Grocery stores continue to see increasing profits, federal NDP call for action

PRINCE GEORGE – George Weston Limited, the parent company of grocery chain Loblaw, reached a third-quarter revenue of more than $18 billion. This marks an 11.7% increase from 2022’s third quarter, which has the federal NDP calling for action.

“We in the NDP have put forward a private member’s bill that works to amend the Competition Act, to give it more teeth so that we don’t see the kind of mergers and takeovers that results in these huge grocery chains that are able to essentially set prices that make it difficult for people to afford food,” said MP of Skeena – Bulkley Valley Taylor Bachrach.

Pointing to the Rogers – Shaw merger as an example of mergers that harm the average consumer, Bachrach says preventing big mergers among grocery chains is just one way the NDP hope to curb rising grocery prices. Other steps included:

• Harsher built in fines for anti-competitive behavior, such as price fixing.
• “If we had an excess profits tax in place for four big grocery chains, the revenue from that tax could then be driven back into initiatives that help ordinary Canadians afford the basics of life.”