Food industry groups accuse Galen Weston of inaccurate claim over grocery code

Loblaw chairman Galen Weston made an inaccurate statement about Australian grocery rules to a House of Commons committee, according to groups representing independent grocers, food suppliers and farmers.

The letter sent Tuesday to MP Kody Blois, who chairs the agriculture committee studying food prices, asked the committee to disregard this part of Weston's testimony when they draft their final report.

Speaking before the committee on Dec. 7, Weston told MPs that Canada's nearly complete grocery code of conduct would put too much power in the hands of large suppliers when it comes to price negotiations with retailers, which could raise prices for Canadians.

Using Australia's grocery code as an example, Weston said it has a third-party mechanism that has "supported increases in costs in essentially 100 per cent of cases," and that if this "had happened in Canada, since the beginning of last year, it would have resulted in $750 million in additional inflation pressure for consumers."