Grocery chains such as Metro and Loblaw are the subject of a class action lawsuit accusing them of having illegally fixed the price of meat. Households would have paid “billions” in excess.
Filed with the Superior Court of Quebec, the motion, written by law firms LPC Avocat and Renno Vathilakis, claims that the companies singled out were able to enrich themselves with “several billion dollars” by “intentionally violating the laws on the fixation prices “.
In addition to Metro and Loblaw, Walmart, George Weston and food processor Maple Leaf Foods are singled out.
These allegations – strongly disputed by some of the companies targeted – have not yet been proven in court, which will first have to decide whether to hear the case.
“One of the topics covered was strategies to increase profits in various categories,” writes McCain. Consistent with his position at the last bread price increase, his view (and it is a very strong view) is that this is an acceptable strategy and that they align with it, even in our meat categories. »
This email was sent from the account of Sue Perkins, who acted as Mr. McCain’s personal assistant. It had been sent to six other executives working for the companies targeted by the class action request. The message was part of court documents issued by Canada’s Competition Bureau as part of its investigation into the bakery niche. The Toronto daily The Globe and Mail recently carried it.
According to the plaintiffs, the former Maple Leaf boss “expressly refers” to the bread price manipulation scheme and calls it an “acceptable strategy”. The categories of meat that would have been the subject of collusion are not mentioned in the request and at this stage of the proceedings.
“We believe that all of this is sufficient to clear the appeal concerning a cartel for certain categories of meat,” said Me Joey Zukran, of LPC Avocat, in a telephone interview.
This class action request is in addition to the Bureau’s investigation into the price of bread. The consumer watchdog continues to look into “allegations of price fixing against other companies, including Metro, Sobeys (IGA in Quebec), Walmart, Giant Tiger and Maple Leaf.”
Last month, Canada Bread was fined $50 million in the case, while George Weston and Loblaw were granted immunity from criminal prosecution in exchange for their cooperation with the Bureau.
Agronomist and economist at McGill University, Pascal Thériault did not hide his astonishment after reading Mr. McCain’s message sent in 2007.
“It’s almost unreal as email,” says the expert.
At this stage of the process, it is still too early to have an idea of the compensation claimed by the plaintiffs. They seek compensation for all individuals and entities who purchased “at least one product from the meat categories mentioned” – beef, chicken and pork – in Mr. McCain’s email “produced, supplied or sold by any of the defendants”.
As for bread, Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Laboratory of Analytical Sciences in Agrifood at Dalhousie University, told La Presse last month that the overpayments by households would vary between 4.3 billion and 4.9 billion.
By email, Loblaw and George Weston claimed the plaintiffs’ motion was “without merit.”
“It is also expediency, which will be demonstrated in court, the only place where the debate should take place, underlined the vice-president of communications at Loblaw Catherine Thomas. Loblaw’s and George Weston’s position on this type of behavior is unequivocal. »
The latter recalled that in the bread file, those responsible for the embezzlement had been dismissed as soon as irregularities had been discovered. The company believes it has “clearly demonstrated” that it “does not condone this kind of activity.”
For its part, Metro denied “having participated in a cartel” surrounding the price of meat “or having violated the Competition Act”. The Quebec grocer intends to “defend itself,” he added. As of this writing, Walmart and Maple Leaf have not responded to questions sent by La Presse.
LPC Avocat and Renno Vathilakis are also involved in a class action request concerning bread prices.
