Mr. Speaker, I am here tonight to speak about the issue of affordability.
Women in Canada are only half of the population, but they are really struggling. We are talking single mothers. We are talking single seniors. These are some of the poorest people in our country. They cannot afford to eat, heat and house themselves. It is the disastrous policies of the Liberal government over the last 10 years that have led us here.
If we look at food, we know that food inflation is the highest in the G7. It is double what it is in the U.S.A. There are specific items. Lettuce is up 40%. Coffee is up 33%. Beef is up 27%, and baby formula is up 50%. All of these things are making it difficult for people to survive in this country, especially women.
The reason for the food inflation is clear. It is the industrial carbon tax. It is the fuel standard tax. It is the fertilizer tariffs, the fertilizer regulations and the new packaging requirements that are driving costs up. We then see that when it comes to heating our homes or driving our cars to take our kids to soccer, the fuel standard has driven things up 7¢ a litre. That is just piling on to an already unaffordable life.
Housing is difficult as well. The disastrous immigration policies of the government have let millions of people come in without keeping up with the housing supply. I heard the member before me talk about how we have to build 500,000 homes a year, every year, for a number of years, to get out of this housing crisis. What that has done is double the price of housing. It has doubled the price of rent. People who are working hard cannot afford to live.
It so disproportionately affects those who can least afford it, like single mothers and single seniors. The government has a responsibility. I know the status of women minister, of whom I originally asked this question. I have worked with her. I know she cares about the women in Canada. I am the chair of the status of women committee. I care about the status of women in Canada. We are addressing issues that are important, like femicide and intimate partner violence.
However, when people cannot afford to live and put a roof over their heads, then we are not really hitting all the priorities. I think it is becoming of everyone in the House to bring forward corrections to the policies that have led us to this place and to make sure that we can make life more affordable, that we can bring food prices down, that we can take the taxes off gas and home heating and that we can make sure we have a housing supply that brings the housing costs down so that mothers can afford to feed their children, single seniors are not forced to eat cat food, and we can have a better country.
I am counting on the minister to answer my question. What is she going to do to address the affordability crisis that is facing women in Canada?
What policies will the government reverse in order to bring the costs down so that women in this country can afford to eat, heat and house themselves?