The president of
Sobeys supermarket chain has written to Galen Weston, head of Loblaws and
Weston Bread, demanding an apology for saying there was a 14-year industry-wide
price-fixing scheme for bread.
Michael
Medline, chief executive officer of Sobeys, accused
Weston of taking "the opportunity to throw so many other retailers under
the bus with you. … To state that there was an 'industry-wide price-fixing
arrangement' was unfair, unsubstantiated, and quite possibly defamatory.
"You
presented it as a statement of fact, when you knew or should have known that
your accusation could mislead the Canadian public; you more than implied that
the 'court filings' contain more substance than they actually do."
The Globe and
Mail says Medline's broadside against Weston underscores the fissures emerging
in the grocery sector even as the price-fixing inquiry raises questions among
consumers about food retailers' pricing and reputation.
Loblaw
spokesman Kevin Groh said on Thursday: "We stand by our statements."
In its
Tuesday statement, Loblaw didn't name any rivals.
Executives at
Metro Inc. – the country's third-ranking grocer, which is also alleged to have
participated in the price-fixing – echoed Mr. Medline's sense of outrage at
Loblaw for implicating rivals in the scheme.
The fourth
retailer that has been asked to open its books to the Bureau of Competition
Policy is Giant Tiger.
The Bureau is
also looking into the books of Canada Bread Inc.
The Bureau ought to also look into the egg industry where there is a court decision in a dispute between two egg grading businesses that describes a price-fixing arrangement.
There are also e-mails that are sealed in another ongoing court action that describe price-fixing.
