The price of groceries has climbed to an unreasonable number for many Canadians. Yesterday, the five largest grocery chains in the country met with Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne to talk about making food more affordable for Canadians.
Champagne says it was the first time such a meeting has taken place in Canada, and that it included difficult discussions that lasted for two hours.
“But discussions which are much needed at a time where Canadians are hurting and we know the price of food in particular is affecting all Canadians from coast, to coast, to coast,” said Champagne.
Prime Minister Trudeau issued an ultimatum to the grocery chains last week to come up with a solution by Thanksgiving or the government will take action against them, including possible tax measures. Champagne says he told the chains that Canadians are demanding action to address the skyrocketing prices.
“I was very, very clear to them that it’s not only what the Prime Minister expects from them, or the minister, but millions of Canadians expect them to work with us to stabilize pricing,” said Champagne.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne speaks to media following his meeting with the grocery chains. (Image via CPAC).
One of the goals of the discussions according to champagne is to create more competition among the chains. He says the competition bureau has been pointing out how it would benefit Canadians for quite some time now. He believes it’s important to meet with the chains and discuss solutions instead of jumping to imposing sanctions due to the massive market share they control.
At the end of the day there’s still the issue of trying to convince corporations to cut into their profit margins to stabilize prices. As for how the chains would benefit from lowering their prices, Champagne said that’s not what it’s about.
“It’s about Canadian and consumers… if the Canadian CEOs don’t want to listen to me I’ll go to their board and I’ll go to talk to our counterparts around the world… Canadians expect us to fight for them,” said Champagne.
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