After becoming the most reviled player in the Canadian grocery sector, Loblaws is apparently pushing the Government of Ontario to change legislation in order to allow it to dominate yet another industry.

Inside documents leaked by Global News on Tuesday indicate that executives from the supermarket chain have met with members of Doug Ford's leadership over the last four years to try and convince the province to loosen some of the rules governing the sale of pot at retail storefronts.

Galen Weston's Loblaws has been pushing for Doug Ford to allow him to sell cannabis.

Cannabis licenses in Ontario went from a store lottery to giving buds to his buddies. https://t.co/dvWEfSttmL

— Sarah Colero (@Sarah_Colero) January 16, 2024

Currently, regulations from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario state that dispensaries be completely physically separate from "any other commercial establishment or activity," and also limit marijuana sales through existing online sales platforms, and by companies that sell the substance for medical prescription holders.

These are some of the statutes that Loblaws has been seeking to change in order to allow it, and possibly its subsidiaries such as Shoppers Drug Mart, to branch out into weed retail — something it's already put into motion, based on its C•Shop Cannabis banner, which presently has a blank landing page on the grocer's website.

It’s not about expanding Cannabis sales. It’s about concentrating them.

If every Shoppers, Rexal, Metro, Loblaws, Superstore etc. etc. is selling Cannabis products, the one off/hyper local shops will *poof*.

— @MasterChief (@fuds67111) January 16, 2024

Two C•Shop outposts in Ontario already exist as dispensaries under Loblaw Compaines Ltd. — very distinct from the grocery stores they are located in the same building is, per the rules — with applications for more outposts in the pipeline.

Many online seem to feel that consumers will soon be seeing far more C•Shop locations in the near future knowing Loblaws' chairman and former CEO Galen Weston's sway, as well as Premier Ford's tendencies when it comes to wealthy and influential businesspeople.

"So then I guess it will happen. Ford can't say no to a rich guy asking for a favour," one person wrote in a discussion on the subject on Reddit today.

"Cue the marijuana price fixing scandals!" another joked, referring, of course, to the famous bread price fixing scheme that Loblaws participated in for more than a decade.

Past time to break up the Weston stranglehold on ... pretty much everything.
We used to do things like that because one guy owning everything was considered bad for competition.
But our politicians are so corrupt now, I don't where we go from here, short of a revolution.

— John C (@blue_jay_john) January 16, 2024

As of 2022, Loblaw holds around a 29 per cent stake in the Canadian retail grocery industry through its Loblaws stores, as well as the Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, Valu-Mart and other chains.

Canada's Competition Bureau admitted in a report last year that the sector is far too concentrated and in need of more fair competition, with most Canadians buying groceries in stores owned by only "a handful of grocery giants," all of which have been reporting record profits while shoppers face sky-high prices.