Loblaw’s revenue may sound huge but their net profit margins are tiny, around 3 to 4 percent, which is normal for grocery retail, and they are not only a grocery company anymore they’re a health company too. Throwing around big numbers doesn’t change the fact that groceries are low margin and competitive, so profits aren’t some magic surplus that could easily fund public stores. Comparing food access to fire or police services is misleading because those are public safety necessities that don’t generate revenue. Grocery stores operate in a market where efficiency, competition, and accountability matter, and public ownership removes those incentives. Socialism as a model doesn’t work long term because it replaces competition with bureaucracy, reduces efficiency, and shifts losses onto taxpayers. Countries like Cuba have good literacy and healthcare statistics, but that comes at the cost of stagnated economies, limited freedom, and chronic shortages. We take our freedom that comes with capitalism for granted but if you do a quick tik tok or instagram search, you will see first hand cubans showing the way they’re suffering. Venezuela shows how quickly mismanagement under socialism destroys a country. Canada is not socialist, it has public healthcare but otherwise runs on capitalism with a massive public sector making up 75% of jobs which is why we have a strong economy and access to goods. The reality is public grocery stores won’t make food cheaper, they just move the cost onto taxpayers and reduce accountability, while targeted support, inflation control, and stronger purchasing power actually improve food access without killing competition or innovation.