Grocery CEOs called back to Ottawa to share how they’re stabilizing prices
Canada’s biggest grocery store CEOs are going to be called back to Parliament, and this time MPs want them to explain how they are stabilizing food prices.
BC NDP MP Alistair McGregor brought the motion to an in-camera session of the House of Commons agriculture committee on Oct. 19, and minutes unveiling the adopted motion were published on Monday.
“It was an opportunity for us to follow up, to actually find out exactly what transpired between the CEOs and the industry minister,” MacGregor said.
The motion calls on the committee to invite Loblaw Chairman Galen Weston; Metro CEO Eric La Fleche; Empire Company, the parent of the Sobey’s chain, CEO Michael Medline; Wal-Mart Canada CEO Gonzalo Gebara and Costco Canada COO Pierre Riel to appear at committee.
The grocery companies are also asked to supply “a comprehensive report” on their strategies and initiative to stabilize grocery prices by Nov. 2.
These will be examined at an in-camera session of the agriculture committee and then a report will be drafted for Parliament.
Due to these documents concerning commercially sensitive information from competing grocery chains, committee chair and Nova Scotia Liberal MP Kody Blois tells Global News the document review will come first and inform the rest of the committee’s work.
“So step one is to be able to actually obtain the documents to be able to review them, and then how in the manner of which we might call on the CEOs to be able to engage with them about their partnership on how they’re working with the government will really be dictated by that first step,” Blois explained.
MacGregor says that they are working with the committee’s clerk and legal counsel to set up a forum where potential sensitive commercial information
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