escalating price of groceries in Canada, came and went with little more than an October pledge that Canadians would "soon" see grocers take measures to address prices, such as price matching.

Since then, grocery prices have remained high, and Canadians continue to feel the pinch at checkouts across the country. Just last week, Loblaw reversed course amid public outrage over a plan to reduce its discounts on items nearing their best-before date. 

Champagne previously defended the government's approach, stating the process for stabilizing food prices is "not like a switch you can flip," but rather one that will likely take months.

But now, Champagne says further action is needed.

He's hoping that the commissioner can "take full advantage" of recently-passed powers Parliament granted him through Bill C-56, the so-called "Affordable Housing and Groceries Act" that empowers the Competition Bureau to investigate and take enforcement action on unfair behaviour in the sector. It also compels companies to provide market study information.

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While not announcing any government measures, beyond registering his discontent with the Canadian enforcement agency focused on protecting consumers and fostering competition the minister vowed to keep holding "grocers' feet to the fire."

Champagne pointed to the latest round of Competition Act reforms moving through Parliament. If passed, they would further beef up the Competition Bureau's powers to review more anti-competitive activities and seek more substantive remedies.

"As I've said many times before at this podium, the best way to stabilize grocery prices in this country is to have more competition. More competition will mean more options, which leads to a downward pressure on price. It's fairly straightforward and I think every Canadian can understand that," Champagne said.