Agriculture committee  You mentioned Dr. Charlebois earlier. According to Dr. Charlebois, increasing the carbon tax and keeping it in place will increase wholesale food prices by 34% and Canadians, by the Canadian food price index, will be seeing grocery prices go up $700 this year, so I would ask you

Agriculture committee  Minister, Canadians watching at home are also saying Liberal government policy is actually having the reverse effect on grocery prices. Does implementing front-of-pack labelling lower grocery prices, yes or no?

Agriculture committee  Minister, you're talking about competition, but implementing the front-of-pack labelling increases costs on manufacturers by $8 billion. Those costs will be passed on to consumers. Does banning P2 plastics in the fruit and vegetable industry lower grocery prices, yes or no?

Agriculture committee  Minister, the gift you're giving to Canadians is much higher taxes and much higher costs that are impacting their grocery prices, and it's incredible that you refuse to answer the questions on the policies that your government has put forward. The ban on the P2 plastics will inc

Agriculture committee  You refused to answer any question I gave you—

Agriculture committee  Yet prices continue to go up.

Agriculture committee  Game on, I guess. Thanks, Mr. Chair. Minister, you had promised Canadians last fall, as the Prime Minister did before, that by Thanksgiving there would be fundamental stability or lowering of grocery prices. That clearly hasn't happened. When your government failed to do that,

Agriculture committee  Thanks, Minister. I want to go through some of the other policies that your government has brought forward. You can answer whether these are going to lower grocery prices. Does increasing the carbon tax on April 1 by 23% lower grocery prices, yes or no?

Agriculture committee  We will also see an increase of 50% in food waste. Are that 34% number and the food waste number things you came up with, or are they specifically from that Deloitte report?

Agriculture committee  Can you make sure that the Deloitte report is tabled with this committee as part of that?

Agriculture committee  Thank you. Obviously, we're also debating Bill C-234 in the House of Commons. There is a Senate amendment as part of that bill that removes the heating and cooling of barns from the exemption, as well as greenhouses. What impact will that amendment on Bill C-234 have on the fr

Agriculture committee  Thanks, Mr. Lemaire. Mr. Spurr, you said you need help now to get through what could be another tough season. We're feeling the same in western Canada, with not much of a snowpack and with water always being an issue. Bill C-234 would exempt the carbon tax from farms on natura

Agriculture committee  Right.

Agriculture committee  Right. Just to be clear, that carbon tax is not only on your natural gas and propane, but when you're buying fertilizer, it's on that fertilizer, and when you're paying for your diesel and transportation, it's also on that diesel. Removing that cost would provide you assistance

Agriculture committee  Thanks, Mr. Chair. Before I go to some of our other witnesses, I want to go back to Mr. Lemaire. I think it's important that we really highlight this number. I want to make sure I have this right. You said that if the current government goes ahead with the P2 plastics ban, the