Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, deputy chairs and members of the committee.
I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about inflation, and food price inflation, specifically. Before I get to the heart of the matter, I'd like to tell you a bit about the Association québécoise de défense des droits des personnes retraitées et préretraitées, or AQDR.
The AQDR has 30,000 members across 37 local branches throughout Quebec. We work to advocate for seniors, but above all, to shine a spotlight on the living conditions of the most vulnerable seniors.
We can't talk about food inflation and the exceptional circumstances we are facing without talking about those whose monthly budgets are severely depleted by food price increases. The purpose of my remarks today is to give a voice to the most vulnerable seniors.
In Canada, two main benefits are available to seniors: old age security, OAS, which is universal, and the guaranteed income supplement, or GIS, which is tied to income. That means seniors who receive the GIS are among the poorest in the country. The low-income cut-offs in Canada are based on the market basket measure, commonly known as the MBM.
The government uses the MBM to set OAS and GIS levels, and low-income cut-offs. The problem with the MBM thresholds is that they are too low to allow for a dignified existence. Seniors have to make agonizing choices given the housing crisis, higher medication costs and evermore expensive food costs. Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that the typical grocery basket of a financially vulnerable senior doesn't look like your average grocery basket. In February, for example, the consumer price index, or CPI, was 5.2%, which isn't enough to offset the 10.6% increase in food prices—double the CPI. For seniors in vulnerable financial situations, that's a huge chunk of their grocery bill. What's more, the indexing of their benefits isn't immediate. It's done quarterly, so in the meantime, seniors are sinking further into poverty. That's the reality.
We want to raise awareness among the public and Canada's big grocery store chains. On one hand, imposing unreasonable price increases that generate excessive profits is equivalent to taking money away from the most vulnerable seniors and putting it in the hands of some of Canada's wealthiest people. On the other hand, I urge the committee members, as part of their study, to consider the disproportionate impacts of inflation on food and other basic commodities, and by the same token, challenge the measures used to define low-income cut-offs. Neither the CPI nor the MBM allow for acceptable poverty thresholds. If the goal is to lift seniors out of poverty, the federal government has to establish a livable income measure and change how it defines poverty, so that everyone receiving old age benefits is able to live a dignified existence.
In conclusion, the problems stemming from food price inflation are the product of the very complicated relationships between farmers, processors and grocers. It is essential to examine supply chain issues to fully understand the problem, but it's also important to examine the unequal repercussions on the other end. The government needs to find ways to better support vulnerable seniors.
In the meantime, let's hope the wealthy contributing to food price increases realize just how much their fellow citizens are struggling. Let's hope a renewed sense of responsibility and civic-mindedness wins out.
Thank you.