We live in a world of public outrage. Whether we are talking about sexual misconduct, the US gun culture, injustices against Canada's Indigenous Peoples or even efforts by Tim Hortons to penalize their lowest-paid employees, people are saying: Enough is enough – this kind of behaviour must stop!
In the words of Howard Beale, the crusading TV anchor in the 1976 movie Network: “I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!”
Why does this growing outrage seem to stop when it comes to news that one of Canada's biggest grocery chains engaged in criminal price-fixing for over 14 years? In late December 2017, while Canadians were engaged in last-minute Christmas preparations, the grocery giant Loblaw and its parent company George Weston Ltd. publicly admitted that it had been keeping the price of bread artificially high for years as part of an industry wide scheme.
This is a serious crime that could result in a $25 million fine and up to 14 years in prison.
Sounds like a good start to me. Unfortunately, because Loblaw and George Weston came forward voluntarily and are co-operating with the federal Competition Bureau they won't face any criminal charges or penalties.
They did, however, say they were sorry and would never do it again. They also offered $25 gift cards to customers, only redeemable, of course, at their stores.
They ripped us off, people!
They jacked up the price of our most basic commodity. They overcharged for the staple of many of our diets. This $40-billion-combined company intentionally hurt poor people living on fixed incomes, and added to the grocery bill of struggling middle-class Canadians trying to make ends meet.
Nobody is going to jail? Nobody is going to face stiff fines?
Where are the protests? Where are the boycotts? Most importantly, where are the demands for action by our federal politicians?
Oh sure, a few grumpy pundits wrote columns critical of the system and there are thankfully several class action lawsuits which will keep Loblaw's high-priced lawyers busy. The overall industry investigation also continues and there is the possibility that other grocery companies may get nailed.
But the story has basically drifted away. Many Canadians seem excited to start receiving their gift cards. Some plan to donate them to charity. Experts have cited the whole matter as a great example of crisis management on the part of Loblaw.
As to official excuses, Canada's Commissioner of Competition, John Pecman, has offered some explanations. In an op-ed in the Globe and Mail he noted that price-fixing is very difficult to prove and that it takes time to investigate properly. He defended the immunity program as a way of encouraging wrongdoers to come forward, and as a deterrent against the establishment of cartels in the first place.
Could you imagine #MeToo activists or those calling for significant changes to our justice system to protect Indigenous Canadians accepting an explanation like that? As a former politician, I am the first to acknowledge that there are rarely simple answers to complex public policy questions, but it is difficult to believe that a system that failed to detect price-fixing for over a decade, and was only able to stop it though an immunity program, does not require a rethink.
As Bruce Cran, president of the Consumer Association of Canada and one of the few outspoken critics of the situation, put it: “Consumers want assurances that this sort of thing cannot be tolerated in the future. If those people aren't held accountable, why won't someone do it tomorrow afternoon?”
Do we need an overhaul of Canada's competition laws? Does the Competition Bureau need more resources or powers? Should we improve the immunity system?
Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch has suggested replacing the current immunity system with an employee whistleblower program. Instead of allowing those who might go to jail or receive hefty fines avoid prosecution, offer substantial rewards to employees who come forward with evidence of wrongdoing. As Conacher explains it: “If there was a $5 million reward, it probably wouldn't have happened because everyone would have been too scared it would blow up in their faces.”
And what about the concentration of Canada's grocery industry? Should we be worried as grocery giants continue to gobble each other up and the source of our groceries becomes concentrated in fewer and fewer hands? Do we need better oversight of Canada's retail food system?
I am not certain of the answers. I do know that allowing billion-dollar corporations to fix prices of our most basic foodstuff is wrong, and as Canadians we have been far too silent. In the words of Howard Beale: "Things have got to change. But first you've got to get mad.”
John Milloy is a former MPP and Ontario Liberal cabinet minister currently serving as the Director of the Centre for Public Ethics and assistant professor of public ethics at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, and the inaugural practitioner in residence in Wilfrid Laurier University's Political Science department. He is also a lecturer in the University of Waterloo's Master of Public Service Program. John can be reached at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @John_Milloy.