CBCN - Friday, May 24, 2024 - 12:00 a.m. (ET) - Segment #41

sobeys owner empire denies it has a dominant position in the market. The probe comes as shoppers have been complaining of hiked-up grocery costs. For more on this investigation, what it means for the market and consumers, danielle smith chai, consumer advocate and professor of business and law at the university canada west. Thanks for being here. >> Thanks for having me. >> Travis: break this down for us in real layman's temples here. And specifically what this really means. >> So we're talking about exclusivity clauses and real estate leases. What effectively the allegations are is sobeys and loblaws are using real estate control clauses to prevent having competition from setting up shop so that means for whatever mall or real estate project, they are the exclusive provider of groceries in that mall or development. >> Travis: got it. So if you've got a montréal, you know, usually -- mall usually you have multiple grocery stores, you've got one, and this is, you know, loblaws or sobeys. Okay. There have been previous inquiries into these companies. One being against loblaws for allegedly pushing out competition. It ever ultimately dropped due to insufficient evidence but are these investigations similar at all? >> Well, they're connected in the sense that compression bureaus ratchet up the pressure. They have made allegations that there is some potential here for anticompetitive behaviours. The problem with that investigation that was dropped is they found that there wasn't sufficient cooperation in terms of disclosure information. So when you're being investigated, you have to get full disclosure and so the competition bureau had some issues in terms of being fully investigate on that claim. >> Travis: what are the grocers' defence here? >> In terms of this control play, in terms of controlling the real estate, they're calling this a novel application of law. Now, that's -- that would be a common argument because we haven't really seen this type of prosecutorial activity by the competition bureau but it's actually indicated at the bureau itself is usually gun shy and for them to actually jump and to aggressively prosecute like they are in this case probably indicates they have some underlying basis for it. >> Travis: so if they are found to have, you know, participated in these practices, what could be the result? >> Well, they can levy fines, they can also force them to divest, so they could actually potentially ask they will to adjust these control clauses and make them ineffective and to allow competition to get into certain spaces like these developments. >> Travis: what's the effect going to be as this investigation proceeds on the market or will there be any and potentially, you know, when there's an outcome. >> This is just like another quiver, another arrow, the bad public relations that we see around loblaws and large giants like -- >> Travis: do they care? >> They will when it hits the pocketbooks. These guys are run by very rich families that have huge majority shares. And so when you see a translation, a consumer upset, and we see this on a national boycott here in may with respect to loblaws, if it really impacts their bottom line and they see thee could lose these customers forever and they're going to go to other stores then they'll take it seriously. >> Travis: the potential impact on consumers if they are found guilty of this. >> What this does is it would effectively give competition bureau some basis to try to get them to divest some of these leases, so allow for competition like small independent chains to break into these exclusive malls. And we also know that sobeys and loblaws are inclusive in the sense that they own the reit. They have strong percentages of ownership in the real estate investment trust that own these developments so not only are they the tenants, they're also acting as almost pseudo-landlords. So this whole thing is obviously something of serious concern for the competition bureau. >> Travis: you know, these are big companies. They got, you know, a lot of lawyers. Really well paid lawyers. What's your take on how this is all going to play out? >> Well, they have obviously huge amounts of money when it comes to list. We've seen this actually in terms of tax dispute decisions, we see that they put huge amounts of money into list. So look, are they really acting on behalf of consumers? At the end of the day they're going to litigate, they're going to spend as much money as they can in order to protect their profits. So consumers have a choice. They can look out and support their independent grocers. They can, you know, choose with their pocketbooks to go slop shop somewhere else f it turns out on the legal front whatever happens on our front consumers ultimately have the final say so choose where you want to go. >> Travis: I have a feeling we'll be calling on you again as

this winds its way through the process. Daniel, appreciate the time. Daniel tsai, consumer advocate and a business professor that is of business and law at university canada west. >>> People in ontario will soon be able to buy booze at their local convenience store. The provincial government announced it today. And that they say they're speeding up the expansion of alcohol sales. Take a listen... >> They're going to enjoy the same choice and queens as other canadians and other people right across the world. To buy a case of beer or a bottle of wine on the way up to the cottage or maybe you're going to start up the grill in the back yard or summer barbecue. >> Travis: starting in august, people in ontario will be able to buy coolers and other ready-made cocktails at grocery stores that currently sell wine or beer. By the end of october a wide selection of alcoholic beverages will be on shelves at all eligible convenience, grocery, and big box stores in an effort to help with the transition, the government is providing $225 million to the beer store. Provincial-run lo and behold lcbo locations will remain the sole retailer of hard liquor and spirits. >>> It's not often canadian fans get to see the world's best soccer player take the field against their home team. For an estimated 54,000 ticket holdners vancouver, that dream has to wait. With months of hype and astronomical spike in ticket prices people are frustrated that lionel messi and some intermiami teammates will not be playing at bc place this weekend. Jordan smythe is on this story in vancouver. This messi appearance was highly anticipated. How did this all happen? >> Reporter: yeah I mean we've been saying it all day but what a week for vancouver sports mans I mean we started the week getting kicked out of the playoffs and now the best soccer player in the world is no longer to come to play our soccer team. It's a lot to take in one week. Seeing messi of course for soccer fans is a big bucket list item and 55,000 people were expected to come and watch this game. People from bc, canada, and even the U.S. paying thousands of dollars for these tickets which as you say were inflated by a lot. It's not just messi who's going to be a no show this weekend. Louis suarez and sergio vazquez are no longer making the trip. We did hear from the coach of intermiami, the team that they play for, this afternoon. They're in vancouver of course for this game tomorrow. It's the first time we've heard from the team since the news broke these players would not be playing vancouver tomorrow. They told us it was because of scheduling issues and players' health. The coach who speaks spanish spoke through a translator. Take a listen... >> [Voice of Interpreter]: we're just mad and after that meeting of the coaches we met with the players and that's when it was determined that they will not be here. We obviously understand the frustration of the people wanting to watch these players play. We as coaches sometimes have to make the very difficult decisions. >> Reporter: so thought who heard from the whitecaps as well from a statement and also a media availability today. They acknowledge that fans would be disappointed, that they would not be seeing messi and others play this weekend but urged people to come along anyway and said that it would be a good game with good atmosphere. >> Travis: disappointment is one thing. It's also costing fans some money here. How expensive is this disappointment for fans? >> Reporter: yeah. I mean, it's one thing to accept you'll no longer be watching the world's best player and it's another thing to really start to understand that you'll be playing many, many, many times thethe normal price to watch the whitecaps. Tickets to this game started at above $300 in rows -- rose steeply after that. The prices got as high as $10,000 for a ticket on the resale market before it was clear of course that messi wouldn't be playing. To put that into perspective, you can usually get a ticket to one of these games for about $40. Some fans are expected to try to sell their tickets off of course they're unlikely to get anywhere close to what they paid for them gimp the price of these tickets has fallen considerably since this news came out. Peter zimmerman is president of the vancouver fan club and said he hopes that whitecaps fans would come out anyway to support their team. >> I think who are really disappointed, they are unlikely to show up after the news, maybe they look to sell their tickets. I'm hoping that many will come because it is a big sold-out game. >> Reporter: this isn't the first and only time messi hasn't shown up for a game that he was expected to be at. Earlier this year in hong kong fans there were disappointed as well when messi was supposed to play and didn't show up but the

stadium there did offer fans a 50% discount on tickets. Tomorrow fans can expect a 50% discount on food and drinks. >> Travis: appreciate it. Georgie smythe in vancouver. >>> Still to come, nasa's latest efforts to detect climate change on earth's polar region. They're getting ready to launch a new satellite in just hours. We'll explain right after the break. Andrew Chang: It makes sense that they get a larger share, or does it? -Welcome to the Greenbelt. Andrew: All of this, just single detached homes? -Yes. Andrew: What do we know? I think we can explain. Announcer: About That with Andrew Chang. Watch free onCBC Gem. The Jeep No Limits Eventis here.Which means more trailsto blaze. More challenges to meet. And right now enjoyno payments for 90 days. Get into a Jeep Compass. With best-in-class horsepower. Or Jeep Grand Cherokee,the most awarded suv ever. ( ) Jeep No Limits is here. Time to test your limits. Get up to 10% off msrp for up to eighty sevenhundred dollars in discounts. And no payments for 90 days. Parrots are incredible animals. [Parrot] Another overdue bill! Yeah. They're also extremely intelligent. [Parrot] Forgot to pay again! They also repeat things they hear a lot. The new bmo eclipse rise Visa card rewards you with points for paying your bill on time every month to help build a routine. [Parrot] Rewards you with points! And you get 5x the points on things like groceries, dining and recurring bill payments. [Parrot] For paying your bill! —But also you can... — [Parrot] Every month! —And just remember. —[Parrot] Build a routine! [Parrot squawking] He is a talker. When a bank helps you make real financial progress. That's the bmo Effect. Bmo Salonpas, makers of effective pain relief patches for 89 years believes in continuous improvement, like rounded corners that resist peeling, with an array of active ingredients and sizes to relieve your pain. Salonpas. It's Good Medicine. Hisamitsu Summer starts... now! The new dq Summer Blizzard Menu. New Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Party, New Picnic Peach Cobbler. And more delicious flavors. Start summer now! Only at dq. Happy tastes good. ( ) (Wincing) Get started for free on eharmony. Must be 18 or older to join. Get who gets you. eharmony. Find a great deal foryour ideal hotel.Open trivago, type inwhere you want t select your check-in andcheck-out dates and search. Compare prices forthe same hotel and save up to $50 a night. Hotel? trivago. Bleeding gums? Hold on. It could be a sign of gingivitis. Listerine mouthwash contains antibacterial essential oils that kill up to 99.9% of germs and fight plaque and gingivitis. Listerine. Trusted for generations. With 125 years of germ-killing power. Financial goals. At Fidelity, we know that everyone's got them. And they're all different. But the one thing we share? We all want to get to them sooner. ( ) ( ) Ever wonder what's around the next corner? ( ) ( ) Past the trees. ( ) Over the mountains? ( ) That's where adventure lives... ( ) Take a Nissan suv and go find it. ( ) [ ] >> Travis: welcome back to "canada tonight". Nasa is hours away from launching the first of two satellites heading to earth's polar region to monitor climate change. Cbc science and climate specialist darius mahdavi is tracking this story tonight. What can you tell us about this launch? >> It's going to happen in the next few hours at around 3:15 to 4:15 a.m. Our time. Launches happening in new zealand. Nasa has partnered with the company rocket lab to send the first of these two satellites up and together they're going to be taking measurements over the pole. They'll be orbiting at different times passing over different parts of the arctic and antarctica. Once they are successfully in orbit. These are very small satellites. That doesn't really capture the size. They're about the size of a shoebox each. Only 30 centimetres by 20 centimetres by 10 centimetres. This is part of nasa's cubesat project which involves sending up very small satellites than traditionally used because it's much cheaper and often if we have a targeted mission we're actually able to get just as much information just as valuable information from a much smaller, much lighter, and much more targeted spacecraft.

that's what they're aiming to do with this mission and why we've seen so many cubesats be set up recently and will continue to. >> Travis: sounds very interesting. Tell us more about the mission. >> It's really -- it's an important one for sure and it's something we don't really have much data on which is amount of energy we're losing from the poles so really earth's temperature is determined by a delicate balance between excess energy coming into the tropics because the sun shines directly over and the energy being vented from the pole. You might have heard the arctic and antarctica referred to as the earth's thermostat because that have. Pre-fire stance for polar radiant energy far infra-red experiment. They'll be passing over the poles and measuring energy being lost. Most of that energy is in the form of infra-red light. It's heat escaping. Not really light. We don't perceive it with our own size. It is light. Not visible light. So as that energy escapes we lose some of the heat from our planet. We're changing the energy balance so we have more coming in than going out which is why the temperature of the planet is rising. If we're able to take these precise measurements from the places where most of the energy is escaping we'll have a better idea of how much energy is being lost compared to coming in we really haven't had before. We've had sporadic measurements but no consistent measurements so the next year these two satellites are going to be passing over different parts of the arctic and antarctica taking measures hours apart so we can compare what's happening on shorter time scales, understand better sea ice level and sea level rise and things we haven't been able to with past launches and experiments. All together by the end of the 10 months they'll operate over scientists are hoping to have a trove of data to use to improve our climate model and his help us better model the potential impacts of climate change as it continues particularly on the poles but also sea level rise impacts all about the [indiscernible] coastal communities all over the planet. Very exciting stuff. >> Travis: really important information. Appreciate that. Darius mahdavi in vancouver.

>>> A european space agency has a treat for stargazers. It's sharing new images from the euclid space telescope and they are just stunning. The first image shows a star formation shrouded in interstellar dust. You might think the specks of light at the centre are stars but zooming in it reveals they're dozens and dozens of galaxies. That's exciting because these images are just a taste of the photos and data which are yet to come. The project should take about six years to wrap up. >>> This is "canada tonight". >> Announcer: Breaking news that shapes your world. With localCBC Radio Onelive to connect us closer to home. It's news you can trust, delivered when you want, where you want, on theCBC Newsapp. Download for free. ( ) In here... you can expect to find... crystal clear audio... expansive display space... endless entertainment... and more comfort for everyone... But even with all that... we still left room... for all the unpredictability... spontaneity.. and unexpected things... you'll find out here... Jeep. Grand Cherokee. The most awarded suv ever. Okay, and root beer to drink? No. [gasping] What? He didn't get root beer? I'm getting frozen root beer. Oh! Try frozen a&w root beer with sweet cream. Wall paper or paint.We make thousands of financialdecisions every day. Stay on top of it all withalerts and insights from the cibc Smart Account. Our Enercare technicians are experts at heating and cooling. Water heating and water purification. We can help you with a range of affordable solutions to help your home run smoothly. Enercare Experts at home [Song playing - Here Comes theHotstepper by Ini Kamoze] [people shaking the ice in their cups] [people shaking the ice in their cups] [people shaking the ice in their cups] Mother: My family loves to travel. Whoa... (Exhaling) And I love it when they all come back home. Toffifee combines what everyone loves. Caramel, hazelnut, nougat cream and chocolate. (Laughter) Summer starts... now! The new dq Summer Blizzard Menu. New Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Party, New Picnic Peach Cobbler. And more delicious flavors. Start summer now! Only at dq. Happy tastes good. I'm lost in love... (Electronic chime) So lost in love with you Get started for free on eharmony. (Giggling) Must be 18 or older to join. Get who gets you. eharmony. My brother and I started Duradek when that wardrobe was- groovy. For 50 years now, we've been waterproofing decks and balconies so people can relax and enjoy rain or shine. Duradek. Some things never go out of style. ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Loving the uncommon is a wonderful thing we have in common. ( ) >> My mother. My childhood. I want them back. >> Travis: we're returning to the world of mad max. "furiosa: a mad max saga" is in theaters today, george miller's follow-up to "fury road" . Chris hemsworth plays the warlord in the way. Eli glasner gave "fury road" five stars when it came out in 2015 and he's back to see if the spin-off is just as thrilling. You loved "fury road". Your recent reviews called out franchise fatigue. How did "furiosa" measure up? >> I'm little torn because I am exhausted by the lack of

originality. I think there's too many sequels and prequels yet what is this? It is a prequel going right back into the wasteland, the world of mad max, where like you said we see the origin story of furiosa, how she started becoming the the player originally played by charlize theron. Let it be as epic and creative and courageous and demented and plain mad as furiosa" measure. It's familiar but there's also so much energy, so much originality, bringing us into this world of guns and grime. The desert and the dust. Where else are you going to find a world where you have characters named scrotus and smeg and toejam and the history man. That is originality. This is a world of blood and battle. It looks like an iron maiden cover come to life. No word of a lie, I watched this as an imax theatre, sitting there, I am transfixed. The film ends, I stand up to leave, and I started limping. My foot was fine when I sat -- what happened -- I think I was so focused on what was happening I didn't move, I didn't want to break the spell for two and a half hours. >> Travis: we have gone from rant to rave. Where does the story start? >> We are starting in paradise. This little hidden world evergreen and abundance. That is where we find furiosa as a girl but very quickly that paradise is shattered, scavengers snatch her and run away, her mother gives chase. Within 2 minutes of the movie starting we got mom on a horse galloping after furiosa, furiosa trying to escape from her captors. There's wily acts of sabotage. The mom catches up but things are looking dark so she gives her daughter a mission. Take a look. >> Whatever you have to do, however long it takes, promise me you'll find your way home. Protect the green place. >> Give me this one gift. >> A gift. The kid is 12 years old. It's the apocalypse and now she's saying at all costs somehow escape and find your way home. The thing is mom's now out of the picture. Young little furiosa is now a prisoner, a captive of dr. Demeantus. Take a look... >> What do we have here? >> She's from a place of [indiscernible] >> What's your name? Tomorrow follow the tracks that brought you here and I'll take you home. >> This is.>> That is chris hemsworth playing the warlord dr. Dementus. We've seen him as a hero, handsome guy, charming. This takes his charisma, his charm, and weaponizes it so that you see him first you're thinking okay, seems like a nice guy, little beguiling. The beard, the nose. But he is a sadist. This guy is warped. He is a warlord and he is not happy just with what he has. His army of motorcyclists, he hears about another warlord who we met in the first film and that is joe. He sees this guy has water and women. I want some of that. Him and his bikes, they lay siege. >> Bring me your [indiscernible] and fry them down. You'll rule with me in the splendor of a new [indiscernible] >> Now you've got these two ferocious leaders going head-to-head and they're somewhere in the middle is young furiosa. She hasn't goringen her mission. Now she's a pawn being traded back and forth. But she's waiting. She's very patient. >> Travis: so how does furiosa compare to the last installment? >> Which I adored as you mentioned and I was so happy to return to this world because george miller, he has spent four decades thinking about the wasteland and the way that he has been able to actualize. This is what I want from a 200 million-dollar film: to escape, to just dive into a world. He had a thousand people in the desert making scenes like this come to life. Look at this, this is an amazing set piece. This is like a 20 minute chase sequence in the middle of the film. We've got furiosa, a new driver named precarious jack, and they're driving the war rig. They're being bombed from above from paragliders. Furiosa is now trying to repel them.

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