Mr. Speaker, eight months ago the Prime Minister told Canadians to judge him by their experience at the grocery store. Today's food price report confirms that groceries keep getting more expensive. When the Liberals took office in 2015, the weekly grocery bill was $159. Today it has more than doubled to $338, over $17,000 a year, and next year families will pay an additional $1,000, which will be the largest increase ever recorded.
For rural Canadians, these costs hit especially hard. Many travel farther to shop and have fewer options. Farmers are struggling with soaring input costs, higher debt, and policies that make it more expensive to grow and transport food. Instead of cutting spending and axing hidden taxes that drive up prices, the government keeps raising them.
Canadians are struggling to put food on the table, especially around Christmas. It is time to lower costs and make food more affordable again, especially for people in our rural communities.