A food fight has erupted in Montreal’s Jewish community, with a west-end deli owner accusing the city’s biggest kosher authority of running an anti-competitive monopoly that is allegedly driving up the cost of meat for consumers.
Mendy Boyarsky, who opened Aleph Meats at the Cavendish Mall this past spring, is asking the Competition Tribunal for leave to argue an abuse-of-dominance case against the Jewish Community Council, which operates the MK Kosher certification agency and brand.
In documents filed with the Tribunal, Boyarsky alleges that MK – “Montreal’s oldest and most well-known kosher certifier” – is using exclusivity arrangements to prevent retailers, banquet halls and other commercial operators from selling meat certified under standards other than its own. This “stranglehold” is allegedly raising prices and jeopardizing his business.
“The respondent’s control over the kosher meat market has kept prices artificially high in an era where Canadians are experiencing high food price inflation and where the Jewish community has faced issues of supply of kosher meat,” reads Aleph Meats’ memorandum.
“Accordingly, the applicant is not able to expand its business and is being directly and substantially affected by the respondent’s exclusionary and abusive practices.”
In an attached affidavit, Boyarsky says he’s able to sell products at lower prices than MK-approved competitors because he sources his meat from a supplier in Argentina and certifies it through KSR, a smaller agency that is not affiliated with the JCC.
But a special deal with the supplier that allows him to order relatively small quantities of meat will expire by June, meaning that he will need access to larger commercial customers if he is to continue his business.
With his filing, Boyarsky is availing himself of recently introduced amendments to the Competition Act that allow private individuals to argue against an alleged abuse of dominance on behalf of the public interest, as well as existing provisions relating to direct effects on their own business.
“It could be turned into a very lucrative business and at the same time, it could help the community dramatically,” Boyarsky told Do Not Pass Go in an interview. “If you go into the supermarket in Toronto or New York, you have 20 guys competing in the meat market. Everybody’s competing, everybody’s undercutting each other, but here in Montreal you have one player, that’s it.”
In its response filings, the JCC says Boyarsky has not produced evidence of exclusive agreements and that any omissions or blockages by commercial customers of his products are results of their own business decisions. Customers are free to sell meat certified by other agencies, but if they do, MK says it must conduct an inspection to ensure the products meet its own certifications.
“MK does not prevent merchants or restaurants from obtaining another kosher certification and MK does not withhold or cancel its certification of a restaurant or of a counter because that latter obtained another kosher certification,” the filing reads.
“We do insist that all products served in those places meet our standards for every product, and in some cases we recognise another kosher certification, and if not we carry out our own verication [sic].”
The organization says Boyarsky is effectively trying to acquire MK certification by sidestepping the official process.
“He wants to be in the MK section with meat that is not certified by the MK, that he never asked the MK to certify, that he never approached the MK to certify, and to go through the process, and wants to force the MK to accept his certification,” Rabbi Haim Nataf told Do Not Pass Go. “That’s unacceptable… he’s trying to impose judicially an MK acceptance [or] certification to KSR meat.”
The JCC’s filings also accuse Boyarsky of holding a grudge over a decision made by the organization’s Beth Din. The rabbinical court ruled against him last year in a financial dispute with another member of the community, and that is now driving the current action, the filings say. Boyarsky disputes the accusation.
“That’s nonsense,” he says. “Even if I did have a vendetta, which I don’t, if an injustice is being done, it should be rectified.”
Boyarsky’s affidavit contains transcripts of recorded phone conversations he had with two vendors in which he attempted to get them to sell Aleph Meats products.
“Given that we have an MK certification for my store… ugh… I can’t... I can’t bring in any other... ugh... any other stock, otherwise ... I risk losing my certification and then I’ll lose my clientele, who comes here only for the MK certification that I have,” IGA Van Horne representative Vacho Lavchev is quoted as saying.
“Dude, are you on crack?” Moishe Rosenblum, owner of deli and caterer Cité Cachère, is quoted as saying. “Like, you know that I’m under the ‘MK,’ so I cannot use or sell your meat and you know that.”
Lavchev could not be reached for comment, while Rosenblum declined to speak about the recording, which was made without his knowledge. (Phone conversations can be legally recorded in Canada as long as at least one party is aware that it is happening.)
The case is awaiting a decision from the Competition Tribunal on whether or not it will be granted leave to proceed.
🎧 ON THE PODCAST THIS WEEK:
SHOULD POLITICIANS BE ABLE TO OVERRULE THE COMPETITION WATCHDOG?
Former Competition Bureau head John Pecman says cabinet should have the right to veto merger challenges in cases involving sovereignty
🥊 COMPETITION
Appearing at the Canadian Bar Association’s fall conference last week, Acting Competition Commissioner Jeanne Pratt made an impassioned speech in support of anti-monopoly and anti-market abuse initiatives in a time of sovereignty building.
The address was something of a counterpoint to our podcast interview above, in which former commissioner John Pecman suggests closer integration between the federal government and the Competition Bureau, or even its subordination to cabinet ministers.
Pratt took aim at the school of thought that is pushing the government to favour big companies, even if it’s at the expense of more competitive outcomes.
“Against the backdrop of Canada’s economic challenges, there is an argument we increasingly hear: Canada is a relatively small economy. Our businesses compete against firms with access to much larger markets. We need more investment. We need big, strong companies capable of weathering the storm,” she said.
“And that leads some to ask whether, in circumstances like these, we should give greater priority to encouraging scale and national champions, and perhaps less priority to competitive domestic markets.”
That’s not the answer, said Pratt, who has been serving as the enforcement agency’s top cop since Matthew Boswell stepped down as commissioner in December.
“Competition is not just a priority for periods of economic growth,” said Pratt. “Competition is one of the things that makes our economy stronger in difficult times.”
The government officially closed applications for commissioner in April but has still not named anyone to the job full time. Pratt is widely believed to have applied for the role, but she has declined to comment on it.
Check out the full speech here.
🛒 GROCERIES & RETAIL
Speaking of the Competition Bureau, its case against DoorDash kicked off at Canada’s competition court last week with the agency testifying that the food delivery company is engaging in illegal drip pricing.
Bureau representatives presented evidence showing additional fees being added at the checkout stage, with some of those charges being incorrectly identified as taxes.
The San Francisco-based company has countered by arguing that DoorDash customers are experienced online users who intrinsically understand that upfront menu prices generally do not include additional fees such as taxes and delivery charges, and that those are added on later.
The Bureau is asking the Competition Tribunal to order DoorDash to cease the surcharge practice, to stop portraying additional fees as taxes, and to pay a penalty. Hearings continue this week with final oral arguments to be made on Nov. 2 and 3.
The Bureau won a similar case against Cineplex in 2024, with the court ordering the theatre chain to pay $39 million. That ruling is still under appeal.
🍿 ENTERTAINMENT
Speaking of Cineplex, the theatre chain last week reported its strongest September box office results ever, with revenue topping $45 million for the month – a 120-per-cent improvement over the same period last year.
The take was buoyed by the continued strong performance of Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey, as well as the unexpected success of Resident Evil. Cineplex also attributed the results to premium formats such as IMAX accounting for more than half of third-quarter revenues, also a record, and noted that average box-office-per-patron exceeded $14 for the first time ever.
The company is unsurprisingly pumping up its numbers as it potentially searches for a buyer, but there’s a potential caveat to the results. Though Cineplex says in its press release that “moviegoers increasingly chose premium formats to enhance their theatrical experience,” attendees may not always have much choice between premium and regular tickets – especially when it comes to major releases.
For example, only premium advance tickets are typically available for Avengers: Doomsday, one of the upcoming holiday seasons’ biggest expected films:
When reached, the company – which accounts for around three-quarters of the box office in Canada – declined to disclose attendance figures comparing this September to last year.
The battle over live event tickets is kicking into high gear in the United States, with a pair of high-profile lawsuits filed last week. First up are platforms including TICKETMASTER, STUBHUB, SEATGEEK and VIVID SEATS, who are suing the city of Washington, D.C. for putting a price cap on resold tickets. The companies say the cap, which limits resale prices to 10 per cent above face value, is unfair and could lead to increased fraud. They also say that forcing resellers to reveal the original prices of tickets is a violation of the First Amendment. This is interesting to watch in Canada, given that jurisdictions here are increasingly banning or putting caps on resale.
On the flip side, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is suing California-based REPS & CO. for allegedly evading purchasing restrictions to buy millions of tickets to events that the broker then resold at big markups. In one example provided by the FTC, the company used 1,3000 accounts to buy 7,624 tickets to a single 2023 Beyonce concert in Kansas City, Miss., generating $833,000 in profit. The company had yet not responded to allegations as of Friday.
🏠 REAL ESTATE
A complex class-action lawsuit regarding real estate brokerage commissions has cleared another hurdle, with the Federal Court of Appeal last week rejecting a slew of attempts to throw out the case.
Toronto resident Mark Sunderland originally initiated the lawsuit in 2021 after he sold a property and paid a standard five-per-cent commission to the buyer’s agent. Sunderland alleged that a number of brokerage firms had conspired, agreed or arranged to maintain, increase or control the price for the supply of buyer broker services for residential real estate in the Greater Toronto Area.
He further alleged that certain other parties, including the CANADIAN REAL ESTATE ASSOCIATION, the TORONTO REGIONAL REAL ESTATE BOARD and several real estate franchisors, had aided and abetted those firms in connection with the conspiracy.
The Federal Court in 2023 struck out Sunderland’s claims against franchisors of the named organizations, such as CENTURY 21 and SUTTON, but allowed the suit to continue against the brokerages and associations. Both Sunderland and the defendants appealed, but the court has now upheld the earlier decision. The case has yet to be certified as a class-action and the parties could seek a further appeal with the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile next door in la belle province, the Competition Bureau last week settled a dispute with QUEBEC PROFESSIONAL REAL ESTATE BROKERS over the organization’s misuse of property data. The agency found that the organization and its subsidiary Societé Céntris was abusing its dominance by refusing or omitting to make a real estate data feed available to its members and restricting how information could be used. The practices were impeding innovation and limiting competition in the real estate brokerage services market, the Bureau said. As part of the settlement, the organization has agreed to provide members with a feed that includes information on sale prices, listing history, property characteristics and other details.
💾 BIG TECH
And yet more news out of Quebec… this time around how iPhones can and can’t be used on TV. La Presse has a fascinating story about how the Radio-Canada production Antigang isn’t allowed to show criminals using the APPLE devices for fear of legal action by the company, which expressly prohibits such uses.
Apple also doesn’t want its iPhones shown to be hacked, used while driving or facilitating online harassment. Faced with what they believe to be a set of ridiculous demands, show producers say they have officially switched to Android devices.
So there’s a spoiler – if you’re ever watching a show or movie where you’re not sure who the villain is, just check out what kind of phone they’re using.
🚨 COMING UP
The U.S. midterms are just a few weeks away and it’s no exaggeration to say the world is watching. On the competition front, the anti-monopoly movement was gaining momentum in the United States and globally – that is, until Donald Trump put a stop to it. With the Democrats poised to take back control of the House and possibly the Senate, could some of that momentum be regained? DAVID DAYEN, executive editor of The American Prospect and co-host of the Organized Money podcast, joins Do Not Pass Go this Thursday to discuss how – or if – the midterms might affect anti-monopoly in the U.S. and internationally.
I enjoy Montreal Smoked meats. I went into our local supermarket and I was amazed at the cost of a box of 4 individual packs of smoked meat portions.
I feel sorry for the average or below income Canadians and wonder how they could afford the cost of most things these days.
One way to improve things is for businesses and consumers is cut the time and cost of business processes.
Governments should embrace benchmarks as well businesses too, to measure all the costs in the systems and their impact on consumers.
If a government takes seven years to approve a project, what effect would that have on costs if the wait time is cut in half?