My understanding is that Metro subsequently clarified those comments. I know they're appearing before the committee, so you should ask them.
It is not a practice. Grocery prices do not freeze between October and January. I'll give you a very simple data point: I don't think inflation has ever paused from October to December. In fact, you can see the CPI prints going many years back, and prices do not pause during this time.
In fact, Dr. Charlebois is here. He's a learned scholar. He can give a perspective on it, but it is not an industry practice to freeze prices at this time.