Agreed.
House of Commons Hansard #341 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was farmers.
House of Commons Hansard #341 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was farmers.
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
With regard to the list of over 300 meetings held on Bill C-27, An Act to enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act, the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act and the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts, submitted to the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology on November 21, 2023: what are the details of each meeting, broken down by the (i) date that it occurred, (ii) names of all persons that attended, (iii) topic of discussion related to the meeting, (iv) proposed sections of the bill on which the amendments were discussed?
(Return tabled)
The House resumed consideration of the motion.
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise here today as the new NDP critic for agriculture and speak to a subject that Canadians really care about, a subject the NDP has been the leading force on in this place, and that is the rising price of groceries.
Groceries have gone up 22% over the last three years alone, and since food is one of the biggest parts of any family's budget, and an absolutely essential one at that, this has hit Canadians hard. The use of food banks has hit a 35-year high. Meanwhile, the grocery sector made record profits last year, raking in $6 billion. Loblaw has almost doubled its profit margin in the past five years.
On top of that, other parts of household budgets have also soared, which impacts families, in many cases, as much as, or more than, food prices, and this has aggravated the impact of the rising cost of food. Housing costs have soared. The price of gas at the pumps has skyrocketed as the big oil companies revel in high world oil prices and rake in billions of dollars in record profits, over $30 billion last year alone. All in all, it is easy to see why Canadians are struggling to make ends meet.
As I said, it has been the NDP that has really been fighting for relief from all these rising costs. We have been fighting to stabilize food prices, build affordable housing and provide relief from rising gas prices. We have been putting forward really solid ideas that would actually do that.
Last fall, my colleague, the former NDP critic for agriculture, the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, tabled a motion at the agriculture committee to study the rising costs of food. The motion put forward by the member asked for a study on the recent commitments, at that time, of the government to stabilize and lower food prices. It called for the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Finance to appear, and summoned the CEOs of Loblaw, Metro, Empire, Walmart and Costco. That study resulted in the report we are debating today, which is called “A Call to Action: How Government and Industry Can Fight Back Against Food Price Volatility”.
As I said, the report came out last May, and I could spend some time going through it, but I want to highlight some of the important issues and what the NDP has been asking the government to do about them. This all crystallized on May 31 when the leader of the NDP put forward an opposition day motion that read:
That, given that the cost of food continues to increase while grocery giants such as Loblaws, Metro and Sobeys make record profits, the House call on the government to:
(a) force big grocery chains and suppliers to lower the prices of essential foods or else face a price cap or other measures;
(b) stop delaying long-needed reforms to the Nutrition North program; and
(c) stop Liberal and Conservative corporate handouts to big grocers.
Unfortunately, Liberals, Conservatives and the Bloc, surprisingly, all voted against the motion. However, I want to thank the Green members for supporting us. One Liberal voted for it as well, but I do not know if that was a mistake.
New Democrats were asking the government to force big grocery chains and suppliers to lower the price of essential foods or the government would put in place a price cap or use other measures. Big grocery chains have shown that they have control over their prices when they announce price freezes on store brands. All major grocery stores have their own brands, such as no name. A cap on prices on these items is within the control of grocery stores. If they do not voluntarily cap these prices, the government should force them to do so.
So far, Liberals promised to, “stabilize” food prices, but they have failed to do so. For more than 25 consecutive months, as of last May, food inflation outpaced general inflation, leaving Canadians with higher bills, and the Liberals did nothing. While food inflation is at a more reasonable level right now, in the past three years, as I said, food prices have increased by over 20%. We need government action to lower the prices of essential food items.
After asking grocery giants to come up with a plan to lower prices, the Prime Minister said, “If their plan doesn’t provide real relief for the middle class and people working hard to join it, then we will take further action and we are not ruling anything out including tax measures”.
We got all excited. Unfortunately, we were disappointed. Other countries, such as France, Greece and South Korea have taken steps to lower essential food prices. Price control measures are being used right now in Canada. Many provincial governments impose limits on rent increases. Prices for most forms of energy are also regulated in Canada; obviously, gasoline, diesel and so on are not. Big grocery chains, as I said, have shown they have control over their prices when they have announced price freezes. I just want to go into more detail on what these other countries have done.
In France, the government secured a deal with 75 major companies to lower the price of groceries for 5,000 products. If the grocery companies fail to reduce prices, the government can hold them publicly accountable. For example, the government called out major corporations, such as PepsiCo and Unilever.
In Greece, the government announced gross profit caps for key consumer goods and services in the food and health sectors. In practice, the policy stipulates that the gross profit per unit cannot exceed that of the profits made before December 31, 2021. To ensure enforcement of these measures, international companies can be fined.
In South Korea, in 2023, the president established department-level task forces to monitor and implement food price control measures in key industries. For example, the ministry of agriculture assessed the prices of seven key food items, including milk, coffee, noodles and bread. In 2024, President Yeol adjusted his approach to establish a national-level task force responsible for implementing food price control measures.
What, again, is the NDP calling for? We are asking the government to force these big grocery chains and suppliers to lower the price of essential food for the next six months. If they do not do that, we suggest that the government impose a price cap on those essential foods. The government could take that period to develop options of price regulation measures if big companies of the industry fail to do so. They could look at what other countries have done, as I just mentioned, and how price regulation measures could work in Canada. There are many options at the government's disposal. It could be a straight price cap, in which essential food items cannot be higher than a certain price and cannot be increased above a certain price every year. The basket of food covered could be determined by looking at what other countries have done, or we could start from the 60 items in the Statistics Canada nutritious food basket and go toward all food items that are GST-free. As some economists have suggested, the government could start by forcing big grocery chains to lower prices of their private brand products.
For the NDP, it is critical that any measures taken do not hurt producers or small independent grocers. I will just step back here and say that we certainly want to protect farmers, what they produce and what they make. I grew up on a small farm. I know how hard it is to make money in agriculture, and we do not want to affect them. They are suffering more than ever from all sorts of issues, but these big corporations are causing this food inflation.
The government has other tools at its disposal, such as an excess profit tax, as they have used for banks, at the NDP's bidding. In addition, the government could always implement fines if the companies are not doing what it has asked them to do. It should certainly go the route of excess profit tax on the big oil companies for the prices at the pumps. The Conservatives can talk all they want about how the carbon tax is hitting people. It is the profits of the big oil companies that are really hurting farmers.
The government should stop feeding grocery greed with corporate handouts. When the Conservatives were last in power, they cut the corporate tax rate from 22% down to 15%. It is estimated that this cost the federal government $60 billion in corporate handouts over a six-year period. The Liberals kept those corporate handouts in place. We estimate that the federal government has lost $90 billion through its inaction. Just as another aside, this is all based on the long-debunked theory of trickle-down economics, which says that if we tax corporations less, we will all benefit. That does not happen. It never has.
Due to the Conservatives' corporate tax cuts, it is estimated that Loblaws, Costco and Metro have received $2.35 billion in handouts from the federal government. The New Democrats are calling for corporations to pay their fair share, and we are not alone. President Biden's 2024 budget will increase the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%.
I would like to turn now to nutrition north Canada. This is a hugely important program in the north, where food prices have been extraordinarily high for many years. Nutrition north is designed to lower the cost of essential goods for retailers. It includes a retail subsidy for grocery stores and food producers, grant funding for local harvesters to boost local food production, and funding support for community food programs.
However, new studies show that the price of goods has gone down by only 67¢ for every dollar in subsidy provided by nutrition north. That is particularly concerning, as the subsidy is being delivered to corporations like the North West Company, owner of Northmart, which is bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in profits and paying its executives millions of dollars in bonuses and salaries. While many of these stores operate in indigenous communities, few are owned by indigenous people who live in those communities and most are found in cities like Winnipeg or Montreal. Meanwhile, families in the north cannot afford basic fresh food.
The New Democrats have called for an audit of nutrition north to ensure that corporate greed is not interfering in northerners' access to healthy, fresh and affordable food. No company should be bringing in millions in profits while also needing a subsidy to deliver goods to northern communities. We also believe nutrition north should be reformed to become a social program, not a corporate subsidy, so that families will have more choice in what they put on their plates.
The report we are debating today came from an NDP motion for a study that was tabled almost a year ago. That motion arose from a promise made by the Liberal government almost exactly a year ago. I will finish by reading out a letter sent by my colleague, the MP for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, just last week to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry on the first anniversary of that promise:
One year ago, your Liberal government convened a meeting with the CEOs of Canada's five largest corporate grocers, pledging to stabilize grocery prices and provide relief to families. Despite this promise, the cost of food and other essentials continue to soar, forcing many families to make the impossible choice between buying food and paying rent.
Alarmingly, food bank usage has surged to its highest level since 1989, with over 1 million people in Ontario turning to food banks in the past year. In my home province of British Columbia, almost 200,000 families are relying on a food bank every month.
While families struggle, corporate grocers are reaping historic profits. Between March and June [one quarter] of this year, Loblaws reported an astounding $457 million in profit, all while forcing families to pay outrageous prices for essential items like baby formula.
Instead of stopping the corporate greed that is driving up costs, your government voted against concrete measures that would increase penalties for price fixing, help smaller grocery stores by protecting them against anti-competitive tactics from corporate grocers, give the competition bureau more powers to crack down on abuses like price-gouging consumers, and stop mergers that decrease competition and hurt Canadians—such as the Rogers and Shaw merger.
Canadians expect you to side with them, not the CEO of Loblaws. They expect you to take immediate action against corporate greed, not accept piles of cash to fund the Liberal Party.
But that's what you and your government have been doing, just like the Conservatives did beforehand. Canadians are fed up with how beholden the Liberals and Conservatives are to CEOs. It's a corporate coalition and Canadians have had enough.
The NDP will bring hope and relief to Canadians. We're urging you to stop listening to greedy grocery chains and instead support the NDP's plan to end grocery greed and lower food costs for Canadian families. This includes capping prices on essential grocery items, introducing an excess profit tax on large grocery chains, stopping shady shrinkflation practices, and ending federal handouts to corporate grocery chains.
Canadians are tired of useless meetings with CEOs, they're tired of watching you break promises; it's the people's time, and they demand bold action now.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes
I was not sure if the hon. member was quoting at first, but I do not think he was. I want to remind him not to use the word “you” nor address the government directly as opposed to through the Chair.
The hon. member for Battlefords—Lloydminster.
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Madam Speaker, I listened to the member's speech. Near the beginning of his remarks, he made a comment that the NDP has been fighting for relief for Canadians, so my question is very simple. I just want to know how that is so, given the fact that New Democrats have voted for tax increases at every single opportunity that the Liberal government has given them, and that they have voted 24 times to keep the carbon tax, which is continuing to make life unaffordable. What have they been doing that has made life more affordable for Canadians?
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Madam Speaker, where do I begin? The NDP over the last few years has done so much for Canadians who are truly in need of the help we can provide. We have brought in dental care. Twenty per cent of Canadians cannot afford to go to a dentist. Now they can. Every one of us here gets a free dental insurance program, but not the poorest people in Canada.
We have brought in pharmacare. Canadians go to their doctor for free because of our health system, brought to us by the NDP, but when that doctor provides a prescription, people cannot get that prescription filled if they cannot afford it. Ten per cent of Canadians cannot afford to fill their prescriptions.
We are concentrating on helping the Canadians who need help the most, and we have been very successful in doing that.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes
There were some cross-discussions there, and I would ask members to please, if they want to have cross-discussions, take them outside.
The hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader has the floor.
Agriculture and Agri-FoodCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings
Winnipeg North Manitoba
Liberal
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Madam Speaker, through the supply and confidence agreement between the Liberals and the NDP, we were able to deliver a good number of things to provide relief, whether it was the grocery rebate or the carbon rebates that go out on a quarterly basis. We can talk about the national school food program. All of that was done with a sense of co-operation. Changes to the Competitions Act are dealing with issues the member opposite has raised. A number of initiatives have made a difference to the degree that we now have a 2% inflation rate.
My question to the member is this: Would he not agree that by working together, we were able to accomplish a lot of the things that are so important to Canadians?
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Madam Speaker, to a large extent, I do agree. I came here to work collegially and co-operatively with everyone here to get the help my constituents needed. That is what I am here for. I am not here to fight political fights. I am concentrating, and I think the whole NDP caucus is concentrating, on what is good for Canadians.
When we entered the confidence and supply agreement, some of us were a bit concerned about co-operating with the government, because we knew what the Liberals had done in the past, but we thought it would help Canadians. We brought in dental care. The Liberals and the Conservatives had voted against dental care within the last couple of years. We brought in pharmacare. The Liberals and the Conservatives had voted against pharmacare. Yes, we appreciate that co-operation, and I think we have accomplished a lot.
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
Madam Speaker, I know my colleague is very interested in agricultural issues. However, I would like to come back to a fairly major issue for the farming community in my riding of Shefford. There was a question earlier about the Liberals, but it could have easily applied to the Conservatives at other times. It is about supply management.
We have been waiting for this bill for over a year now. At one point, both the Conservatives and the Liberals were blocking it, but is it not time to set aside political partisanship and move forward on this crucial and important issue of supply management for producers in Quebec and elsewhere?
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Madam Speaker, I would agree that the NDP has always supported supply management. We think it is a very good way of organizing the farmers who produce our dairy, our milk, our cheese, our poultry and our eggs. These things are essential to Canadians. That is an example of putting a cap on prices and managing prices to help Canadians and farmers at the same time.
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his excellent speech and for all the intelligence, wisdom and experience he brings from the agricultural sector. I want to ask him about the cost of the climate crisis. The Conservatives seem to know the price of everything and the value of nothing. There is an old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
What is the cost to Canada's agricultural community of failing to deal with the climate crisis?
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Madam Speaker, I will concentrate on the agriculture sector in my riding. South Okanagan—West Kootenay is largely in the fruit industry and in wine, grapes and vineyards. That industry has been literally hammered in the last two years by climate change because we have had these remarkably mild winters followed by, over a matter of 12 hours or a day, a radical shift to sub-zero temperatures, which are very cold for us. There are temperatures below -20°C.
We almost never get such temperatures. That has killed off a lot of the vines. It has certainly destroyed the grape crop for this year. It has killed off the peaches, the apricots, a lot of the plums and the cherries. Of the fruit industry in the Okanagan, the cherries are the most lucrative crop that can be grown. It is much better than growing grapes. Those crops have been literally destroyed this year by climate change. That is just a snapshot of how climate change is affecting agriculture in this country.
Warren Steinley Conservative Regina—Lewvan, SK
Madam Speaker, I welcome the member to the ag committee. I have served on it for four years and look forward to his contributions.
At the start of the member's speech, he talked about being excited about the possibility of the Prime Minister and the Liberals taxing grocery stores more to try to lower food prices. He said that might be one of the options.
Can the member give me an example of when we have taxed someone more and the price went down?
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Regina—Lewvan for that question. Maybe he does not understand how taxes work. This would be tax on profits. The grocery companies have had record profits. In the last few years, they have made billions of dollars in profits while Canadians struggle to put food on the table. This would tax those profits, and it would not affect the bottom line. I am talking about the big corporations, such as Loblaws, Sobeys and Metro. It would be taxing their excess profits.
Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC
Madam Speaker, would my colleague from South Okanagan—West Kootenay outline for us here in the House whether the federal NDP would adopt the same policy as the provincial NDP, axe the tax and give Canadians some relief by eliminating the federal carbon tax?
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for that question because I know he was a member of the B.C. government that brought the carbon tax to Canada.
Agriculture and Agri-FoodCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Madam Speaker, I apologize and withdraw that statement; it was one of his neighbours.
All I will say is that the federal NDP would have a very strong climate policy, the best in this House. It would be better than the Liberals and better than the total lack of a climate policy from the—
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès) Liberal Alexandra Mendes
We have to move on.
The hon. member for Beauce.
Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC
Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my hon. colleague from Foothills.
Today, I would like to acknowledge the important work that the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food has done over the past few months. I will quote in particular the 18th report, which is on food price stabilization across the country.
Let me be clear, we agree with majority of the committee's report and its recommendations. However, some aspects of the report need to be highlighted, and Canadians need to be aware of the Liberal government's policies and decisions that are contributing to increasing food prices and jeopardizing Canada's food security.
Unfortunately, this is a report that was done twice, which is a waste of both the House's precious resources and time that Canadians do not have to waste. Two years ago, we finished the same report and tabled our findings, but the government chose not to respond to any of our recommendations. That is a big part of my frustration. At the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri‑Food, we work very hard together, but few of the recommendations have been implemented by the government since I have been a member of that committee, which is nearly four years. I am very disappointed because we gave this a lot of thought. Our work and the recommendations we make reflect the importance that should be given to the agriculture sector and agri-food development.
Last year, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry wrote to the committee asking us to study this very subject as part of what I consider a politically motivated PR stunt. He did not even realize that the initial report already existed. This happened in the space of three months. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry said that he would stabilize food prices by Thanksgiving of 2023, but he did not keep his word. In the report, as well as the Conservatives' dissenting opinion, we find many solutions that could be implemented today to help ease the difficulties facing all Canadians.
I would like to list a few of the most important solutions.
Witnesses at every meeting brought up the carbon tax. It is wiping out our farmers' revenues and forcing millions of Canadians to use food banks. The cost of farm inputs and transportation is skyrocketing, and the upshot is that more and more Canadian families are going hungry. One in five Canadians is skipping meals just to survive.
However, my “Liberal Bloc” colleagues will say that the carbon tax does not affect Quebec. How out of touch with reality can they be? Just yesterday morning, I met with people who were telling me about the impact that this tax is also having in Quebec. We do not produce everything in Quebec, and most of the products that come from Canada are directly affected. This tax also affects grocery prices. Every time a Quebecker shops at the grocery store, they indirectly pay the carbon tax, which, as I just said, is applied to goods and transportation all along the supply chain. Farmers and homeowners also pay the carbon tax directly when they fill their propane tanks with propane, which is all imported to Quebec from elsewhere in Canada.
The inflationary deficit is another important point. The government has dug us into such a deep hole with inflationary deficits that future generations will have to pay the bill for years to come. Farm succession plans are in ruins, and the next generation does not even know if they will continue farming. They can thank the Liberals, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP for that. Food bank usage has never been higher. Millions of Canadians have to turn to food banks to put food on the table.
In my riding, an organization called Moisson Beauce, which serves over 50 organizations throughout the greater Chaudière-Appalaches region, is struggling to meet demand. I can corroborate that information. I met with people who work at this organization just 10 days ago. It is extremely sad. I have never seen anything like it in my entire life in Beauce. These comments come from the people and the many volunteers who work at the food bank.
Risk management programs need to be improved. As my Bloc Québécois colleague mentioned earlier, I do not know how many of the committee's studies have recommended reviewing all risk management programs and aligning them with the realities of the agricultural sector in 2024.
Considering the changing weather conditions and financial realities, such as rising interest costs, the government must take the lead and make significant changes to further protect farm families. Last year, 44% of fruit and vegetables were sold at a loss. That is an alarming number, and it raises the question as to why the government is not doing something about that. It would rather bring in produce from abroad by truck or plane while taxing farmers and causing unnecessary pollution with all these imports.
Revenues continue to fall. Net farm income in 2023 in Quebec fell by 42.9%, which is quite significant. One in five farms in Quebec have also reported not being able to repay their debts because of rising input costs, transportation costs and, especially, interest costs in recent years. The cost of the Liberal carbon tax is also one of the main reasons, and it needs to be axed now.
An important issue I would like us to look into is the fertilizer tariffs. There was the incoherent Liberal plan to charge a 35% tariff on Russian fertilizer, which is still in place today and is costing farmers a fortune just to run their operations efficiently. The government made that decision at a time when it was extremely difficult to procure fertilizer at a reasonable price around the world. Farmers are being fleeced, paying much higher than market value for the fertilizer they need to grow crops and feed the public.
Our party and many stakeholders have called for this tariff to be removed and the money returned to farmers, but the Liberals refuse. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance has even made an exception in recent months so that critical minerals from Russia are exempt from tariffs, yet she still refuses to give farmers a discount on such essential products as fertilizer. All of that to say that the government's ideological pursuit of penalizing greenhouse gas emitters through carbon tariffs and taxes without properly recognizing those who have been mitigating, eliminating and sequestering greenhouse gas emissions for years, if not decades, is short-sighted.
Inflationary taxes and bad policies increase production costs for businesses and farmers, contributing to higher prices. We cannot tax farmers, truckers and grocers without impacting consumers at the grocery store.
A Conservative government will act quickly to remedy the situation. Fortunately, all parties will have the opportunity to make a common-sense decision this Wednesday to bring down the Liberal government. Canadians will be listening, and I hope my colleagues will move in the right direction.
Agriculture and Agri-FoodCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings
Winnipeg North Manitoba
Liberal
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Madam Speaker, I am wondering if my colleague across the way can explain why the Conservatives say the issue of farming and agriculture is so important to them when they have had dozens of opposition days and not once have they ever listed it as a priority issue. I find that unfortunate. Instead, they want to use it as a tool to filibuster, and that is somewhat disappointing.
Does the member believe enough in what he has said and in other aspects of agriculture that he would recommend that his caucus start bringing forward opposition day motions to deal with important issues about our farmers?
Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC
Madam Speaker, I find it rather odd that the member for Winnipeg North is asking this kind of question. He is asking me whether I am comfortable with what I just said. Yes, I am very comfortable.
On Wednesday, Parliament will have the opportunity to tell this government that it disagrees with all of its policies. I listed several of them in my speech. I hope that, on Wednesday, members will be able to vote to trigger an election as quickly as possible.