Political theatre at its worst

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This article was published 21/09/2023 (1067 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are times when, lamentably, politics amounts to nothing more than performance art — pointless posturing whose sole intention is to manufacture an illusion that something of substance is being done.

This most cynical brand of politicking was fully on display Monday in Ottawa, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demanded the attendance of the heads of Canada’s five major grocery chains at a meeting to discuss how to put a cap on the rising cost of food in this country.

Trudeau, lagging badly in popularity polls and having just returned from a less-than-stellar performance at the G20 summit in New Delhi, emerged from a caucus retreat last week in London, Ont., with a stern message for Canada’s five major grocery companies — Loblaw, Metro, Empire, Walmart and Costco: get prices under control or suffer the government-imposed consequences.

“Large grocery chains are making record profits. Those profits should not be made on the backs of people who are struggling to feed their families,” the prime minister declared, adding he expects the corporate quintet to come up with a plan, by Thanksgiving, to stabilize prices.

Grocery costs were up 8.5 per cent in July compared to last year, with increases in the grocery sector having eased slightly but still remaining above the overall inflation rate of 3.3 per cent.

“If their plan doesn’t provide real relief … then we will take further action and we are not ruling anything out, including tax measures,” Mr. Trudeau added.

The tough talk was followed within days by the aforementioned demand for a sit-down with the heads of the grocery chains. And that’s when the political theatre kicked into full flamboyance, with the CEOs, flanked by lawyers and advisers, having to enter the meeting via a perp-walk-style scurry through a throng of waiting cameras.

After two hours of what he described as “difficult discussions,” Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne declared the meeting a success, saying the grocery executives have agreed to “support” the government’s effort to bring stability to food pricing.

What does that mean? And how could such an ethereal pronouncement be considered grounds for trumpeting success? The answers, in order, are “nothing” and “only in the realm of political-theatre fantasy-making.”

“The large grocers have accepted to work with the government of Canada,” Champagne said, calling it a step in the right direction.

Beyond an acknowledgment of the government’s demand for a plan, the companies promised only to formulate as-yet-unstated actions that may or may not address the rising-price concerns that led to their Parliament Hill summoning.

That seems like considerably less than an emphatic win for Canadian consumers.

But for a government that consistently seems more concerned with building perception than dealing effectively with reality, it’s probably about all that should be expected. Trudeau’s demand for action is no more meaningful than his accompanying threat of tax action — if such a mythical financial penalty were to be imposed, it would have exactly zero impact on the collective bottom line of the grocery companies, which would instead, inevitably, pass the added costs onto already-overburdened customers.

The nonsensical nature of the mandatory meeting was summed up by federal NDP Leader (and frequent Trudeau-government enabler) Jagmeet Singh, who rightly pointed out the folly of seeking to “stabilize” grocery prices at record-high levels that many Canadians cannot afford.

“That is meaningless action. That is no action,” he said. “That is nothing. That is less than nothing.”

Script note to Trudeau: when the theatrics fail to impress even the most loyal patrons, the show is in a lot of trouble.