I've actually addressed this issue several times during my visits to Ottawa. Fully measuring the impact of the carbon tax on retail prices is extremely difficult to do, which is why our lab has focused more on wholesale prices and up the food chain. We have always believed that the carbon tax may impact our agri-food sector's competitiveness, because retail prices can be affected by several factors, including promotions, consumer behaviour and the weather. A lot of things can impact prices, especially with dynamic pricing coming in with AI. We're seeing more prices fluctuate on an hourly basis now, so it's hard to correlate a policy affecting the entire supply chain with retail prices.
However, one of the policies pushing prices higher is taxes at the retail level, and I have advocated for the elimination of all taxes on many food products. Because of shrinkflation, there's an increasing number of products that are being taxed at retail, and many of them are healthy options. In the Food Banks Canada report this week, entitled “Hunger Count 2024”, it was suggested that retail sales be eliminated, and I support that.