Canadians frustrated by their food bills will “soon” start to see the big grocers taking action to address prices, including price freezes and price-matching campaigns, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne announced Thursday.
Providing an update on what he is calling the “initial commitments” from Loblaw, Metro, Empire, Walmart and Costco, Champagne said all five have agreed to begin rolling out various actions at each of their stores that will result in lower grocery prices for Canadians “in the coming days and weeks.”
For example, the government is promising that grocers will implement “aggressive discounts across a basket of key food products that represent the most important purchases for most households,” a step the minister said is just the beginning “of a number of actions” being taken.
The minister said these examples are just some of the measures pitched to him by the big grocers, suggesting that the government’s pressure on them to get prices under control, has spurred a more competitive dynamic between the big five.
“The winners of that are obviously Canadians,” the minister said, pointing to recent grocery flyers as evidence of pre-Thanksgiving sales. “It will be up to Canadians to judge them, to benefit from the best offers.”
In addition, Champagne said the federal government is establishing a “grocery task force” within the Office of Consumer Affairs that will be focused on monthly monitoring of grocers’ commitments and actions taken by others in the food industry.
This task force will be empowered to “investigate and uncover practices that hurt consumers, such as ‘shrinkflation’ and ‘dequaliflation’.”
Champagne said plans are still in the works to establish a grocery “code of conduct” to support fairness and transparency in the sector, and to create a new food price “data hub” to allow better access to information about the price of food in Canada.
These steps come after Champagne held a series of meetings over the last few weeks, starting with the CEOs and senior leaders(opens in a new tab) from Canada’s five major grocery chains, with the goal of working towards presenting a plan to stabilize food prices by Thanksgiving.
Champagne also met with international manufacturing companies and domestic manufacturers, after the Retail Council of Canada called for Ottawa to work with more players along the supply chain to tackle the issue.
In a statement on Thursday, Retail Council of Canada spokesperson Michelle Wasylyshen said “keeping food prices as low as possible” has been Canadian grocers’ top priority since inflation surged at the end of the pandemic, pointing to how domestic prices have fared in comparison to other countries.
“The grocers are unique entities, with different business models and distinct approaches. They also abide by competition law principles requiring them to not discuss prices as a collective. This is why each grocer has made its own individual submission to government and will deploy its own approach to the challenge,” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had given an ultimatum to grocers(opens in a new tab), saying if they didn’t come to the table, they would face consequences such as tax measures for “making record profits” on the backs of Canadians struggling to feed their families.
Asked whether steps like price freezing—a measure certain grocers had already pursued—are really enough to satisfy the government’s demands, Champagne said the Liberals will take additional action if these measures don’t result in adequate food price stabilization.
“Everything is still on the table,” the minister said.
POILIEVRE’S ‘PRICE SHOPPING’
The cost of food and the inflation driving it has been a dominating issue on Parliament Hill since the fall sitting began, but as Canadians began preparing their grocery lists and stocking up for this weekend’s meals, the political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has ramped up in the House.
On the heels of Champagne’s announcement, Thursday’s question period was no different, seeing jabs back and forth over the going rate for a Butterball turkey ahead of this weekend’s festivities.
“Canadians didn’t want champagne for Thanksgiving, they just want some food. I did a little bit of price shopping on that for him. In the last days of the Conservative government, the price per pound of turkey was $1.49 and the flyers today show it’s $2.49,” said Poilievre in one exchange with the minister.
“And I might add that the picture of the turkey during the Conservative years was a big plump beautiful bird, whereas right now it’s a skimpy, shrimpy little thing that looks like it’s been taxed to death.”
Shooting back, Champagne decried the unserious approach his opponent was taking, saying that while he may be having fun, “Canadians have no fun these days,” which was met with jeers from the other side.
Then, it was Singh’s turn: “21 months since food prices have outpaced general inflation, and the prime minister wasn’t willing to do anything until he started falling behind in the polls. That’s two years that Canadians have been struggling because this government is unwilling to take on the real problem, which is corporate greed.”
While the pace of inflation has slowed compared to the heights seen in 2022, the latest Consumer Price Index report from Statistics Canada shows that the cost of most food items did increase year-over-year in August.
The federal Liberals are also pushing ahead with changes to Canada’s Competition Act aimed at beefing up protections for Canadians in connection to current grocery sector competition through Bill C-56, “The Affordable Housing and Groceries Act.” (opens in a new tab)
The government is pursuing amendments that if passed would give more power to the Competition Bureau to investigate and take enforcement action on unfair behaviour in the sector, such as price fixing or price gouging, while making it harder for large grocers to prevent smaller competitors from setting up shop nearby.
With Bill C-56 up for its fifth day of debate at second reading on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland called on Poilievre to “end the procedural delays” saying there is “really no excuse for delaying this legislation.”
OTTAWA – Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told a federal inquiry today that parliamentarians who were targeted by Chinese hackers could have taken immediate protective steps if they had been informed sooner.
It emerged earlier this year that in 2021 some MPs and senators faced cyberattacks from the hackers because of their involvement with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which pushes for accountability from Beijing.
In 2022, U.S. authorities apparently informed the Canadian government of the attacks, and it in turn advised parliamentary IT officials — but not individual MPs.
Genuis, a Canadian co-chair of the inter-parliamentary alliance, told a federal commission of inquiry on foreign interference today that it remains mysterious to him why he wasn’t informed about the attacks sooner.
Liberal MP John McKay, also a Canadian co-chair of the alliance, said there should be a clear protocol for advising parliamentarians of cyberthreats.
Several weeks of public inquiry hearings will focus on the capacity of federal agencies to detect, deter and counter foreign meddling.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
TORONTO – After being drafted in the third round (61st overall) of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, forward Charlie Sharp decided to put his dream of playing professional football on hold.
He spent a couple of weeks training with Toronto FC that summer and then returned for a fifth year at Western Michigan University.
“It was a really tough decision for me,” Sharp recalled. “Because I knew that going back to school, nothing was guaranteed. I could get injured or not perform well, but it seemed to really work out for me.”
Sharp scored 19 goals and added eight assists as a senior, leading the Broncos to a 17-2-3 record and a third-round appearance in the NCAA tournament where they eventually lost to national runner-up Notre Dame on penalty kicks. Sharp, who scored or assisted in nine of his last 10 matches, ranked first in the NCAA with 0.95 goals per game and 2.30 points per game and was tied for second with seven game-winning goals.
The 23-year-old Sharp, whose rights were retained by Toronto, spent time with the TFC first team in this year’s pre-season and signed with Toronto FC II in February. On Tuesday, he joined TFC 2 teammate Nate Edwards, a wingback from Brampton, Ont., in signing a first-team contract.
“We are happy to officially elevate Charlie at this time,” Toronto GM Jason Hernandez said in a statement Tuesday. “His strong mentality and mature playing style will be a welcomed addition to our young player group in the first team.”
Both players signed contracts that run through 2025 with club options for 2026 and 2027.
The deals were completed in advance of Friday’s MLS roster freeze but took their time working their way through the league office.
“A bit of unorthodox path that I chose,” said Sharp. “But I think you’re seeing it more now with players that get drafted.”
“I’m super-happy,” he added. “I think I made the right decision.”
As a senior, Sharp was one of three finalists for the 2023 MAC Hermann Trophy, which honours the top NCAA soccer player. The award eventually went to Clemson senior forward Ousmane Sylla.
The six-foot-five 185-pounder from Brighton, Mich., finished his collegiate career with 42 goals 22 assists, and 106 points in 89 games. He ranks first in career goals and games and tied for fourth in assists for Western Michigan.
In returning to Kalamazoo for a fifth year, Sharp also succeeded off the pitch by completing his degree in computer information systems.
Despite some niggling injuries, Sharp has five goals and two assists in 16 appearances with TFC 2 this season. He made his first-team debut off the bench May 15 against Nashville.
“I had a lot of friends and family watching,” he said.
“It’s been a journey,” Sharp added. “I’ve been thankful for every step of the way.,”
The 21-year-old Edwards has one goal and two assists in 23 games with TFC’s MLS Next Pro team.
“He has been a top performer with TFC II this season and we look forward to his continued growth within our environment,” said Hernandez
Edwards, who also joined TFC 2 in February, made his first-team debut May 21 in Canadian Championship play against Ligue1 Quebec champion CS Saint-Laurent.
The five-foot-eight 167-pounder split his college career between Syracuse University and Purdue University Fort Wayne. As a senior in 2023, he had one goal and four assists for Syracuse and was named to the 2023 All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Academic Team and College Sport Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team.
At Purdue University Fort Wayne, he had two goals and an assist in 40 appearances across three seasons (2020-2022) with the Mastodons.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
CALGARY – A Calgary man who pleaded guilty to sharing Islamic State recruitment videos and propaganda on TikTok will spend the next six years behind bars.
Zakarya Rida Hussein was sentenced during a court appearance on Friday after he pleaded guilty to one of four terrorism-related charges.
Hussein admitted that he owned social media accounts that posted ISIS recruitment videos and propaganda.
He also admitted to sharing a bomb-making video online.
The man was arrested in June 2023 after a joint investigation led by the RCMP and the Calgary Police Service.
Hussein will need to submit DNA results and will be under lifetime ban from owning firearms after he’s released.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
