Who started Canada’s alleged bread cartel?

By Francine Kopun

An employee of one of Canada’s largest bakeries allegedly made a PowerPoint presentation at an industry gathering about low bread profits and had a plan to orchestrate price increases with retailers, according to information made public Thursday about the Competition Bureau’s investigation into an alleged bread price-fixing cartel.

The new information is contained in Information to Obtain documents in the case; ITO applications contain unproven allegations made before a judge to obtain search warrants. They are untested.

The ITOs were released earlier this year, but several paragraphs that had been under a publication ban were made public on Thursday and they point to an employee of Canada Bread as the originator of the alleged cartel.

“There is no evidence whatsoever against our client,” said Scott Fenton, the lawyer representing the former Canada Bread employee, deemed Person X.

“In fact, the testimony of the source who received immunity, in return for implicating others, is highly suspect,” Fenton said in a news release on Thursday.

“This is a shoddy warrant built on false allegations, assumptions, inferences and innuendo that would rightly be inadmissible in any court.”

Fenton was successful in having his client’s name kept from the public on the grounds that his client is innocent; the allegations remain unproven and were based on one person’s remembrance of one conversation that occurred over a decade ago; that no charges have been laid; and the investigation is ongoing and still in its early stages.

“Our client had no incentive to engage in price fixing, did not do so and never would. As the investigation continues, our client hopes the truth comes to light and justice will be served,” Fenton wrote.