Supreme Court will not hear bread price-fixing witness case

The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear an appeal of a lower court decision that kept the identities of a pair of key witnesses in the Competition Bureau's bread price-fixing investigation confidential.

READ: Watchdog raids offices of grocery retailers in price-fixing probe

As is usual, the Supreme Court gave no detailed reasons for its decision.

Sobeys and Metro had sought the disclosure of the identities of witnesses, however the Ontario Superior Court ruled the witnesses were protected by confidential informer status.

READ: CFIG says it did not request investigation into bread price fixing

The Competition Bureau executed search warrants at the offices of a number of grocers in 2017 as part of its investigation into allegations of bread price-fixing.

READ: Bread price-fixing investigation spurs class-action lawsuits

Documents allege the country's largest bakery wholesalers and grocers conspired to artificially bake at least $1.50 into the price of bread and related products from 2001 up until as far as 2017.

George Weston and Loblaw Companies Limited have admitted to participating in a bread price-fixing arrangement for over a decade and tipping off the country's competition watchdog.