OLD SCHOOL CRIMINAL CAPITALISM 

Metro sues Loblaw, George Weston for ‘falsely’ implicating it in bread-price fixing scandal

Metro Inc. says Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. misled federal regulators and “falsely implicated” Metro and other grocers in a national bread price-fixing plot.

In court documents, Metro accused Loblaw and Weston of dragging innocent competitors into the scandal so that it didn’t have to face “severe public backlash” alone.

“Instead of having customers walk away from Loblaw as a result of its betrayal of their trust, customers were left with the misleading impression that they had practically no choice but to buy bread from retailers that were involved in the price-fixing conspiracy,” Metro said in a statement of defence and crossclaim as part of an ongoing class action suit in Ontario Superior Court.

In an email, Loblaw spokesperson Catherine Thomas said Metro’s allegations are “simply ridiculous and utterly untrue, as will be made clear in court.”

Metro wants Loblaw and Weston to pay damages in an amount “to be determined at trial.” The Montreal-based grocer also accused Loblaw and Weston of public mischief for making false statements about Metro to the Competition Bureau, a federal law enforcement agency.

In 2017, Loblaw and Weston — which at the time controlled one of the largest commercial bakeries in Canada — announced they were giving the Competition Bureau information on an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

In its latest statement on the price-fixing conspiracy, the bureau this summer said it continues to “investigate alleged price fixing” by other companies, including Metro, Sobeys’ parent Empire Co. Ltd., Wal-Mart Canada Corp., Giant Tiger Stores Ltd. and Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Jake Edmiston, Financial Post