Mr. Speaker, this is my first time rising in the House this fall. Unfortunately, in the spring, I did not have the opportunity to thank my constituents, who re-elected me on April 28 with a very clear majority. I am extremely proud to represent them and to be here in the House of Commons for them. I thank them for their trust.
Food inflation has become one of the most painful realities for families in Canada and Quebec. Canadians themselves say that they do not see the Liberals' failure in economic stats; they see it when they go to the grocery store. The Liberal Prime Minister himself said that Canadians should judge his government by prices at the grocery store. Well, Canadians have judged, and they are still judging, and they have clearly given the Liberals a failing grade.
In August, food inflation rose 3.4% compared to last year. That may seem innocuous, but it is 70% higher than the Bank of Canada's inflation target and nearly 80% higher than overall inflation. When we get into the details, it is even more shocking. Beef is up 12.7%. The overall price of meat is up 7.2%. It is a good thing I do not drink coffee, because the price of coffee is up 27.8%. Infant formula, which I do not drink either, is up 6.6%. Even the price of soup, a commodity, is up 5.3%.
These are not luxuries; these are foods that families eat every day and every week. As a result, nearly one quarter of Canadians and 5.5% of households are now food insecure. That is the highest number ever recorded. In Toronto, for example, the Daily Bread Food Bank now welcomes over four million people a year, twice as many as it did just two years ago. Imagine. The number of users has doubled in two years. At the national level, Food Bank Canada gave the Liberal government a terrible grade on its report card on poverty and food insecurity.
I would like to talk about how this debate relates to my constituency, Côte-du-Sud-Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata. Moisson Kamouraska is on the front lines of the fight against food insecurity in our region. It serves thousands of people in the surrounding regional county municipalities, namely Montmagny, L'Islet, Kamouraska, Rivière-du-Loup, Témiscouata and Les Basques. The only RCM from that list that is not in my constituency is Les Basques. My riding has five RCMs and 75 municipalities. That represents a large number of people and municipalities, and the figures are alarming.
In 2024 alone, Moisson Kamouraska responded to 8,977 requests for food assistance, impacting more than 9,000 people. Of those people, 27.8% are children. More than 18,600 meals and snacks were served. I want to highlight a disturbing fact that the director pointed out to me: 34.2% of the people helped by Moisson Kamouraska have jobs. These are people who sometimes work full time but can no longer afford to pay for their groceries. By comparison, only 30% are on social assistance. This means that the middle class has become the main clientele of food banks. The government has been boasting for years that it is helping the middle class, yet today, there are more middle-class people than people on social assistance using food banks.
According to what the director of Moisson Kamouraska told me, right now, the vast majority of clients are not people on social assistance; rather, they are middle-class workers and families who can no longer make ends meet.
The organization also said that food aid in Kamouraska is distributed once a month, and that they have had to come up with alternative solutions, such as community fridges, vegetable boxes and food baskets at a low fixed cost, so that people can cover their basic needs between distributions.
The creativity of community organizations is a testament to their dedication, and we must sincerely thank them for all the work they do. However, let us be clear, it is not normal for working families to have to wait four weeks to get a grocery hamper or to have to use a community fridge to survive.
Again this fall, when school started, Moisson Kamouraska saw an increase in demand both by students and families. Parents who were unable to cover back-to-school costs were forced to use food aid so that their children could have enough to eat. That is the reality in our regions. I could go on.
This is the direct consequence of Liberal inflation. The Liberals have been in power for nearly 11 years. We had consecutive deficits for 11 years in Canada. This created inflation, which has not stopped rising, and, this morning, the Parliamentary Budget Officer told us that the deficit will be at least $65 billion. That is double the amount forecast by the former finance minister, who ultimately did not want to table her budget because it ran too high of a deficit. Things are going from bad to worse.
I would like to highlight the work of Maison la Frontière in Montmagny and Bouffe Pop in Rivière-du-Loup. These organizations provide food assistance in the area that I represent. There are also some in Témiscouata. In reality, these organizations should not even exist. Obviously, they have been around for a long time, but they should not have to exist, because people should not need to rely on them.
According to Statistics Canada, Canadians who earn less than $75,000 a year are now spending 57% of their income solely on basic necessities such as food, housing and transportation. In addition, 43% of Canadians have to spend more than 30% of their income on housing alone.
When we also consider the tax hikes, the 4.2% increase in mortgage interest rates and the 4.5% increase in rent, it is easy to see why so many families are knocking on food bank doors.
In 2023, the Liberals promised to obtain meaningful commitments from five major food retailers to stabilize prices. The member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain, who is now the Minister of Finance, was bragging about it in the House. He said that the Liberals would lower food prices by working with the big chains. The result is that prices have risen by 6.4% since then.
I can say that the reality of the Liberals' record and their misleading promises is only getting worse, as unnecessary spending is piling up. Billions of dollars have been spent on private consultants and the bureaucracy is growing. Again, the Liberals are promising to cut spending in Ottawa by 15%. That is what the Minister of Finance has asked all his ministers to do.
Yesterday, I attended a meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage with officials from Canadian Heritage. The department's budget is $2 billion and I told them that 15% of $2 billion is $300 million. They agreed. Okay, but where are they going to make cuts to save 15%? We are keen to see whether that will come to fruition.
Deficits continue to increase the national debt. Another $65 billion or $100 billion in debt will be added this year. Let us not forget that this is interrelated. The Parliamentary Budget Officer told us this morning that in 2030, or four years from now, we might end up paying up to $80 billion in interest on the country's national debt. That is more than the government spends on health transfers across Canada. It is unbelievable.
All of this fuels inflation and makes Canadian families even poorer. The Conservatives are proposing another way. We will end out-of-control spending. We will cut the red tape. We will scrap costly contracts awarded to consultants. We will help ease the tax pressure and give power back to Canadian families. We will cut taxes and make sure that Canadians can once again afford decent housing, transportation and food.
In my riding, more than a third of people receiving food assistance are middle-class workers. This is unacceptable.
