NDP calls for probe into grocery store profits amid high food inflation
Global News
The federal NDP is calling for a probe into rising grocery store profits, alleging that corporate greed could be driving food inflation.
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling for a parliamentary committee to investigate soaring profits posted at grocery stores, insinuating that corporate greed or worse is inflating the already rising costs of food.
Singh said Tuesday that a probe is needed to uncover the root cause of corporate profits and CEO bonuses in the food and grocery sector.
He pointed to soaring food prices as other sources of inflation cooled as a sign of artificially high grocery bills.
Statistics Canada reported earlier this month that while the annual rate of inflation cooled to seven per cent nationally in August, the cost of food skyrocketed 10.8 per cent — a new 41-year high.
“We know that this is an area where families are really feeling the squeeze and it’s the one area where the prices have not started to come down,” Singh said Tuesday.
Food prices have been on the rise for much of 2022, with many economists pointing to the war in Ukraine stymying supply chains on wheat and other staples as a chief cause of inflation.
But Singh argued that if high prices were solely caused by international factors, grocery stores would not be simultaneously posting robust quarterly profits.
Metro said last month that its $275-million profit in Q3 was roughly nine per cent higher than last year; Loblaw, meanwhile, reported a Q2 profit of $387 million in July, up 3.2 per cent annually; and in June Empire Co. Ltd., parent of Sobeys, reported a Q4 profit of $178.5 million, up 3.8 per cent year over year.