This article supplied by Troy Media.

By Sylvain Charlebois

Canada’s bread price-fixing scandal is one of the most damaging breaches of corporate trust in the history of Canadian food retail. The recent approval
of a $500-million class-action settlement by an Ontario court is a significant—though partial—step toward accountability. But the story isn’t over.

For over a decade, grocery giants secretly rigged the price of the country’s most basic food item, and most Canadians had no idea.

From 2001 to 2015, retailers and suppliers deliberately coordinated to raise the price of packaged bread, a basic household staple. This kind of illegal arrangement, known as price-fixing, occurs when supposed competitors agree to set prices rather than compete, driving up costs for consumers. Companies named in the lawsuit include Loblaw, its parent company George Weston Ltd., Metro, Sobeys, Walmart and Giant Tiger.

The impact on consumers was steep. Estimates suggest Canadians were overcharged by more than $5 billion over 14 years. The added cost was hidden in weekly grocery bills, largely unnoticed, but cumulatively devastating, especially for lower-income households that spend a greater share of their income on food.

The Competition Bureau, Canada’s competition watchdog, launched its investigation in 2015 after Loblaw came forward as a whistleblower under its Immunity and Leniency Program. In exchange for cooperating, Loblaw and George Weston were granted immunity from criminal prosecution. Their disclosure triggered years of scrutiny. In 2017, the companies attempted to contain the public backlash by offering $25 gift cards to 3.8 million Canadians, a gesture that cost $96 million and was widely seen as inadequate.

More recently, in 2023, Canada Bread pleaded guilty and paid a record $50-million fine for its role in the scheme. Although the violations occurred while it was owned by Maple Leaf Foods, it was Grupo Bimbo—which acquired Canada Bread in 2014—that took responsibility and cooperated with regulators. It was a rare show of accountability in a case otherwise marked by corporate silence.

Despite multiple companies being implicated, only Loblaw, George Weston and Canada Bread have admitted wrongdoing. No fines or sanctions have been imposed on the others. Walmart, Metro, Sobeys and Giant Tiger—all named by Loblaw—deny the allegations. Yet the investigation drags on nearly a decade later.

This imbalance in accountability has deepened public frustration. Many Canadians believe only those who stepped forward have faced consequences,
while others remain untouched. Or perhaps Loblaw threw its competitors under the bus in a calculated effort to save its own reputation?

The $500-million settlement—$404 million of it from Loblaw and George Weston —was approved by an Ontario judge earlier this month as “fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of class members.” The other $96 million reflects the earlier gift card program. What’s left to be paid amounts to about $13 per Canadian adult. After legal fees and administrative costs, 78 per cent of that will go to eligible Canadians outside Quebec, with the remaining 22 per cent reserved for Quebecers, pending a June 16 court hearing.

But for many, the money and the apologies do little to restore trust. If companies can quietly collude on something as essential as bread, it raises questions about what else might be going unnoticed in our grocery bills. The scandal exposed major weaknesses in Canada’s food retail system: toothless competition laws, limited pricing transparency and weak deterrents against collusion. These investigations take too long, and the damage to public confidence lingers long after the cheques are cashed.

Bread is not just a commodity. It symbolizes nourishment, affordability and stability. Manipulating its price isn’t just a legal violation; it’s a betrayal of public trust.

If this case is to be a turning point, it must lead to more than payouts. Canada needs stronger enforcement, faster investigations and real transparency in pricing. Without systemic reform, Canadians will remain vulnerable to the next coordinated “market adjustment,” hiding in plain sight on store shelves.

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Canadian professor and researcher in food distribution and policy. He is senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University and co-host of The Food Professor Podcast. He is frequently cited in the media for his insights on food prices, agricultural trends, and the global food supply chain.

Troy Media empowers Canadian community news outlets by providing independent, insightful analysis and commentary. Our mission is to support local media in helping Canadians stay informed and engaged by delivering reliable content that strengthens community connections and deepens understanding across the country

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Hailey Gomez

Billionaire Elon Musk announced Wednesday on X that his time working in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has officially come to an end.

Shortly after his 2024 election win, President Donald Trump appointed Musk to lead DOGE and fulfill his campaign vow of gutting wasteful government spending. In a post on X, however, Musk wrote that his “scheduled time” working as a special government employee has ended

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending. The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,” Musk wrote.

Semafor’s White House correspondent Shelby Talcott later said on X that a White House official confirmed the end of Musk’s time at the administration and that the offboarding would begin Wednesday evening.

Since working to help Trump into office, Musk has helped the administration bring change to Washington D.C. In February, Musk and his DOGE team began to receive massive pushback from Democrats after announcing the cut of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), leading Democrats and others to protest against the billionaire and his other companies, including Tesla.

During an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier in March, Musk acknowledged that he and the DOGE team were on a timeline with the administration, technically having a total of 130 days as a “special government employee.” Musk told the Fox host at the time that he believed he and his team would accomplish “most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that time frame.”

“We are cutting the waste and fraud in real time. So every day like that passes, our goal is to reduce the waste and fraud by four billion dollars a day, every day, seven days a week, and so far we are succeeding,” Musk said.

DOGE came under the spotlight after USAID reports revealed the program wasted billions in taxpayer-funded dollars, some of which had a high risk of landing in the Taliban’s hands and also aiding an organization linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

While Musk had an initial target to slash as much as $2 trillion from federal spending, the former DOGE member said in April that the team would scale back their goals and instead target $150 billion in federal savings for fiscal year 2026. During that month, Musk also announced he was stepping back as DOGE’s leader, adding his involvement would drop “significantly” in May as the bulk of his reform efforts are “mostly done.”

By May, the billionaire said at the Qatar Economic Forum that he would also pull back his political donations.

“In terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” Musk said. “I think I’ve done enough.”

“If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it,” Musk said. “I do not currently see a reason.”

In a recent interview on Sunday, Musk criticized Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” and stated his concerns about how the package could potentially increase budget deficits.

“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk said.