Deputy prime minister and finance minister Chyrstia Freeland told Canadians Wednesday the Liberal government is “prepared to use” tax policy to “stabilize mounting grocery costs." The finance minister’s comments come on the heels of Statistics Canada’s survey published Tuesday reporting nearly seven million Canadians, 18%, report they had some level of food insecurity in 2022. “It’s a very important issue,” Freeland said on the skyrocketing food prices in Canada. “It is something we are absolutely focused on.”“And we are prepared to use every tool in our tool box, including tax policy, to make sure that prices stabilize.” Freeland also decried high profit rates of the country’s biggest grocery conglomerates and said to expect “historic changes” to competition law in Canada while speaking at the press conference in Quebec. "We need to bring more competition into the Canadian economy, particularly in the grocery sector," she said. “Changes to competition law in Canada are really significant, the changes that we are proposing are historic, and they’re going to make a big difference too.”.Loblaw Companies Ltd. and Metro Inc. reported a third quarter profit of $621 million, up from $556 million a year ago and Metro reported a profit of $222.2 million, up from $168.7 million, according to BNN Bloomberg.“The price of groceries has been one of the sharpest thorns in Canadians' sides amid a broader swell of inflation that peaked last summer,” Bloomberg wrote. “Many Canadians are still grappling with an overall higher cost of living, including rent, mortgage payments and grocery bills.”In September the Liberal government introduced legislation giving certain powers to the Competition Bureau that would allow them to collect market data from the grocery giants and prevent them from collaborating when it would be “detrimental to competition and choice.” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre raised issues with the Justin Trudeau Liberals’ move, which also included pressuring grocers to meet with the industry minister Francois-Philippe Champagne to present plans on how they will lower food prices. Poilievre maintains the only way to deal with the spiking food costs is to “cap the spending, balance the budget and bring down inflation and axe the carbon tax.”"[Trudeau's] only plan so far is to bring in a carbon tax on the farmers who produce the food and the trucks who ship the food," he said. “Under Justin Trudeau, onions are up 69%, cabbage is up 70%, carrots are up 74%, lettuce 94%” Poilievre pointed out. “Now he’s going to hold a big meeting! To reverse the massive increase.""This is more political theatre," he said "Justin Trudeau is an actor. But we actually needed action.”"Of course the grocery stores are making more money than they should, because that’s what happens when the government prints money.”“I stood in the House of Commons in the fall of 2020 and I said the money printing bonanza would lead to more billionaires making more money and the working class was going to get screwed."“And that’s exactly what has happened. Three years later, the rich are getting richer and the working class and seniors are getting poorer because of the inflationary policies of Justin Trudeau and the NDP.”
Deputy prime minister and finance minister Chyrstia Freeland told Canadians Wednesday the Liberal government is “prepared to use” tax policy to “stabilize mounting grocery costs." The finance minister’s comments come on the heels of Statistics Canada’s survey published Tuesday reporting nearly seven million Canadians, 18%, report they had some level of food insecurity in 2022. “It’s a very important issue,” Freeland said on the skyrocketing food prices in Canada. “It is something we are absolutely focused on.”“And we are prepared to use every tool in our tool box, including tax policy, to make sure that prices stabilize.” Freeland also decried high profit rates of the country’s biggest grocery conglomerates and said to expect “historic changes” to competition law in Canada while speaking at the press conference in Quebec. "We need to bring more competition into the Canadian economy, particularly in the grocery sector," she said. “Changes to competition law in Canada are really significant, the changes that we are proposing are historic, and they’re going to make a big difference too.”.Loblaw Companies Ltd. and Metro Inc. reported a third quarter profit of $621 million, up from $556 million a year ago and Metro reported a profit of $222.2 million, up from $168.7 million, according to BNN Bloomberg.“The price of groceries has been one of the sharpest thorns in Canadians' sides amid a broader swell of inflation that peaked last summer,” Bloomberg wrote. “Many Canadians are still grappling with an overall higher cost of living, including rent, mortgage payments and grocery bills.”In September the Liberal government introduced legislation giving certain powers to the Competition Bureau that would allow them to collect market data from the grocery giants and prevent them from collaborating when it would be “detrimental to competition and choice.” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre raised issues with the Justin Trudeau Liberals’ move, which also included pressuring grocers to meet with the industry minister Francois-Philippe Champagne to present plans on how they will lower food prices. Poilievre maintains the only way to deal with the spiking food costs is to “cap the spending, balance the budget and bring down inflation and axe the carbon tax.”"[Trudeau's] only plan so far is to bring in a carbon tax on the farmers who produce the food and the trucks who ship the food," he said. “Under Justin Trudeau, onions are up 69%, cabbage is up 70%, carrots are up 74%, lettuce 94%” Poilievre pointed out. “Now he’s going to hold a big meeting! To reverse the massive increase.""This is more political theatre," he said "Justin Trudeau is an actor. But we actually needed action.”"Of course the grocery stores are making more money than they should, because that’s what happens when the government prints money.”“I stood in the House of Commons in the fall of 2020 and I said the money printing bonanza would lead to more billionaires making more money and the working class was going to get screwed."“And that’s exactly what has happened. Three years later, the rich are getting richer and the working class and seniors are getting poorer because of the inflationary policies of Justin Trudeau and the NDP.”
