Manitoba bill targets technology that could alter grocery prices for some shoppers – Winnipeg

Finance Minister Adrien Sala says a bill introduced in the legislature last week is aimed at ensuring shoppers won’t be charged different prices for the same product from the same store.

Sala pointed to a recent investigation by Consumer Reports and two advocacy groups in the United States, which says some online shoppers using a third-party platform were charged different prices for the same item bought at the same time from the same seller.

Sala says technology can allow for companies to use personal data to set different prices for individuals, and the government is moving to ensure it doesn’t happen in Manitoba.

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The Retail Council of Canada has said its members haven’t engaged in such pricing.

Sala said the bill, if passed into law, wouldn’t ban discounts for members of loyalty programs but would ensure prices are not changed based on shoppers’ personal data, shopping history or other factors.

“We’re in an environment where we’re seeing businesses use (artificial intelligence) more and more extensively,” Sala said.

“We want to make sure that personal data is not being used and weaponized against consumers to raise costs.”

The bill also covers the possibility of in-store price adjustments targeting individuals through electronic shelf labels, which can be changed quickly.

“As we start to see … digital labelling in stores, we’re going to see a blurring of those lines between online and in-store environments. So that makes it even more important that we get ahead of this issue,” Sala said.

Sala didn’t say how the NDP government would police prices or enforce the ban on predatory pricing.

The NDP made affordability a key part of its 2023 election campaign and the government has already tried to tackle grocery prices.

Kinew said in 2024 that he expected prices to be controlled when the province temporarily suspended its fuel tax. But food inflation in Manitoba was, for a time, higher than the national average due to factors including high beef prices on the Prairies.

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