A class-action lawsuit alleges that the chief executives of Loblaws and Maple Leaf Foods conspired to fix the price of bread.
But Loblaws spokesperson Catherine Thomas said Galen Weston “had no part in any of this.”
Michael McCain was president and chief executive officer of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. at the time and previously denied involvement in bread price-fixing.
Loblaws and parent company George Weston were granted immunity from prosecution by the Competition Bureau when it revealed price-fixing information between 2001 and 2015.
The lawsuit alleges the two presidents met personally to discuss bread prices.
The lawsuit cites e-mails between them to arrange a meeting in 2007. The documents are contained in the lawsuit filed in Ontario
Superior Court of Justice, reported the Globe and Mail.
In a statement of defence filed this month as part of the lawsuit, Loblaw and its parent company denied Weston was involved in any arrangements regarding commercial packaged bread. McCain has previously denied engaging in any unlawful behaviour, the newspaper said.
“This is another example of class action lawyers making patently false claims,” Loblaw spokesperson Catherine Thomas wrote in a statement on Wednesday. “Weston had no part in any of this.”
Last June, Canada Bread pleaded guilty to a criminal scheme to fix bread prices and agreed to pay a $50-million fine. Mexico-based parent company Grupo Bimbo acknowledged that Canada Bread, which it acquired in 2014, had made “arrangements” with one or more unnamed senior executives at competitor Weston Foods, leading to two wholesale price increases in 2007 and 2011.
Maple Leaf Foods, which owned a majority stake in Canada Bread at the time, has repeatedly denied claims of unlawful behaviour at Canada Bread while it was a shareholder.
