{"id":7493,"date":"2018-04-26T22:17:45","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T02:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/business.financialpost.com\/?p=1582159"},"modified":"2018-04-26T22:17:45","modified_gmt":"2018-04-27T02:17:45","slug":"person-x-named-in-bread-price-fixing-affidavit-seeks-to-keep-identity-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2018\/04\/26\/person-x-named-in-bread-price-fixing-affidavit-seeks-to-keep-identity-secret\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Person X\u2019 named in bread price-fixing affidavit seeks to keep identity secret"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The lawyer for an individual known to the public only as \u201cPerson X\u201d is fighting to keep his client\u2019s identity secret after the client was named in an affidavit in the bread price-fixing scandal that has engulfed Canada\u2019s two largest bread producers and five major retailers.<\/p>\n<p>Lawyer Scott Fenton, who represents \u201cPerson X,&#8221; argued in an Ottawa court Thursday that there has already been \u201crobust\u201d public access to an affidavit outlining the allegations, which was partially unsealed by court order in January.<\/p>\n<p>Tae Mee Park, a lawyer for a media consortium which includes Postmedia, is fighting to have the eight remaining redacted paragraphs, which would reveal the individual&#8217;s identity, unsealed by the court.<\/p>\n<p>The affidavit formed the basis for four search warrants carried out by Competition Bureau investigators at the head offices of suppliers Canada Bread and Weston Bakeries and the retailers Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, Walmart and Giant Tiger.<\/p>\n<p>The document contains allegations of at least 15 instances of co-ordinated price increases, with each following a specific pattern \u2014 a 7-cent bread price hike by the suppliers, and a corresponding bread price increase of ten cents from the retailers involved.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"related_links\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/business.financialpost.com\/news\/retail-marketing\/why-the-hell-are-they-at-1-88-inside-the-damning-allegations-of-collusion-between-grocers-producers-to-fix-bread-prices\">&#039;Why the hell are they at $1.88?&#039;: Inside the damning allegations of Canada\u2019s bread price fixing scandal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/business.financialpost.com\/news\/retail-marketing\/prison-time-and-billion-dollar-lawsuits-retailers-face-tough-outcomes-in-bread-price-fixing-scandal\">Prison time and billion-dollar lawsuits: Retailers face tough outcomes in bread price-fixing scandal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/business.financialpost.com\/opinion\/terence-corcoran-canadas-worst-price-fixing-cartels-arent-the-bread-makers-its-politicians\">Terence Corcoran: Canada\u2019s worst price-fixing cartels aren\u2019t the bread makers. It&#039;s politicians<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It alleges senior officers of Canada Bread Ltd. and rival operator Weston Bakeries, owned by Loblaw Cos. owner George Weston Ltd., communicated directly with each other over many years to increase their wholesale fresh bread prices in tandem.<\/p>\n<p>Fenton argued that even without revealing the identity of Person X, the public would still have \u201ca full, robust understanding of the informational basis for the search warrant \u2026 (and) prevent prejudice to (Person X) as an innocent person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fenton said his client maintains innocence, and noted no charges have been filed in the case.<\/p>\n<p>Fenton objected to the \u201csalacious\u201d wording of one passage contained in the affidavit, which names his client under the heading, \u201cGenesis of the Alleged Conspiracy, Agreement or Arrangement: Direct Communications.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He argued the affidavit contains information that would be inadmissible as evidence in the event the case reaches trial.<\/p>\n<p>The Bureau\u2019s investigation began in March 2015 after whistleblowers at Weston Bakeries, its parent company George Weston Ltd. and Loblaw Cos., the country\u2019s biggest grocery chain, approached the federal department in order to disclose their participation in the alleged collusion.<\/p>\n<p>Loblaw and its affiliates have received immunity from prosecution, as did a witness named in the document as \u201cPerson A.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lawyers for Metro and Sobeys have filed a separate motion to have the identity of \u201cPerson A\u201d made public.<\/p>\n<p>Park, meanwhile, argued for the full public release of the document with no redactions, citing the immense public interest in \u201can unprecedented investigation into price-fixing of a food staple.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Park argued the Competition Bureau commissioner relied on the information in the affidavit to seek the search warrants, and the original document, containing the real identity of \u201cPerson X,\u201d was signed by the judge who authorized the searches.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(Fenton) hasn\u2019t made the case there is going to be a serious danger to the administration of justice if this information is disclosed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Lynn Ratushny reserved her decision on the matter until a future hearing.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014 With files from Hollie Shaw<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Ahelmer@postmedia.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The lawyer who represents &#8216;Person X,&#8217; argued in an Ottawa court Thursday that there has already been &#8216;robust&#8217; public access to an affidavit outlining the allegations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7493"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/578"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7493"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7494,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7493\/revisions\/7494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}