Does Canada Need Government Supermarkets?

Grocery prices are back in the news… again. How are they ripping us off this time?

It turns out the whole system looks a lot like three kids in a trench coat, except each kid is a different layer of the supply chain, and they’re all insisting their margins are razor-thin while your grocery bill gets higher and higher.

So are tax rebates or public grocery stores the solution, or just bandages on a much deeper problem?

None of this is new, but you know what is new? Surveillance pricing! This dystopian algorithm could adjust what you pay based on the sensitive personal data on your phone. Polls suggest nobody wants this. So why is regulation still lagging behind?

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Host: James Nicholson

Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Andrea Varsany (Producer), Kallan Lyons (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), Caleb Thompson (Mixing and Mastering), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)

Guest: Keldon Bester

Further reading:

• Canada Needs More Grocery Competition
• NDP Leader Avi Lewis pushes for publicly funded grocery stores
• Response from the Retail Council of Canada to the consultation on the Market study of retail grocery
• NDP motion urging ban on algorithmic pricing defeated in House of Commons
• One-time GST top-up to land in Canadians' accounts in June, Grocery Benefit in July
• Highest food price growth in 40 years pushes Canadians further behind
• Consultation on Algorithmic Pricing and Competition: What We Heard
• Gravy Plane Song - Alex Huot [X/Twitter]
• Stefan Watkins Thread [X/Twitter]
• Naming Names: Attorney General Bonta Secures Public Access to Evidence in Amazon Price Fixing Case

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