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It’s no secret that government has insidiously intruded into almost every aspect of our lives. But if there is one thing that should be self-evident that politicians shouldn’t stick their noses into, it’s what private businesses stock on their shelves.

Sure, there are some potentially dangerous products that most people would agree should be controlled. No one thinks it would be a good idea for Home Depot to stock nuclear warheads next to lawnmowers (not that they’d do such a thing, anyway). But when it comes to products that are decidedly less dangerous, or even healthy, like — oh, say — ketchup and water, the government has no business telling companies whether or not they can be sold, or what brands should be on offer.

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As the National Post editorial board astutely pointed out last week, it was wholly inappropriate for a sitting member of Ontario’s governing Liberal party to threaten to boycott the grocery store chain Loblaws, when the company took French’s ketchup, which is made using Ontario tomatoes, off its shelves because of lacklustre sales. While trying to use your office to organize a boycott is not as bad as forcing change through regulation or legislation, politicians rarely have any compunction about employing more coercive methods when they don’t get their way.