Documents obtained through access to information legislation shed new light on the federal government’s efforts to convince the two retailers to sign the grocery code of conduct, with cracks appearing in the months leading up to a House of Commons meeting where the grocers said they couldn’t sign the near-complete code.
It was meant to be voluntary, but it’s always been acknowledged that it needs all the major players on board to work, said Francis Chechile, a spokesman for MacAulay, in a statement.Until last fall, the code appeared to be progressing well, said Chechile, noting that federal, provincial and territorial governments had been closely monitoring progress and engaging with stakeholders including Loblaw and Walmart.
The Dec. 7 committee meeting served as public confirmation of the two grocers’ unwillingness to sign on to the code as drafted, said Michael Graydon, CEO of the Food, Health and Consumer Products of Canada association and leader of the group that’s been developing the code. However, he also said there were indications for him around October that this might happen.But after the Dec. 7 comments by Loblaw and Walmart, progress on the office stalled.
The federal, provincial and territorial ministers had a call on Nov. 27 to discuss the code and the possibility that the two major retailers might not adopt it, according to a briefing note.Invasive strep: ‘Don’t wait’ to seek care, N.S. woman warns on long road to recoveryCanadian food banks are on the brink: ‘This is not a sustainable situation’
And in a letter mid-February, the House of Commons committee urged Loblaw and Walmart to sign on, saying if they didn’t, it would “not hesitate to recommend that the federal and provincial governments adopt legislation to make it mandatory.”“I don’t think it’s dead in the water; I think there is some really strong desire to try to find a solution,” he said.
“While we have significant concerns about the code in its current form, we will continue to work constructively with the industry on this topic.”The documents also show that the industry steering committee requested around $1.8 million in government funding to support the implementation of the not-for-profit grocery code adjudicator office.