Agriculture Committee on Oct. 20th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Folks, I'd like to call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 46 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

Do we have anyone on Zoom today, or any of the members? No. Okay.

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Before we start, I'd like to make a few comments for the benefit of witnesses and members.

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Pursuant to the order of reference of Wednesday, April 22, 2026, the committee is commencing its study of Bill C-226, an act to establish a national framework to improve food price transparency.

I'd now like to welcome our witness who's joining us here: the member from Fleetwood—Port Kells.

Mr. Saini, thank you so much for joining us today.

I'll provide you with five minutes to speak, and then we will open it up for the first round of questions.

Before I start, I know that Mr. Barlow is not here, but I'd like to thank him for chairing the last two meetings while I was away.

Thank you, Mr. Barlow.

Go ahead, Mr. Saini. You have five minutes.

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss Bill C-226, an act to establish a national framework to improve food price transparency.

For a member of Parliament, having the opportunity to introduce a private member's bill is a great privilege. When the time came to bring forward my first private member's bill, I wanted to address an issue of practical importance that could make a meaningful difference in the daily lives of Canadians.

In conversations with constituents, community organizations and families in my riding, I repeatedly heard concerns about the rising cost of groceries and the pressure it places on household budgets. While food affordability is a complex issue influenced by many factors, a common theme that emerged from this discussion was the need for greater transparency and clearer pricing information at grocery stores.

These conversations inspired me to introduce Bill C-226. At its core, the principle behind the legislation is simple. Consumers cannot make informed decisions if they cannot properly compare prices at the grocery store. Through this bill, I am proposing a practical and collaborative approach to improving food price transparency across Canada.

As I looked more closely at this issue, one challenge quickly became clear. While unit pricing, such as the cost per gram, kilogram, litre or millilitre exists in some jurisdictions, its application varies widely across the country. Clear and consistent unit pricing helps consumers understand the actual cost of products and better identify value. It can also help consumers recognize when package sizes change while prices remain the same, allowing them to make more informed purchasing decisions.

For seniors, students, newcomers and families living on tight budgets, even small differences in price can have a meaningful impact on their household finances.

This bill is about transparency. It's not intended to create burdensome regulation or dictate how provinces, territories or retailers should manage their operations. It proposes a collaborative national framework that promotes greater consistency, transparency and consumer awareness.

It is important to emphasize that this legislation respects provincial and territorial jurisdiction. It recognizes that implementation may vary across the country and that different regions face different realities. Rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all approach, the framework is intended to encourage co-operation and promote common principles while recognizing that different regions face different realities.

I am confident that hearing from a broad range of witnesses will help inform the committee's study and contribute to the development of a framework that is practical, effective and responsive to those realities.

Mr. Chair and members of the committee, Canadians expect us to look for practical ways to improve their daily lives. Bill C-226 represents one such opportunity. This bill can help create a more transparent grocery marketplace and provide consumers with the information they need to make informed choices.

Thank you. I look forward to hearing questions from you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Thank you very much, sir.

We'll start our first round for six minutes with the Conservatives.

Go ahead, Mr. Epp.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, MP Saini, for bringing this bill forward.

Let me ask you this, sir: What problem are you trying to solve with this bill?

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

There are two issues that go hand in hand. There's affordability and there's transparency.

Our government has done a lot to resolve the affordability issue. We introduced the Canada groceries and essentials benefit in July. That will give families of four close to $1,900. We have removed taxes on diesel and gasoline, which is saving families about $247—

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

I apologize for interrupting.

In your opening statement, you mentioned the rising cost of food. You're not trying to address the rising cost of food. You're trying to give money from taxpayers back to taxpayers to address the rising cost of food.

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

When a person goes to a grocery store, he has no clue.... There may be three items on the shelf. Their prices and contents vary.

I'll give you an exact example. When my bill was introduced, my local newspaper went to three different stores. They picked up a jar of honey. One store was selling that jar of honey for $7; the next store was selling it for $8.20, and the most expensive store was selling it for $9.80. The consumer had no way of knowing what the contents were. What is the best value they can get?

My bill, if it is passed, will put those prices per gram or kilo on each so that Canadians can compare and do their shopping based on this.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

My understanding is that the large retailers are now doing this voluntarily, without legislation. Your information is that retailers are not providing that information to consumers.

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Of the three stores the newspaper visited, only one store gave those prices. The other two did not, because there is no law that requires them to do it.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Do you know if they were major retailers or small stores?

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

I am very proud to say that Quebec has this legislation. Quebec is the only province in Canada in which it is mandatory. I wanted to make sure that all Canadians across our country follow the very fine example Quebec has set so that they can make informed decisions based on the facts.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

I'll come back to that in a moment.

Going back to the costs being imposed upon retailers with this potential legislation, major retailers are providing this information. Are you saying it should become mandatory for small retailers to also provide this?

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Not all major retailers are providing it, because it's not mandatory. They are doing whatever suits their needs.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Your position is that it should become mandatory.

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

I want all retailers to display those prices to make it easier. I'll give you an example—

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

That's okay.

I'm going to get at the process. If your goal is to make this mandatory.... You're suggesting a framework. Your government is in power. Why not bring in legislation?

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

This is a private member's bill. It's not a government bill.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

That's right.

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

When I was going house to house during the election, this was one of the biggest things I heard from Canadians. This is what they're looking at.

There is information. Stats Canada has done some of the work. Between 2022 and 2024, it looked at why the cost was going up, and 29.6% of these costs went up because of shrinkflation, because the package size was going down and the prices either kept going or were more....

This is what we are trying to avoid, so Canadians can have an informed decision.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

I agree with you that the price of groceries is rising, but I don't agree that you're addressing the driver of those rising costs. That's what I'm looking for.

Why not address the embedded carbon tax? Why not address all the regulations on front-of-pack labelling and the other things that are actually driving up the costs?

You're looking for transparency, but if I hear you correctly, you're trying to make this mandatory—I'm sure my colleagues will get into this as well—which is clearly provincial jurisdiction.

Is the purpose of your bill to make cost-per-unit pricing displays mandatory?

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

This legislation will create a framework with which the government will consult with retailers, seniors, every part of the industry, and the provinces and territories. It's not something they are going to be forced into.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Let me follow up on that. If a province or territory disagrees, what is the plan? Are you then suggesting that retailers that have a footprint across the country have different programs in different provinces?

If a province chooses not to participate or doesn't agree—because I'm hearing you agree that this is provincial jurisdiction; in fact, the Minister of Agriculture was told explicitly by officials that this was provincial jurisdiction—what's the plan?

[Gurbux Saini, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

We need to have the will to make things happen. I'll give you a prime example.

Australia, New Zealand and the European Union, which has 27 countries, went through the same process, because there was a collaborative approach in the consultation. They agreed to do that. I'm sure our 10 provinces and three territories will agree if there's a consulting process.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Thank you, sir.

We'll go next to the Liberals for six minutes.

Go ahead, MP Dandurand.

[Marianne Dandurand, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much, Mr. Saini, for this bill you are putting forward.

As a Quebecker, I cannot say how many years we have had the….

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