Galen Weston Jr. warns all of Canada that grocery bills are going to spike

Loblaws chair and former CEO Galen Weston Jr. has yet again issued a stern warning that if and when Canada enacts its proposed Grocery Code of Conduct, we’ll all somehow end up paying more at the checkout, not less.

The code, which comprises a set of mandatory and enforceable standards to hold the major players in our grocery oligopoly more accountable, was pitched by the federal government’s Agriculture and Agri-Food arm earlier this year in response to “pressures facing the food supply chain” — which have led, in part, to higher prices for consumers.

But, while Metro and Empire Food Co. (which owns Sobeys) have agreed to abide by the future code, both Walmart and Loblaws have refused thus far, with multi-billionaire Weston and his executives saying the rules could cause sticker prices to skyrocket by more than $1 billion total.

Billionaire Canadian grocery tycoon Galen Weston Jr. just keeps getting richer https://t.co/1AfdZj989t #GalenWestonJr

— blogTO (@blogTO) November 22, 2022

The tycoon spoke again on the topic Thursday in the House of Commons, saying that inflated food pricing has been unfairly pinned on Loblaw Companies Inc. — parent company of Loblaws, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore and others — and its competitors.

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While he accepted the general concept of the code, Weston said specific clauses will cause costs on Lobaw’s end to go up, which would be passed on to shoppers. This is despite the fact that he himself got a $1.2 million raise in 2022 and the company’s profits have soared by tens of millions each quarter of this year compared to last.

Mysterious signs calling out Loblaw’s excessive profits appear outside Toronto store https://t.co/SlyrAChXnQ #Toronto #Loblaws

— blogTO (@blogTO) July 28, 2023

Meanwhile, the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers that represents those who don’t dominate the industry are of course of the opinion that the code is not only favourable but crucial to giving the sector the fair competition it is known to lack.