The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, June 23, edition that Competition Bureau head Matthew Boswell believes the $50-million fine handed to Grupo Bimbo's Canada Bread this week "sends a strong message" to discourage other companies from colluding with rivals to fix prices. The fine against Canada Bread announced Wednesday represented a major step forward in the bureau's more-than-seven-year investigation into allegations of an industry-wide scheme to inflate the price of bread in Canada. Mr. Boswell made it clear that it is far from over. The investigation began in 2016, after Loblaw and George Weston disclosed the scheme in exchange for immunity. Grupo Bimbo, which acquired Canada Bread in 2014, has agreed to pay the fine, resolving the investigation into the company. According to the court document, Canada Bread's former owner, Maple Leaf Foods, did not disclose the conduct to Grupo Bimbo before the $1.83-billion acquisition, and the buyer was not aware of any possible wrongdoing until the investigation became public in 2017. A statement by Maple Leaf Wednesday denied awareness "of any wrongdoing by Canada Bread or its senior leadership during the time that we were a shareholder."