Actually I think its a complete lack of a free market thats the problem.

On paper Loblaws has very low margins like all grocery stores, as a recession proof consumer staple stock, around 5% or so. What makes them profitable from what I've read is their real estate portfolio, which like everywhere in Canada is loaded with extreme government bureaucracy to artificially goose land values. Regressive zoning laws, snail paced permitting, no mixed used commercial, inflation that is clearly higher than the CPI which rewards excess borrowing; via financial engineering of our government.

It appears to me to be no different than Canada's housing market, which politicians like our new housing minister Gregor Robinson say prices need to continue to rise, and what do we expect to happen to the poor when that happens?