Mr. Speaker, I was quoting the Leader of the Opposition who was reiterating what the Prime Minister said, and that is that a country that cannot feed itself has few options. Well, food inflation has doubled under his watch, and it is the worst in the G7. Groceries will cost the average family an almost unimaginable $17,600 this year. That is after-tax money.
As a result, today's motion is absolutely essential to give families a break so that they are not afraid to go grocery shopping. Right now, families are going grocery shopping with a calculator in hand. They are putting products back on the shelves. They are wondering which bills will go unpaid so that the fridge will not be empty.
What is the government doing while Canadians are making impossible choices? It is doing what it has been doing since the election: making promises, holding meetings, making announcements and speeches, and patting itself on the back for measures that merely stick band-aids on problems that the Liberals themselves created, and meanwhile the bill for Canadians continues to rise.
In October 2023, the current Minister of Finance, who held a different position at the time, said and promised that food prices would stabilize soon. He even held a big meeting with the CEOs of Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, Costco and Walmart. After that meeting, he said he was reassured to see that these people were committed to listening to him and lowering food prices. What has happened since then? The price of food kept going up.
The Prime Minister himself said that he would judged by the prices at the grocery store. Well, Canadians are judging him and the verdict is harsh. What are the facts? Canada has the highest food inflation. The numbers are staggering. In December, food inflation in Canada was 6.2%. In the United States, it was 3.1%. That is half as high for our neighbours to the south as it is here in Canada. Worse yet, Canada tops the G7 when it comes to food inflation.
While the Prime Minister makes speeches and holds press conferences, Canadians are footing the bill. It is true and we see it every time we go to the cash register or walk down the grocery aisles. The price of beef has gone up by 16%; oranges, 15%; apples, 10%; lettuce, 12%; coffee and tea, 26%. Even roasted or ground coffee has increased by 41%. Food inflation has doubled since the Prime Minister was elected, so it is up to Canadians to decide whether the Prime Minister gets a passing grade for grocery prices.
There is a problem with that and it has a major impact for a country like Canada. Hunger is becoming normalized. People are getting used to prices at the grocery store that make no sense. What does it mean when the cost of groceries skyrockets? Community organizations have to fill the void. We have heard many stories over the past few months that make it clear that these organizations are overwhelmed by everything going on right now in Canada. According to Food Banks Canada, close to 2.2 million Canadians are using food banks. Once again, 2.2 million Canadians are using food banks every month. It is not because people are not working. One in five people relying on food banks has a job. What does that mean? Unfortunately, it means that working no longer prevents people from going hungry in Canada—a G7 country, one of the world's powerful countries and a country with the greatest resources. This is happening right here in Canada after 10 years of inflationary Liberal policies.
As I said earlier, the numbers have doubled under the Liberals. In 2014, 841,000 Canadians were using food banks every month. Now, that number is 2.2 million. The unthinkable is happening. Hunger is becoming normal. Meanwhile, we hear the Liberals boasting and saying that they have a plan to deal with the cost of groceries.
We hear the Prime Minister say that we should judge him by grocery prices. We are hearing announcements about helping Canadians deal with the rising cost of groceries, but what is the real plan to tackle inflation? For the Liberals, it seems like the plan is to make food banks become the government's policy to help struggling Canadians, and that is unacceptable.
The Prime Minister loves to say that this is a global crisis. If it were global, we would see the same results everywhere. However, that is not the case. Food inflation in Canada is the highest in the G7, and it is twice as high as it is in the United States. What accounts for the difference? Government-imposed costs all along the food supply chain, that is what.
First, there is the industrial carbon tax. It applies to key things like farm equipment, inputs and processing. It drives up the cost of production, which raises food prices down the line. We hear the Liberals say that businesses are paying it. Yes, but in the real world, businesses are not charities. They pass the cost on to their consumers, their customers.
Then there is the fuel standard. This is another hidden tax on the fuel used by farmers and truckers in the supply chains, and under the Liberals, it will go up to 17¢ a litre. A litre of fuel will cost more. What do members think will happen then? Do they think businesses are going to absorb that cost in the spirit of collaboration and everyone will be happy? They would not be able to make ends meet in those circumstances. They would not have any other choice but to increase the prices of their products and to pass the cost on to consumers, to mothers, to young, single mothers, to parents with children who play sports. These people will all have to make difficult choices at the grocery store yet again.
Finally, the new packaging policy and the ban on certain plastics, which, like it or not, is another hidden tax. This is a tax that will take $1.3 billion out of the pockets of taxpayers, yet again. What does the government expect when it adds costs to producers, processors, transporters and retailers? Does it expect prices to go down when it increases costs continuously? Well, no, prices will go up. That is basic math.
Moreover, the band-aid solutions proposed by the government will not mean prices will come down and stay down. The government expects people to believe it is taking action when it increases some benefit here, a payment there, but where does all this money come from? It comes from taxpayers. The government will give back a portion to taxpayers, and an amount that is more or less equivalent to $10 a week a year for a family, and yet families will need to spend $17,000 a year. They are being offered a weekly $10 coupon even though data show prices will increase by $1,000 this year. Metro recently announced a 3% price hike on all its basic grocery items.
I therefore invite all members to support this motion so we do not forget that each of the statistics I just mentioned represents a family forced to cut back on groceries, on what they eat, on nutritious food for children and the whole family.