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Marketplace found up to 1 in 3 groceries get labelled as Canadian. But customers say they’re skeptical
To show support for Canada amid a trade war with the U.S., John Mackay says he tries to only buy Canadian products during grocery runs.
That’s why the 81-year-old from Tillsonburg, Ont., said he’s complained to Metro multiple times after seeing orange juice with pulp by Irrésistible — a Metro-owned private-label brand — with a red maple leaf next to the price tag on the shelf.
“Since when are we growing oranges in Canada?” said Mackay, whose home is roughly 115 kilometres west of Hamilton. “I was pissed off.”
What customers see on the Metro website is a red circle with a maple leaf and the words “produit d’ici” — which translates to “product from here” — next to the word Canada, outside the circle. But the website doesn’t contain a clear definition of exactly what that means.
Shoppers like Mackay are expressing frustration from coast to coast, many writing into Marketplace, questioning what products get identified as Canadian and who’s actually benefiting by our largest grocery stores using these labels.
To find out how often grocery stores are labelling products with Canadian symbols, Marketplace analyzed products sold online at three major Canadian grocery chains.
Marketplace shared its findings with experts who say grocery stores are trying to capitalize on the country’s wave of patriotism, noting that a vague definition of what makes a product Canadian is in the best interest of retailers, not shoppers.
“There’s all kinds of opportunities to do marketing that are somewhat misleading,” said David Soberman, a marketing professor at University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.
Metro told Marketplace the “produit d’ici” logo was mistakenly added to items on its Ontario web pages and is being removed and will just display the word “Canada” which means the product was produced, made or grown here. The company said it is continuously reviewing and updating how it identifies products. Read more
Stolen cars are ending up at dealerships. New CBSA data sharing could help catch more of them
As of this week, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is taking steps that could help close what some experts call a loophole that has made it easier for thieves to disguise stolen vehicles.
CBC Toronto has learned that as of Tuesday, CBSA has begun sharing some vehicle export data with CARFAX and Équité Association, and is exploring the possibility of sharing it with other stakeholders, too.
It is unclear exactly how CARFAX, a company that provides vehicle history reports, and Équité Association, a non-profit insurance fraud watchdog, will be using the CBSA data, but it could signal improvements in catching stolen vehicles.
Experts say vehicle identification numbers (VINs) on legally exported vehicles are highly sought after by criminals, who clone the unique serial number — typically found in several locations, including the dashboard — and put it on a stolen vehicle in Canada, also known as re-VINing. With no way for dealers, buyers or provincial ministries to verify if a vehicle has been exported, some well-disguised stolen vehicles have been slipping through the cracks undetected.
The Used Car Dealers Association of Ontario has been calling on the CBSA for more than a year to make exported VIN information available. The organization’s executive director says sharing the data with CARFAX is a good start, though he says more can be done to make the information available to others. Read more
Canadians alarmed by text messages asking their vote preference. Then their postal code. Then their name
It’s election time, so receiving a text message from “Mary” or “Nancy” asking about your voting preferences might not seem all that unusual.
At least that’s what Calgarian Stacey Schoneck thought when she heard her phone ping this week and read a message from a sender with “ERG National Research” posing that question, along with a list of federal party choices.
“I was momentarily quite excited [and] thought, I get a chance to say what is going on in Alberta,” said Schoneck.
So, she responded.
When a return text asked for her postal code, she responded again.
But then she was asked for her name. She says that’s when she realized something was off and started asking the sender questions with no response.
“You don’t need my name, so that to me was very suspect,” Schoneck told CBC News.
She wasn’t alone in being suspicious.
The Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC), a polling industry association, posted a notice on its website last year saying it has received numerous complaints about these text message tactics from ERG National Research.
The notice stresses that ERG is not a member of its association and “should not be confused with Environics Research, a CRIC member in good standing.”
“We have very specific rules on how our members collect data and get survey information from individuals, and we really use that as a way to try to distinguish a legitimate request from some that may not be legitimate,” said CRIC CEO John Tabone.
ERG National Research could not be reached for comment. Read more
Seed sales blossoming as gardeners try to avoid U.S. produce
Like so many people these days, Natasha Nash has been trying to buy Canadian.
But at the grocery store, Nash said, some homegrown produce is proving hard to find — particularly broccoli and celery.
“If I’m going to the grocery store and I see a head of broccoli is … coming from a U.S. farm, I just don’t [buy it],” she said.
That’s why Nash is one of many Ottawans growing more of the fruits and vegetables her family relies on in her own backyard.
Nash said she doesn’t want her family “to be so dependent on outside resources, especially considering how volatile they are right now.”
Local seed suppliers tell CBC that Nash isn’t alone.
Several say they’ve seen sales rise in recent weeks and suspect Ottawans are increasingly planting their own gardens as a way to supplement their groceries amid Canada’s trade war with the United States. Read more
What else is going on?
From meeting Darth Vader to eating at the food court, Waterloo, Ont., region shoppers remember Hudson’s Bay
The 355-year-old company is currently liquidating all but six stores.
Hudson’s Bay managers will get up to $3 million in bonuses, but workers get no severance
Retailer confirms it will not pay severance to the thousands of employees who will soon lose their jobs.
Saskatchewan government to eliminate industrial carbon tax on April 1
Province says the move will make Saskatchewan the first carbon tax-free province in Canada.
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