Economists and the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers said the plan would lead to shortages, panic buying and other consequences.

NDP Leader David Eby flew to Kelowna on Friday and parked himself in front of a Save-On-Foods to promise that his government, if re-elected, would put a price cap on everyday staples sold by large grocers and set new rules around competition to protect farmers and small retailers.

“We’re going to make sure that for you and your family, that you’re not getting gouged at the till on the essentials that you need,” said Eby.

While Eby said the measures were intended to lower prices and help out small grocers, economists and the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers said they could lead to shortages of key goods, panic-buying and a competitive disadvantage for small grocery retailers.

Included in the plan is a price guard, which will set a cap on margins for large grocery chains on items like milk, eggs and cheese, as well as a ban on anti-competition measures that keep small grocery stores out of communities dominated by larger chains.

The NDP are also promising to institute per-unit pricing to tackle shrinkflation, prohibit AI-powered pricing and work with the federal government to build a regional food terminal in the Lower Mainland meant to allow smaller grocers to bypass the distribution networks of large chains.

Part of his party’s affordability plan, the announcement comes a day after he committed to reducing the province’s gas tax by 10 cents and directing the B.C. Utilities Commission to enforce price limits and target industry margins.

Asked why British Columbians should believe this promise by the NDP to tackle food costs when his previous promise in 2024 to provide a $1,000 grocery rebate to most B.C. families was abandoned, Eby cited the unexpected nature of the trade war with the U.S. as the reason for axing the grocery rebate.

He also touted the elimination of the carbon tax in 2025 as possibly the largest tax cut in the province’s history, although he acknowledged that most British Columbians didn’t feel much of a benefit from it.

“When the conditions changed quite rapidly after the last election, we made a decision to cut the carbon tax and not recover that money for British Columbians,” said Eby, saying this is why his plan to cut the gas tax is so important and why it’s coupled with the directive to the utilities commission to set a cap on margins.

He indicated that the price guard on grocery prices would work in a similar fashion through marketing boards that already oversee the production of staples like eggs and milk to keep prices steady.

A backgrounder provided by the NDP said that “full information is available on input and producer costs” for these products through the marketing boards and that will be used to establish a maximum retail markup for these items.

Gary Sands, senior vice-president for policy and advocacy with the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, said the price cap would backfire on small grocers as independent retailers don’t have the same ability as Loblaws or Walmart to push back against high prices pushed on them by processors.

He also said that for products like dairy that fall under supply management, farmers are paid a base price that rises over time so any impact of the price cap will fall on processors who will then pass it on to small grocery stores because they won’t be able to do it to the big retailers.

“What the government’s proposing here is they’re actually putting the independent grocers in British Columbia at a competitive disadvantage, and also the processors are going to be in a squeeze too,” said Sands.

Economists were equally unimpressed.

Kevin Milligan, a University of B.C. economist, said it will simply lead to black markets for certain goods as well as a whole host of other unintended consequences.

“You want to encourage competition, and you want to make sure that you get regulations out of the way so people can compete, but capping prices is not a measure I could support.” said Milligan.

He said the best thing for the province to do is to help people struggling to afford groceries through support programs and income supplements.

Jock Finlayson, chief economist for the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, said that setting a cap on prices could also lead to shortages of key grocery items and hoarding.

“The studies that have been done showed that most of the cost-drivers of higher inflation since 2021 are further up the supply chain. They’re not at the retail level,” said Finlayson.

“They have to do with the cost of farming, the cost of food processing, the cost of transporting goods, food stuffs from where they’re produced to the retail grocery stores, the cost of fuel, labour supply, labour costs, a whole variety of things.”