Canadian food industry is intensely competitive and collusion is inherently unstable

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People who bought packaged bread in Canada between 2001 and 2021 can now file for compensation for allegedly being overcharged, as the claims process has begun for the $500 million that Loblaw and parent company George Weston Ltd. agreed to pay to settle class-action lawsuits last year. I bought bread during this period so I have filed a claim, because who turns down free money? When the Ontario government sent everyone those ridiculous $200 cheques ahead of this year’s spring election, I deposited that, too.

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The bread lawsuit money isn’t exactly free, however. The price of accepting it is an uneasy conscience, because Loblaw and George Weston shouldn’t owe anyone a dime. There is simply no good reason price collusion among grocers selling bread should be illegal. Moreover, in contrast to another form of price collusion — the unionization of workers, which is legal — grocers charging higher prices for bread probably isn’t even bad for consumers.

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A question for anyone who thinks collusion to raise the price of bread should be illegal: should it also be illegal for Loblaw to stop selling bread altogether? If Loblaw raising the price of bread is worth a $500-million penalty, should making bread unavailable in all its stores be worthy........

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