For anti-poverty activist Irene Breckon, it doesn’t make sense: the federal government will pocket the entire $50-million fine Canada Bread must pay for price-fixing.
“I’m glad they’re being penalized, but I really don’t want the government to have that money,” said Breckon, of Elliot Lake, Ont.
“That $50 million should be distributed to the people. Food prices are still high,” she said, referring to the fact that over the past year, grocery prices have increased nine per cent. Bakery products have jumped 15 per cent.
Retailers factor in the wholesale price when determining how much to charge customers.
Anti-poverty activist Irene Breckon of Elliot Lake says the $50 million penalty to be paid by Canada Bread should be returned to consumers. (CBC)
The Competition Bureau said the guilty plea is a significant development in its more than seven-year investigation into an alleged industry-wide bread price-fixing scheme.
“[It’s a] very serious crime,” said Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell in an interview on Friday. “Bread, as we all know, is a staple of the Canadian diet.”
Nevertheless, the $50-million fine will go into the federal government’s general revenue pool. Although that money will be used for government services, many Canadians want to know why it’s not going directly to them — the folks who bought the overpriced bread.
“When a company does something wrong, they should give back to the people who they wronged,” said shopper Chris Mrkonjic, outside a Toronto grocery store.
But competition law expert Jennifer Quaid said the main purpose of criminal prosecutions is to punish bad actors, not dole out compensation.
“It’s the exception rather than the rule,” she said, adding that it would be difficult to identify the victims in a years-old bread price-fixing scheme.
“People don’t keep their receipts,” said Quaid, a law professor at the University of Ottawa. “I really don’t think that it would be practical in this case at all to imagine that we would use the criminal law system for this.”
Donate the money to charity?
CBC News heard from several people, including Alex Vanderzand, of Pickering, Ont., who suggested the $50 million could easily be donated to food banks. Some of them are struggling to keep up with rising demand fuelled by high food inflation.
“This money could help them stock their shelves and get it back out to people who really need it,” said Vanderzand.
Canada Bread must pay a $50 million fine for being part of a scheme to fix the price of bread in Canada over 14 years. It’s the highest fine the Competition Bureau has ever levied. Andrew Chang explains how the scheme worked, and why this may only be the beginning.
CBC News found several Competition Bureau deceptive marketing investigations where companies had to make donations to designated charities as part of their settlements.
In the latest case last year, coffee machine maker Keurig Canada agreed to pay a $3-million penalty and donate $800,000 to an environmental charity for making false or misleading claims that its single-use coffee pods can be recycled.
But the Competition Bureau said the donation requirements were part of civil cases where the agency was able to negotiate a settlement. Because price-fixing is a criminal offence, federal prosecutors negotiated Canada Bread’s settlement. The Public Prosecution Service of Canada declined to comment on the agreement.
The Competition Bureau said that Canadians searching for compensation can pursue civil litigation. Currently, two class-action lawsuits, one in Ontario and one in Quebec are seeking cash for bread shoppers from Canada Bread and other companies allegedly involved in the price-fixing scandal.
Those cases could be tied up in the courts for years.
Why $50 million?
Along with protesting who gets the cash, some Canadians have questioned why Canada Bread’s fine wasn’t higher.
In a statement of agreed facts in the case, the company’s annual sales for fresh bakery products totalled $945.9 million in 2007, and $1.087 billion in 2011. Those are the same years the price-fixing occurred.
“A $50-million fine is nothing to them,” said Michelle Engert of Vancouver, who complained about the amount on Facebook shortly after the news broke.
“How can they get a little slap on the wrist?” she said in an interview. “Because this is a serious criminal offence.”
Canada Bread’s fine is actually the highest price-fixing penalty in Canadian legal history. In fact, Canada Bread received the maximum fine possible for four counts of price-fixing (totalling $70 million), but got a 30 per cent “leniency reduction” for the company’s co-operation.
“I think it’s appropriate to have a lot more flexibility in the amount,” said Quaid, the competition law expert. “It makes sense in the context of competition law where the amount of money involved can be very big.”
Competition law expert Jennifer Quaid said the main purpose of criminal prosecutions is to punish bad actors, not dole out compensation. (Jean-François Benoit/CBC)
The Competition Bureau is still investigating grocers Sobeys, Walmart and Giant Tiger, as well as wholesaler Maple Leaf Foods for allegedly taking part in the bread price-fixing scheme which ran from 2001 to 2015.
Maple Leaf Foods was the majority owner of Canada Bread until it was sold to Mexican multinational Grupo Bimbo in 2014. Grupo Bimbo says it didn’t learn about Canada Bread’s involvement in the conspiracy until 2017.
Quaid said if any other companies are found guilty of participating in the price-fixing scheme, any fines they face will still be capped, because the violations would have occurred before the limit was lifted.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
