SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 265

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 11, 2023 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 265 - Dec/11/23
Mr. Ken Hardie
  • Dec/11/23 12:11:44 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-56 
Madam Speaker, to be honest, the hon. member's question is key. The first thing we have to do is really get a firm grasp about what is causing prices to be so high. Hon. members would point to the carbon tax, but there was a report out of the University of Calgary that said, no, that was not really it. We would point to the war between Ukraine and Russia, with Ukraine's exports of grains being greatly reduced because of the conflict, which has had a chilling effect on the availability of food around the world that then had an effect on prices. However, it is anti-competitive behaviour at a time when all of the major grocery chains are recording record profits that suggests there is something not working properly in the free market system. That, I think, is the purpose of the Competition Act amendments.
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Context: House Hansard - 265 - Dec/11/23
Hon. Arif Virani (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.)
  • Dec/11/23 2:52:16 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, today I have heard a lot about rising costs. I just want to make sure Canadians watching appreciate that, when parliamentarians vote for 30 hours, and it costs about $70,000 an hour to keep this place running, it is costing Canadian taxpayers about $2 million. That is the first point. Second, with respect to the point that was just made by the member opposite, if Conservatives were so concerned about the price of food, I would have thought they might have voted in favour of a school food program to keep food prices down for young Canadians in this country. Alas, they voted against it.
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