Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, witnesses.
In particular, it's always great to see a fellow Nova Scotian here before a parliamentary committee. Professor Charlebois, thank you for coming and for coming in person.
Maybe I can start with you. Professor, we know we have record food bank usage in Canada. Over 2 million people a month are using food banks, which is a level we haven't seen in decades. We also know that credit card debt in Canada has increased about $30 billion since 2015, which is a per capita increase of credit card debt of about 20% since then. In any given month, we know that roughly half of Canadians don't pay off their credit card debt. That's according to the Bank of Canada.
A recent poll by Harris done this year, in 2024, found that the reason people have changed their credit card habits as debt has increased is that the prices of goods and services have gone higher. In essence, people are using credit cards to pay for everyday purchases, according to this, like food and things you would normally not use credit for.
I know we've talked about the cost of living as having an impact on the issue of rising credit card debt, with food being a part of that as people are using credit cards to buy food. The basket of food that Canadians purchased for $100 in April 2021 now costs about $121. That is why people are feeling the pinch.
I'd like you to comment, if you could, a bit about about how much the carbon tax is impacting that increasing food pricing, which is increasing the use of credit cards to purchase food and, therefore, credit card debt.