That's a very good question, sir. Thank you for asking it.
I can't profess to have the final answer on it. I think it requires further study, and I know that both your committee and the Competition Bureau itself have been trying to do that. Your tasks would be easier if you had more access to transparent data from the retailers themselves.
I don't mean to underestimate the complexity of running an efficient, modern food retail operation. There is certainly a lot of planning, technology, logistics and entrepreneurship involved, but, in terms of the amount of invested capital in the firms, it's small relative to the total flow of revenue. That's how these companies can make a very high rate of return on equity and generate very healthy returns to their investors, including total return and capital gain. The share prices of most of these firms have risen dramatically since the pandemic, and then the distribution of actual cash, whether through normal dividends or share repurchases....
Why they have been able to sustain those record profits while profitability elsewhere in Canada's economy has been returning towards normal over the past year is a very important question. I'm sure that the concentrated nature of the industry has something to do with it. I am sure that the desperation of consumers to put food on the table—as noted earlier, it is a necessity of life—creates an inelasticity to demand.
I think it requires further study to really identify any more of the specific reasons why this industry, quite uniquely, has been able to sustain the record profits that rose after the pandemic, despite higher food prices and a decline in the quantity of food that Canadians are purchasing.