The Competition Bureau has been made aware of a treasure trove of e-mails between the two companies, including ones involving how they will deal with the move by Shoppers Drug Markets chain to begin selling eggs.
The e-mail indicates that Gray anticipates there might be trouble with Loblaws over which company gets the Shoppers account, that there could be “major problems for supply in Eastern Canada. We have been talking about this for the last four weeks at least.”
Another e-mail from Bill Gray, owner of L.H. Gray and Son Ltd., to Aaron Kwinter says “Joe H (Hudson of Burnbrae?) called last night requesting support for the following” and the list begins with a price hike of half a cent a dozen.
Kwinter runs Global Egg and Egg Solutions in Etobicoke; Gray is one of the owners of those businesses.
In response to an Access to Information request, Industry Canada says “we regret to inform you that we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any records” about an investigation into improprieties by the two egg-grading companies.
Even if the records do exist, Kimberly Eadie, the director of information and privacy rights administration for Industry Canada writes “they would be exempt from disclosure.”
It is Competition Bureau policy to keep its investigations secret unless and until charges are laid.
The treasure trove of information about how the two companies share information is sealed in court in London, Ont., and is under protection of a court-appointed lawyer in Oshawa. There are, however, a number of e-mails from and to Gray that are open to public scrutiny in the court files of Superior Court for Durham Region is Oshawa.
Gray’s lawyer, Allison Webster, succeeded in getting a court order to seal similar information in the Superior Court at London.
