David Eby, the Premier of British Columbia, has announced a cap on corporate grocery profits for certain food items like milk and eggs in an effort to address affordability issues. However, the specifics of how this will be implemented remain unclear, leading many to interpret it as a form of price control that could backfire by creating shortages rather than ensuring lower prices for consumers. The article criticizes Eby's approach as economically unsound and argues that grocery store profits are already very low in Canada, suggesting his policy is misguided and potentially harmful to local businesses like Jimmy Pattison’s Save-On-Foods chain.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
David Eby has looked at his election campaign struggling to find its feet and decided that while socialism is good, even more socialism would be better.
asserted
socialism → look → feet
And so, last week, British Columbia’s stumbling premier announced a cap on corporate grocery profits on milk, eggs, butter, cheese, chicken and turkey.
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premier → announce → milk
How this will actually address the affordability crisis that has flourished under Eby’s watch is unclear.
uncertain
that → address → watch
What is, however, clear is that under Eby no private business will be permitted to move or operate without government restrictions, involvement or extra taxes.
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business → permit → restrictions
At his news conference Eby did not spell out exactly what capping profits entailed, but one must assume it means price controls.
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it → spell → controls
There are ultimately only three ways any corporation can raise its profits: sell more, raise prices or cut costs.
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corporation → be → costs
Presumably, Eby isn’t going to stop stores selling more if British Columbians want more butter on their bread, nor can he lower a store’s input costs.
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he → go → costs
This means price controls are the only mechanism left to achieve his profit cap goal.
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controls → mean → goal
Price controls have widely been shown by economists to have significant negative effects on an economy as well as the people they are purported to benefit.
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they → show → economy
The reason is straightforward: by artificially capping prices, transactions which would otherwise occur at the higher, market price are not realized.
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which → cap → price
Without a clear price signal (and thus profit incentive) the market will not produce the correct amount of the price-controlled product.
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market → produce → product
As a result, the market will be undersupplied for the products it would otherwise purchase.
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it → undersupplie → products
True demand, in other words, will not be met.
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demand → meet → words
This has consequences, and they are not good.
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they → have → consequences
What Eby’s grocery store folly would mean in practice for British Columbians is that grocery stores will shift away from selling the correct, market demanded amount of milk, eggs, butter, cheese, chicken and turkey, and focus on selling other products at likely higher prices to make up for their profit shortfall in the price-controlled areas.
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stores → mean → areas
Those who can quickly get the products they want before the stores run out may have lower prices, but families who aren’t as fast won’t get anything because the product doesn’t exist in sufficient quantities to meet market demand.
uncertain
product → get → demand
Lower prices resulting in empty shelves isn’t a solution to anything.
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prices → result → anything
In 2025, Loblaws, for example, noted that margins in the sector average three to four per cent.
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margins → note → cent
This is not indicative of an industry which is gouging consumers, but rather one which operates extremely efficiently in a competitive, price sensitive market.
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which → gouge → market
The insult comes from Eby choosing to aim his fire at Save-On-Foods, locally owned by B.C. billionaire Jimmy Pattison.
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Eby → come → Pattison
He has donated over $200 million to hospitals and health care facilities, including a $75 million dollar donation to Vancouver’s St Paul’s hospital in 2017.
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He → donate → 2017
Eby doesn’t care because Pattison is rich and therefore by definition evil.
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Pattison → care → definition
This default move to restrict the open market and despise the successful is a hallmark of what David Eby’s NDP is all about.
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NDP → restrict → what
To address the Vancouver housing crisis, Eby has proposed taxing newly built, unsold condo units.
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Eby → address → units
He has claimed developers are “hoarding” the apartments.
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developers → claim → apartments
As with the grocery stores, he says that he is “standing up to developers.”
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he → say → developers
Developers aren’t “hoarding” condos.
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Developers → hoard → condos
They can’t sell them because the economic conditions of the province Eby and the NDP have presided over for nine years is so bad there are no buyers.
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Eby → sell → years
Just as capping grocery profits doesn’t solve the affordability crisis and can create artificial market shortages, all taxing new developments achieves is to create a disincentive for developers to continue building, knowing that any empty units could be subject to Eby’s unsold condo tax.
uncertain
units → cap → tax
The result is fewer new units coming on the market and an even worse housing crisis in the future.
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result → come → future
David Eby’s anti-Trump campaign message for his unnecessary election has fallen flat with British Columbians.
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message → fall → Columbians
In response he is flailing around in a desperate attempt to find something that might stick.
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that → flail → something
So far, all Eby has found to offer British Columbians is more taxes and Soviet-inspired price controls.
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Eby → find → Columbians
None of these policies address the real problems British Columbians are facing and only shine a spotlight on how Eby’s government is completely out of ideas.
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government → address → ideas
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