Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to rise in the House today to speak to the bill before us.
Canadians are not confused at the grocery store; they are frustrated and angry, yes, as they are being crushed by prices that keep rising while the Liberals here in Ottawa just keep talking.
The Conservative approach is straightforward and is grounded in reality: If the government wants lower grocery prices, it must stop doing the things that make groceries more expensive. That means ending inflationary deficits that devalue paycheques. It means removing the hidden taxes on farmers, truckers, processors and retailers that get passed directly on to consumers. It means cutting red tape that raises operating costs and limits supply. It means strengthening competition so Canadians have real choice and real downward pressure on prices.
Canadians are reaching out for the first time in their life, many of them, because some are being forced to choose between food, heat, rent and medication. Food banks across Canada are reporting record demand, with nearly two million visits in a single month last year, and food bank usage has almost doubled in just four years. Many of the people turning to food banks are working Canadians who have never before needed help.
At the same time, families are paying hundreds of dollars more per year for groceries, while rent, mortgage payments and interest costs have surged. According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, federal taxes and inflationary policies are driving up costs throughout the food supply chain, meaning that Canadians are paying more not because they are confused but because government policy has made essentials more expensive.
None of my constituents have asked for federal framework or an explanation of price labels. They do not ask Ottawa to explain inflation to them; they ask when the government will stop driving up costs and start delivering the relief they can see at the checkout counter.
Here is what Bill C-226 is actually proposing to do, in simple terms. It would instruct the Minister of Industry to consult with provinces and create a national framework about how grocery prices are displayed. That framework would set out standards for unit pricing, outline price increases and promote consumer education about how to read unit prices.
The bill would not change prices. It would not regulate supply costs or competition. It would not cap prices or reduce taxes. It would create a process. First there would be consultations, then a written framework and then a report to Parliament within 18 months. Then, five years later, there would be another review and another report on how that framework worked. In other words, Bill C-226 is about explaining the problem, not fixing it.
Families need relief now. Bill C-226 would offer a report in 18 months and a review in five years. The timeline may suit a bureaucracy, but it would do nothing for Canadians facing higher food prices this week.
Bill C-226 would require more new federal spending to design, manage and oversee a national framework, followed by ongoing reporting and reviews. None of that is free; it is funded by the taxpayer and financed in an environment where deficits are already massive. Every dollar spent by the government adds to inflationary pressure, and inflation is the tax that Canadians pay every time they buy food.
When the government creates new rules, standards and compliance requirements, businesses absorb those costs only on paper. In reality, they are passed on to consumers through higher prices. Canadians are already paying too much for food. They do not want policies that make groceries more expensive in exchange for better explanations for why groceries are expensive; they want cheaper food.
There is also a credibility problem that Canadians recognize almost immediately. The government has already failed to control inflation, failed to keep deficits in check and failed to make life more affordable. Now it is asking Canadians to trust that the same government can fix grocery prices by supervising how they are going to be displayed in the grocery store.
The bill treats public frustration as a communication failure rather than as a policy failure. It assumes that if prices are explained better, families will feel relief, but families do not feel explanations. They feel higher bills. They feel paycheques that buy less. They feel interest rates and grocery prices that are rising. If the government were serious about affordability, it would start by fixing what it can control: inflationary spending, punitive taxes, and policies that raise costs across the economy.
Some members will say this is harmless. They will say that we can have transparency and affordability at the same time, but government capacity is not infinite, and neither is the patience of Canadians facing record food prices. Every dollar spent, every regulation imposed and every hour of legislation time devoted to this framework is a dollar, a regulation and an hour not used to reduce costs, cut taxes or bring inflation under control.
In an affordability crisis, priorities matter. When the government chooses a process over price relief, it hurts Canadians. I do not doubt that some members supporting the bill believe it is helpful, but belief does not lower grocery prices. Intent does not reduce inflation. Only policy that cuts costs delivers relief to Canadians.
When Canadians look at this bill in context, a pattern becomes clear. Instead of tackling the hard issues of grocery prices, the government reaches for measures that look like action without producing results. Frameworks, consultation, education campaigns and reports create the appearance of concern, but they do not tackle the real issue and change what families actually have to pay.
This is why Conservatives call this bill a distraction. It treats frustration with prices as a communication problem rather than an affordability problem. It assumes Canadians need an explanation, when what they actually need is action from their government and results that are measured at the checkout counter, not in federal reports. A government that caused the affordability crisis cannot fix it with better messaging; only policy change produces results.
This bill fits a familiar Liberal pattern: When prices rise, they spend more, regulate more and explain more, while Canadians pay more. Conservatives would end inflationary deficits. When the government spends beyond its means, year after year, the cost is paid through higher prices and weaker purchasing power. Affordability begins with fiscal discipline. The government cannot restore buying power while continuing to flood the economy with borrowed money.
Conservatives would also remove the hidden Liberal taxes that drive up the cost of food, like taxes on fuel, fertilizer, energy and packaging costs, which raise costs for farmers, processors, truckers and retailers. These costs do not stay in Ottawa. They are built into grocery prices. Cutting these taxes would deliver immediate and permanent relief at the checkout counter.
More, Conservatives would cut red tape, which raises operating costs and restricts supply. Excessive regulation slows production, raises compliance costs and limits competition. Reducing these burdens would allow businesses to operate more efficiently and pass savings on to consumers.
A Conservative government would encourage real competition in the grocery. Competition, not bureaucracy, is what lowers prices and protects consumers over the long term.
This approach does not require new frameworks, new reports or new explanations; it requires a political will. Conservatives have put these solutions on the table, and the government has voted them down. That is the difference: While Liberals focus on managing frustration with prices, Conservatives focus on lowering prices.
Bill C-226 would not lower prices, reduce inflation or cut costs in the food supply chain. It would add federal process, spending, compliance costs and duplication, while families continue to struggle. Canadians do not need Ottawa to explain their grocery bill to them. They need Ottawa to stop making it bigger.
Conservatives will always support transparency, but transparency without affordability is not relief. Canadians cannot eat a framework. They cannot feed their families with an 18-month report or a five-year review. What they need is a responsible government that will lower taxes, reduce red tape and promote competition. That is what will deliver lower prices.
That is why Conservatives oppose Bill C-226. Canadians deserve results at the checkout counter, not more Liberal political theatre.
