The Competition Bureau of Canada has called off an investigation into Walmart Canada’s controversial supplier fees, Le Journal de Montréal reports. Quebec’s farmers’ union, the Union des producteurs agricoles, turned to the Bureau for recourse last fall after Walmart unilaterally imposed fees of 1.25 percent on suppliers in a bid to fund its store redevelopment. It’s been stymied, UPA president Marcel Groleau says, by a dearth of farmers willing to testify “for fear of reprisals.”
“Producers don’t dare take the risk of testifying and then being excluded as suppliers to Walmart,” Groleau lamented. In response, Walmart spokesperson Steeve Azoulay said the retailer “has an open-door policy for all suppliers, large and small, to encourage them to raise any concerns they may have.”
