Loblaw boycott sends a message to everyone

Corporate greed does not deserve to be tolerated, writes Harrison Fleming.

Grocery prices have been rising across Canada, while at the same time, grocery chains, like Loblaw, have been paying out record dividends to their shareholders — profiting off of the pain of the Canadian middle class at the height of a national affordability crisis.

And so Canada's largest grocer, Loblaw, has been put in the crosshairs of those who are struggling most to put food on their tables. In fact, there are thousands of Canadians now calling for a boycott of all Loblaw brands (from Superstore to No Frills) across Canada throughout May.

Voices on the subreddit r/ loblawsisoutofcontrol highlight a number of reasons why they are choosing to go after this national grocery near-monopoly, and if I am being honest, I don't agree with all of them. In fact, I would suggest I disagree with an overwhelming majority of them when it comes to political ideology, with many speaking in common progressive tropes, and many questioning the benefits of capitalism (yikes!).

But the ideas behind the boycott are not what is at question here; it's the suffocating inflation affecting Canadians from coast to coast (to coast — though our friends in the north have been dealing with an affordability crisis that is much deeper for much longer.)

When grocery CEOs were hauled before a parliamentary committee, we heard mealy-mouthed reasons about supply chain costs as the reason behind a lion's share of the always-rising prices, and how it's actually not that profitable to run a grocery chain. Why the billionaire Weston family thought they could get away with that claim is beyond me, coupled with all of their CEOs and C-suite execs and their comfortably padded multimillion-dollar salaries.

The Liberals seem utterly dumbfounded as to why life is no longer affordable in Canada — and the Conservatives have pinned the blame solely on the dastardly carbon tax. So should polling hold, and Pierre Poilievre triumphs on election day with a 20-point margin, the carbon tax will be gone — and with it, he hopes, the grocery store woes of the middle class.

But, one needs to simply rewind the clock a few years to when Alberta's 18th premier, Jason Kenney, scrapped Alberta's carbon tax ( before its federally mandated reintroduction by the Trudeau

Liberals). Gas stations needed to be seriously cajoled to pass that discount on to consumers. A similar pattern was necessary following the scrapping of Alberta's gas tax (now reintroduced by Danielle Smith.)

Suffice to say, grocery chains will be similarly reluctant to lower their prices — after all, Canadians are getting tragically used to $40 chicken breasts and $10 cabbages. Will the free market CPC really be willing to use the heavy hand of government to pass on those savings to shoppers?

We'll see, I suppose. But the well-funded lobbying class has already been deployed to whisper into the ears of policymakers that it's just so hard to sell groceries.

But why should people boycott Loblaw this month? Well, what finally got me into the fold was the tone-deaf $22-million CEO Per Bank offering this response to planned boycotts: “We don't have a contract with our customers. They can choose to shop elsewhere tomorrow if they don't like the offer that we're giving.”

Thanks, Per. I will.

That atrocious mentality was the last straw for me. People aren't at their wits' end because of naivete or misinformation, they are there because they can't afford to live in Canada any more. And while Loblaw is increasing its dividends to investors, it is suffocating the middle class — the very people who keep our nation going.

I realize other stores might not be an option for some people, so I don't believe there is any moral failing if folks still need to rely on No Frills or Superstore this month, but if you can, join me in sending a message.

Send a message that when everyday Canadians can't afford food on the table, maybe $22 million is too much to pay a CEO.

Send a message that hiking dividends to the wealthiest Canadians in the investor class while families are going hungry is a morally bankrupt choice.

Send a message that we will not tolerate the corporate greed that made a few people billions while pricing families out of necessities.

Send this message in May and maybe the C-suite will actually listen when it's their pocketbook that's being pinched.

Because folks, if this works, it won't just be grocery chains put on notice. It will be the rest of those companies — like Rogers, Telus and Bell, the big banks and more — punishing their captive Canadian markets with insane prices, who will be forced to listen too.