Canada’s big grocers are public companies, with obligations to report their financials. We know their net profit margins. And while those have generally increased in recent years, even the Dread Pirate Loblaw is making a margin of less than four per cent. If Galen Weston dialled that down to two per cent, Canadians would not notice a massive change in their grocery bills. The public grocery stores are buying the same stuff as the private ones, from the same wholesalers. Presumably they’re going to pay their employees at least as well as the unionized big grocers. The only conceivable competitive advantage is stocking fewer items, and I’m really not sure that’s going to lure people away from No Frills, which — say what you will about the Westons — is a pretty tremendous supermarket.