Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Fundy Royal for his great remarks. He brought up so many relevant subjects that need to be considered when we consider the implementation of this budget.
In preparation for my remarks today, an old saying came back to me, and I think it bears relevance today. I do not know if fellow members have heard the expression “Don't put the cart before the horse”. When it comes to the government's budget, I have to say that it is a superior example of putting the cart before the horse. What do I mean by that? We are investing tremendous amounts of taxpayer dollars into building an elaborate cart, expanding the cart, growing the cart, making the cart larger and have many compartments and increasing the storage and capacity of the cart while at the same time totally and entirely neglecting the horse.
Let us bring that to terms we can relate to. When we grow the size and scope of government, the cart, the deliverer of services, without ever prioritizing the needs of the horse, Canada's economy, which funds, fuels and hauls the cart of government from one objective to another, we have something that has misplaced the priorities that should be at the top of any government's priority list.
When the priority is growing the size and scope of government while neglecting the very thing that funds and fuels the government, we are going to have a problem. For 10 years, we have called out and criticized oil, gas, energy, agriculture and the many sectors that have helped to make Canada a truly amazing country. It is no wonder that people are frustrated and think we have our priorities wrong, or that the government has its priorities wrong.
We cannot be ever-expanding the load and burden upon fewer and fewer taxpayers. We cannot neglect the sectors that produce the wealth to generate the programs we rely upon, and then continually grow that level of dependence without expanding, rapidly growing and prioritizing the things that fund and fuel the economy.
I challenge the government to reprioritize, to look at the budget and say that maybe there are some things out of order. We are growing the burden on the taxpayer without growing the taxpayer base. We are growing the expectations of future generations of Canadians without growing the economy that will be able to fuel the very mechanisms of government that we are expanding.
To crystallize this, I want to talk quickly about a few categories. I always love alliterations, so I am going to give a few Fs for the pathway forward in Canada.
F number one is making sure that we make food affordable again. It is hard to work, carry out obligations or provide for a family if someone is struggling to put groceries on the table every week. We have seen under the Liberal government that the cost of groceries has doubled in the last 10 years. We are even seeing an expected increase of $1,000 more per year in the next fiscal year, on average, for Canadian households to put groceries on their tables. We are expecting feeding a family of four to cost $17,000 this year, and it will go to over $18,000 next year. For many families, that looks like an insurmountable mountain they must climb when they try to balance that cost with other needs in their households.
I must go further, to the source of food, and look at the increased burdens the government has brought upon our farmers. I have the privilege of serving on the agriculture committee, and trust me, we hear directly from our farmers and producers about soaring input costs. We put our farmers at a competitive disadvantage when they have to pay for things like the industrial carbon tax, the fuel standards tax and packaging taxes. All of this over-regulation and increased taxation is causing an undue burden on those who grow our food and generate food security for not only our country but countries around the world.
If we were to hear the voices of farmers, they would say, if we want to find a pathway forward, to take care of those who grow our food. They would say to take care of our farmers and would tell us to make sure we get out of their way so they can do what they do best, which is to plant, grow and produce good nourishment for Canadians and literally people around the world.