On a grocery code of conduct, does it a) support; b) endorse; c) oppose; or d) reject a code?
My previous column, Better start hoarding Pepsi and Frito-Lays, stated that a Competition Bureau market study on grocery competition last year had “called for a major increase in government intervention, including: a national grocery code of conduct, controls on how grocery chains sign property deals, allow suppliers to form buying groups, mandate unit pricing and promote the entry of foreign discount stores.”
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On day of publication, I received an email from Marcus Callaghan (il / le | he / him), Manager of Strategic Communications — Competition Promotion, Public Affairs and Outreach Directorate, Competition Bureau, Government of Canada.
“I am writing,” said Callaghan, “to request a correction of misinformation” in the Pepsi column. The fact is, he said, that “the Competition Bureau’s retail grocery market study report did not call for a national grocery code of conduct, nor did it call for the formation of buying groups.”
First, I would like to apologize for any factual mistakes or erroneous conclusions contained in the column, which was not really about the Competition Bureau or its numerous interventionist proposals to deal with high food prices and alleged lack of competition in the grocery industry— interventions that also include urging provincial........