Canada’s Competition Bureau has launched investigations into the parent companies of grocery chains Loblaws and Sobeys for alleged anti-competitive conduct, court documents reveal, with Sobeys’ owner calling the inquiry “unlawful.”

The Federal Court documents show the commissioner of competition launched the probes on March 1, saying there’s reason to believe the firms’ use of so-called property controls limits retail grocery competition.

The commissioner claims the controls that the grocery giants have baked into lease agreements are designed to restrict other potential tenants and their activities and are hampering competition in the grocery market.

The Competition Bureau revealed its investigation into the use of property controls in the grocery sector in February.

      • meseek #2982
        1·
        28 days ago

        I think tax payer dollars are used in this sense:

        Ultra rich guy takes all your tax dollars. Spends it on a steak and lobster dinner. Eats their fill and then tosses you the shell and some of the gristle. Then they boast about how tax dollars are helping feed people. While technically true, the lions share doesn’t (rightfully) go to the tax payer but the one that collects it.

        That’s how I see taxes working and that’s what every investigation has basically concluded. I don’t know where you live, but in Canada, no government ever has released details on how much it takes in and how much it spends. It operates in a void; a dark pool. Where money goes in and out and no one but them know where those funds are sent. It has basic budgeting details ($50m went to education) but those are general numbers.

        Sorry if I don’t have a lot of trust that $5m of that went into some guy’s office because he hated the decor it was so 2013 rather than actual school programs. Moreover, it’s pretty common for crown corporations to get massive raises if they pull in a net positive (something they shouldn’t be doing as they need to operate at a zero profit).