Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Dr. Cochrane, we have heard a number of witnesses now.
When we look at the grocery sector in particular, this is not the first controversy that has erupted in it. We know about the scandal of fixing the price of bread—the very serious allegations about that.
We've heard from many producers and processors at this committee about the need for a grocery code of conduct because of the hidden fees and the fines.
Now we have consumers, working families in my riding and right across this country, who week in, week out, are seeing the price of food—the food that is necessary to feed their families—reaching astronomical levels.
I want to change tack a little bit.
You gave two solutions in your opening statement about how we can tackle excess corporate power here in Canada, especially profits, with a minimum tax on reported profits and an excess profits tax.
I also want to look at—in the grocery sector it's been referred to as an oligopoly—the market dominance that these companies are able to wield. We know there's a crisis of confidence and a crisis of trust in this sector.
Many of our witnesses mentioned the Competition Bureau and the Competition Act.
Dr. Cochrane, do you have any recommendations that you would like to see our committee explore with the Competition Bureau? Do you have any suggestions on recommendations we could be making to the federal government to tackle the market dominance that they use so skilfully to increase their profits?