Madam Speaker, on April 26, I asked a question in the House. I said, “Mr. Speaker,” because it was a “mister” at that time, “inflation hit 6.7% last month”. I wish that had been the worst of it, but unfortunately it went to 8.1% in June.
I continued:
...a 31-year high and well above the Bank of Canada's predictions. Canadians are already struggling to pay their bills, fill up at the pump and put food on the table. Unfortunately, budget 2022 failed to provide any credible solutions, and with the extensive, unfocused spending, it is only going to get worse. The simple fact is that Canadians cannot afford this Liberal-NDP government.
When will the minister acknowledge this cost-of-living crisis we are living in and work on real solutions?
Five months later, I wish I could say things are better, but they are, in fact, worse. A story published today by CTV News indicates that nearly a quarter of Canadians are cutting back on food purchases amid high inflation, and that amid soaring prices at the grocery stores, a new survey has found that 23.6% of Canadians have had to cut back on the amount of food they are buying. This survey, as conducted by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab in partnership with Caddle, was conducted between September 8 and September 10 and involved 5,000 Canadians from coast to coast.
Over the last year, 8.2% said they have had to change their diet to save money on food, and 7.1% said they had skipped meals because of the cost of groceries; 24% of Canadians are literally buying less food due to higher prices. Of that number, 70% are women, so it is highly likely that children are also impacted by what is going on with this high inflation. The survey also found that nearly three-quarters of consumers were changing their buying habits in order to snag better deals at the grocery store, and of the respondents, 33.7% said they were using more loyalty program points to pay for groceries in the last year.
In addition, 32.1% said they were reading flyers more often, and 23.9% said they were using more coupons at the grocery store.