44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 5, 2023 10:00AM
Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C‑56. It is a government bill that would amend the Excise Tax Act and the Competition Act.
Like my colleagues, I see this as an attempt by the federal government to respond to spiralling housing and grocery prices. It is true that rising interest rates are hurting many families, who are seeing mortgage payments take up more and more of their family budget. We need only imagine the situation of single-parent families, young people, students and immigrant families. I will spare the House the full list.
However, I am sure my colleagues will understand why I have doubts about the effectiveness of certain measures in Bill C‑56. When we look at the specifics of the measures put forward by this government, we see realities that are very often based on gender. Women often bear the brunt. What troubles me is the situation of the people who are paying the price for these increases. Thousands of families in each of our ridings are in that boat. Even more outrageous is the fact that seniors are once again left out in the cold, as are the most disadvantaged members of our society.
To find solutions to address this housing crisis, we must listen more to the organizations working on the ground. I want to acknowledge the contribution of my colleague from Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, who has travelled all over Quebec. During his tour, he took part in an activity in my riding of Abitibi—Témiscamingue. The activity drew over 25 people, which is a large number, and a lot of solutions were put forward. We must listen to organizations on the ground, such as the Association des groupes de ressources techniques du Québec, or AGRTQ, the Fédération des maisons d'hébergement pour femmes, and other non-profit organizations, as well as co-operatives, which are too often forgotten. The government needs to get projects off the ground and renew funding for initiatives that are working.
The YWCA, an organization that also works in Quebec with women in need of transitional housing, reminded us on Tuesday that it is important to shift public policy toward gender equality. In this crisis that affects our constituents, it is important to remember what organizations expect of us, namely better alignment and more flexibility and agility.
The housing shortage is dire. The government has to encourage the construction of rental and residential housing. It also has to renew the social housing construction program to provide more transitional housing and more affordable permanent housing.
Bill C‑56 includes provisions relating to competition that will make a difference in the longer term. What a shame the government did not act sooner. It is kind of late in the game. In 1996, there were 13 grocery chains; now there are only three.
Let us look at the three main measures in Bill C‑56.
First, it gives the commissioner of competition real investigative powers. Once Bill C‑56 is law, the commissioner will be able to compel a person to testify or produce documents. That has not been possible up to now. I was at a summit organized by the Competition Bureau this morning. I could see that people are taking action on this. They are ready and willing. There were over 700 people online. The room was full. Clearly this issue matters to people. Waiting this long for competition reform may well cost us, though. I will have more to say about that later.
The second measure prohibits agreements with non-competitors aimed at reducing competition. For example, when a grocery store signed a lease with a shopping centre, it was common practice to include clauses prohibiting the shopping centre from renting space to another grocery store. That type of practice will now be prohibited, and that is a good thing.
The final measure, which we are very pleased with, responds to requests from my colleague, the member for Terrebonne, who has been calling for an end to the efficiencies defence for mergers and acquisitions. This measure may come too late, as the five major players' powerful position in the food industry clearly shows.
I want to stress the fact that one major challenge remains. We must continue trying to find a way to enhance competition in the food industry or this bill will not meet its real objective. Once a company is in a dominant position, there is no incentive or requirement for it to make room for more competitors. Introducing new competitors is the only way to prevent pricing arrangements and to permanently entrench the concept of affordability, meaning affordably priced goods and services.
My colleagues must be accustomed to hearing me talk about the reality in Abitibi—Témiscamingue, because the government needs to understand that it often acts too late for our communities.
I want to talk about this because Abitibi—Témiscamingue has been affected by the loss of competition in the food industry. To know where we are going, we must know where we are coming from. In conversation with locals in Abitibi—Témiscamingue, and particularly in Rouyn‑Noranda, the topic of the Montemurro grocery store is bound to come up. Montemurro was the pride of the region. The business continued expanding until 1966, when it purchased the wholesaler ADL.
ADL used to buy up half the fresh vegetables grown in the region. At one point, it was supplying 25 independent markets from northern Ontario and Abitibi—Témiscamingue all the way to Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean. Its sales totalled $270 million. Its distribution centre and administrative headquarters were based in Rouyn‑Noranda. My colleagues can imagine how much development leverage our regional agriculture sector had through that company.
In 2006, Sobeys arrived on the scene. What was the result for people in my region? From 2006 to 2013, ADL pared back its distribution activities, becoming a mere transfer centre. Our local products and our local agricultural production gave us significant business opportunities and the ability to supply fresh local produce, but local production was greatly affected by this change.
Prior to the merger of Sobeys and ADL, vegetables from all over our region were sent to Rouyn‑Noranda. Since the merger, they have to travel further before ending up on our shelves. Unfortunately, items like tomatoes from Guyenne have to go all the way to Montreal before ending up back in La Sarre, the next town over.
Unfortunately, for reasons of efficiency, these acquisitions are approved as a formality. The government did not oppose these mergers and acquisitions. Today, Sobeys, Loblaws, Metro, Costco and Walmart control 80% of the food market. That is the situation I am referring to when I say that the measure set out in Bill C-56 will close a loophole, but it comes much too late for food markets. ADL was the last major wholesaler in Quebec, and maybe even in Canada.
A few people in Quebec still managed to make their mark in the market. The people in Amos are very lucky because they can still count on a wholesaler, Ben Deshaies, who is based in Amos. This business model of buying local is incredibly important to us. The Deshaies family deserve a lot of credit for being able to succeed, thanks to the entrepreneurial qualities passed down from generation to generation, despite a near total lack of competition in this sector.
It is time to act on the many demands that the Bloc Québécois has put forward in the House and at the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology. Thanks to the lack of competition and the encouragement of oligopolies, the major players are taking advantage of their market share to raise prices.
In my opinion, it is essential that the minister avoid making cuts to processors and farmers. Quebec's food processing companies are economic drivers that help support many families and create jobs across Quebec. They have already made their contribution and are facing considerable pressure, particularly in communities close to those resources.
It is striking to see that farmers and processors are no longer making money but that consumers are paying twice as much. Between the two, someone is making a profit. That is the trouble. That is where the problem lies. It is often the same company concentrating resources and distributing them.
It has also been striking to see the headlines in the news over the last two weeks about the federal government pressuring the major supermarket chains to take significant steps to stabilize or even lower food costs. I recently read one farmer's opinion in La Tribune. He noted the importance of short supply chains for our food security. That is what the member for Berthier—Maskinongé always says, and he can never say it enough.
That same point has been raised by many farmers in Témiscamingue. The public markets in our regions now offer a variety of high-quality products. It is time to support them by buying our produce there, but it is also time to encourage permanent, year-round measures. I would also encourage my colleagues to pursue our discussions in greater depth. It is essential for us to delve deeper to find solutions. Although Competition Bureau studies are useful, we need to react thoughtfully to red flags.
The proposed amendments to the Competition Act in Bill C-56 can help prevent the situation from getting worse in the future by tightening up the rules governing business mergers and acquisitions. However, they will not fix the existing problems. The damage has already been done, and Bill C‑56 does not present any forward-looking solutions for fixing it.
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Madam Speaker, one thing the government has done is support Canadians through difficult times. We understand and appreciate the whole issue of the cost of living. That is one of the reasons we came up with the grocery rebate, in essence supporting somewhere in the neighbourhood of 11 million Canadians.
The legislation we have before us today is in recognition of the fact that we need to see more competition. The minister has met with the big five grocers, if I can put it that way. We want to see lower prices. We want to see more stabilization.
What would the member do, in addition to the many things we have already done, to assist Canadians on this very important issue?
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Madam Speaker, the current situation is that Canada has let oligopolies take over. That is true in the food industry, and it is also true in the banking sector. Taking action to fix that may require more courage, but it will have an impact on people's wallets. This situation also exists in the gas industry. It would take more courage for the House to address these issues. It is also true in telecommunications.
As with the reform of the Competition Act, I applaud the progress that has been made by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. I was there for his presentation this morning at Canada's competition summit. There is now a willingness to act that I believe was needed. For several years, I have also been urging the Standing Committee on Industry Technology to take action on competition reform, which is an important solution.
However, at this time, no action is being taken about the oligopolies. I look forward to seeing what splashy measures the government proposes when Parliament returns.
Will they have any impact? How can the government take a coercive approach with the large chains without raising prices and passing the cost on to consumers? I am very worried, so I look forward to getting some answers.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to share a story. There are are four grocery stores just a block away from where I live. One of them is a major chain store, like the oligopolies my colleague is talking about. Another one is a small independent grocery store owned by a Portuguese family. All their children work there. Strangely enough, the prices at the small independent store are sometimes half of what the chain store charges. Inflation, however, supposedly affects everyone equally. There has to be something wrong with the logic of the major grocery chains.
I would like to know what my colleague thinks when the Liberals, half-heartedly and almost on bended knee, beg these huge oligopolies to stabilize prices. What is the use of stabilizing prices when prices are already too high and people are going without food?
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Madam Speaker, my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie is in no position to lecture anyone about going down on bended knee and demanding things from the government, but that is another debate.
However, the question remains. Where are the profits going? They are certainly not going to our farmers, who are on the verge of bankruptcy. Things are really tough right now. My region has had a drought, and that is on top of rising input and fuel costs. The challenges are enormous. It is important to strengthen local distribution channels and ensure direct access to farmers. The growing number of intermediaries means that, if everyone takes a share, consumers end up paying more.
Right now consumers have very little direct access to farmers. The major players who control the distribution market are taking so much money that processors are no longer making any money and consumers are paying twice as much.
Local distribution channels must be strengthened. We need to invest in our regions and create public markets and permanent structures that will encourage consumers to visit. That way, we can improve our agricultural industry and our economy.
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Madam Speaker, when it comes to local distribution and slaughtering capacity, we know the situation could substantially improve. There are only a few abattoirs throughout the regions, in Quebec and across Canada. There is an over-concentration.
Does the federal government have a role to play here?
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Madam Speaker, there are no abattoirs in Abitibi—Témiscamingue. It is a serious problem for our agriculture. Our farmers have to get their beef slaughtered more than 500 kilometres away. How is it that are we able to get programs to compensate the transportation of livestock, but we cannot get programs that should be fully funded by the governments? Obviously, it is hard to make abattoirs profitable. Having programs, however, would help us create economic diversity.
There is a cost to the quality of meat, the transportation, the environment and others. We need to invest in regional abattoirs.
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today to speak to Bill C-56, the affordable housing and groceries act.
The entire world is experiencing a global inflation crisis. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine and supply chain and climate change challenges, inflation is a worldwide issue. Compared to other G7 countries, Canada has fared very well, but that does not mean our country is immune to the factors driving up high prices around the world.
COVID-19 was an unforeseen global crisis. The world essentially ground to a halt. Canada has performed relatively well through the pandemic recovery thanks to the resiliency of the Canadian economy and in part to the programs the government introduced to support Canadians and business owners. However, just because Canada is doing better than many other G7 nations, that does not mean Canadians are not experiencing difficulties.
This past summer, I spoke to many constituents in Surrey—Newton who had concerns about the price of housing and the price of groceries. Therefore, I am very pleased Bill C-56 was the first piece of legislation the government introduced this fall session. Due to global inflation, the government understands that many Canadians are struggling to make ends meet. Although we have been introducing measures that have helped Canadians, we must continue to do more to provide targeted support. Bill C-56 addresses what we would do to help build more rental housing and to try to curb the rise in prices we have seen in grocery stores throughout the country.
Making housing more affordable is something we must tackle, including where the federal government can influence the activities within the marketplace so all Canadians have the opportunity of owning a home. Bill C-56 puts forward legislation to encourage the construction of much-needed purpose-built rental housing. We are proposing to eliminate the GST on the construction of new apartment buildings, student housing and seniors residences across Canada. Working on housing supply is an important part of what the federal government is doing to help Canadians. For a rental unit valued at $500,000, the GST rental rebate would deliver $25,000 in tax relief to developers and builders. This tool would help create the necessary conditions to build the types of housing that we need and that families want to live in.
This legislation would also remove a restriction on the existing GST rules to ensure that public service bodies, such as universities, public colleges, hospitals, charities and certain not-for-profit organizations, could build or purchase purpose-built rental housing and be permitted to claim 100% of the enhanced GST rental rebate.
We are also calling on provinces that currently apply PST or the provincial part of the HST to rental housing to join us by matching the federal rebate for new rental housing. It is very encouraging to see that certain provinces would be participating in this program. We are also requesting that local governments put an end to exclusionary zoning, and we are encouraging them to build apartments near public transit in order to have housing accelerator fund applications approved.
Launched earlier this year, the housing accelerator fund is a $4-billion initiative designed to help cities unlock new housing supply, targeting approximately 100,000 units across the country. I look at lead times for projects, particularly in the Lower Mainland and more particularly in Surrey, and they are up to two years. To bring that down, this $4-billion bill would help cities hire more planners, inspectors and plan checkers so the process can be passed and there would be more inventory in the market. It would also support the development of complete low-carbon and climate-resilient communities that are diverse, affordable, inclusive and equitable. Every community across this country needs to build more homes faster so we can reduce the cost of housing for all Canadians.
Through the one-time grocery rebate issued in July, we delivered targeted inflation relief to 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians and the families that needed it the most. This support was welcomed by Canadians, but we know that more needs to be done to address the rising cost of groceries. This is why we are taking immediate steps to enhance competition across the economy, with a focus on the grocery sector, to help stabilize costs for Canadians.
With Bill C-56, we would also be helping Canadians by stabilizing the price of groceries. We are introducing a set of legislative amendments to the Competition Act that would ensure more effective and modern competition law to promote affordability for Canadians and help our economic growth. This bill would empower the Competition Bureau to take action against collaborations that restrain competition and consumer choice, in particular in situations where the larger grocery store chains prevent smaller competitors from establishing operations nearby. The government is taking concrete steps to help stabilize food prices and improve competition in Canada. Canadians can be assured that the government will continue to work day in and day out to bring them much-needed relief.
Bill C-56 builds on other measures that the government has introduced to make life more affordable for Canadians. We are supporting 3.5 million families annually through the tax-free Canada child benefit, including over 28,000 children in Surrey—Newton, with families this year receiving up to $7,400 per child under the age of six and $6,300 per child for children aged six to 17. We have increased old age security, have enhanced the Canada workers benefit and have also reduced fees for regulated child care by an average of 50%, moving toward $10-per-day day care by 2026. Six provinces and territories have already reached that goal. In my own province of British Columbia, the capacity has doubled on this $10-a-day day care system.
We have strengthened the social safety net that millions of Canadians depend on, and we are working on helping Canadians put food on their table, pay their rent and be successful within their respective communities. We want to ensure that Canada remains the best place in the world to live, work, go to school and raise a family. Making life more affordable is a key part of that. I urge all members of the House to support this legislation to help Canadian families.
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Madam Speaker, like other Liberals, this member just lists off in his speech a long list of new Liberal spending. It is record spending, of course, as everybody knows, not many times more than previous governments but many billions of dollars more than previous governments.
Many of them have talked about the fact that they are subsidizing, through a grocery rebate, 11 million Canadians. Does the hon. member recognize that the fact that the government needs to subsidize groceries for over a quarter of our population is a sign of an absolutely devastatingly bad Liberal economic policy?
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Madam Speaker, I am very proud of the fiscal prudence our government brought to Canada. Our government absolutely understands that our job is to balance fiscal responsibility and compassion, and we have done that.
If we review our record, Canada has the lowest deficit in the G7 nations. Canada also has the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7. Canada's AAA credit rating was reaffirmed just two weeks ago. Canadians can afford to be compassionate to the most vulnerable among us, and we will be. That is why we gave this grocery rebate. Now we know that we need to work on the Competition Act, as well as bringing in more housing so people can have an affordable lifestyle.
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Madam Speaker, we passed a bill in the House that allocates $4 billion to a housing accelerator fund for municipalities. The federal government cannot talk to Quebec municipalities; it has to come to an agreement with the Quebec government. Negotiations are under way, and the share due to Quebec comes to $900 million. I would like to remind everyone that housing is a provincial jurisdiction.
According to what we learned this morning, the federal government is nitpicking and dawdling. It is having a hard time choosing a colour for the tiles and the carpet. Then it questions whether a given apartment should have 8 or 14 lights. What a waste of time. Again, this is a provincial jurisdiction. There are currently 10,000 people in Quebec who do not have a roof over their heads.
What will it take to get Ottawa to send that $900-million cheque?
We need it now.
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Madam Speaker, I totally understand how important this $4-billion accelerator fund is to the municipalities, particularly in Surrey—Newton. As I said earlier, the wait-list for the plans and projects is too long. We have to bring it down. We need to have those efforts with Quebec. Similarly, all those efforts are not only needed in Surrey, but they are needed across the country, including in Quebec.
The housing minister recently met with Minister Duranceau to pursue the work the hon. member is talking about. We hope that, in the coming months, municipalities, Quebec and the Canadian government will work together, hand in hand, to help municipalities have more housing supply for Quebeckers.
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Madam Speaker, the hon. member's speech typifies what we are hearing from the Liberals. There is a recognition of the crisis of high food prices, and they talk about stabilizing them. That would be stabilizing them at the highest level ever with some of the highest margins ever. They have called in the CEOs, who were previously found guilty of price-fixing with bread. Studies have shown that margins have gone up during the pandemic.
What is the member expecting these CEOs to do with these voluntary measures?
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Madam Speaker, we are also looking to give more powers to the Competition Bureau to conduct marketing studies and compel information from companies so a decision can be made to bring the prices down.
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- Oct/5/23 10:55:12 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is such an honour to rise for my first debate on such an important issue that not only the residents in Oxford are facing, but also Canadians across the country.
Before I begin and dive deep into Bill C-56, I would like to take a few moments—
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- Oct/5/23 10:55:49 a.m.
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We have a point of order from the hon. member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue.
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- Oct/5/23 10:55:52 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the interpreters are signalling that there is feedback. I am not sure whether it is from an electronic source close to the microphones, but the interpreters are hearing a thud.
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- Oct/5/23 10:55:58 a.m.
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I want to remind members to keep their phones and earpieces away from the microphones and not on their desk because it creates problems for the interpreters.
I would ask the member speaking to make sure his interpretation earpiece is off and that there is no phone beside the mike.
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- Oct/5/23 10:56:37 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, as this is the member's maiden speech, would it be acceptable for him to restart his speech from the beginning given the challenges we have had technically?
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- Oct/5/23 10:56:44 a.m.
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I will do that, but I want to remind all members of the House to make sure that they are prepared, and that includes having phones and earpieces away from the mikes.
The hon. member for Oxford.
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