Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Pierre Poilievre needs to explain why a key adviser has been lobbying for the grocery sector while the Conservative Leader has been sounding the alarm over grocery prices.
Mr. Trudeau raised the issue of Jenni Byrne’s work at a housing announcement Friday in Waterloo, Ont. She is the chief executive of Jenni Byrne + Associates, which specializes in government and public relations.
“Pierre Poilievre has been standing up for months now pretending that he cares about high grocery prices faced by Canadians, and it turns out that his top adviser is working as a lobbyist for Loblaws,” Mr. Trudeau said. “I think that Mr. Poilievre owes some explanations to Canadians,” the Prime Minister said before repeating his comments in French.
Simon Jefferies said in a statement on behalf of Jenni Byrne + Associates that Ms. Byrne has not done lobbying federally for Loblaws.
“Jenni Byrne is not and never has been registered to lobby on behalf of Loblaws. The work JB+A does with Loblaws is limited to the provincial level and focused on expanded access to beer and wine and red tape reduction,” the statement said.
Mr. Poilievre has been pressing affordability issues, including grocery costs, as part of an appeal to Canadians that has seen the Conservatives consistently lead the Liberals in public opinion polls.
Loblaws has been among Canadian grocery companies in the spotlight in a debate over grocery bills, with its executives called to appear before a House of Commons committee looking into the issue. The company has said it is not taking advantage of inflation to drive profits, but, rather dealing with supplier requests for cost increases.
Sebastian Skamski, the director of media relations for the Opposition Leader’s Office, said in response to the Prime Minister’s remarks that Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne has failed to stabilize grocery prices.
“The Liberals failed and now claim that it’s really the leader of the opposition – not the Prime Minister and government of Canada – who holds all the power. This is laughable and pathetic,” he said.
Last fall, Mr. Champagne met with industry leaders to ask them to stabilize their prices or face consequences such as tax measures. Earlier this week, the minister said he is reaching out to international grocers in the hopes they will launch operations in Canada to spur more competition.
During Question Period on Friday, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner defended Ms. Byrne in the House of Commons as Liberals raised the issue.
“Madam Speaker, I can assure members that unlike these Liberals, if Ms. Byrne had hauled the grocers in for a round table, prices would be lower by now,” Ms. Rempel Garner said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a statement that Canadians facing sky-high food prices don’t need a competition between Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Poilievre on who is closest to Galen Weston, the Loblaw chairman.
“What we need to focus on is tackling corporate greed,” Mr. Singh said. “Liberals have shown that they don’t get it and they’re not willing to take serious action to lower prices for Canadians.”
Ian Bailey