Senator Carignan: Well, that’s not exactly what the minister pledged to do. He said he was going to lower prices. Clearly, Minister Champagne has no idea what he’s doing. He even told us he was going to talk to his Japanese counterpart about Canadian grocery prices, as if Japan had anything to do with the prices people are paying at Metro or Provigo.

The minister is even talking about taxing grocers, as though adding a new tax would drive operating costs up and thereby lower prices. I get the feeling the minister is using smoke and mirrors to distract us. Mr. Leader, doesn’t it seem as though the government is taking Canadians for fools?

Hon. Claude Carignan: My question is for the Leader of the Government. Leader, when Minister Champagne summoned the heads of the major grocery chains, he claimed that, thanks to him, prices would go down by Canadian Thanksgiving.

After the meeting last week, the minister’s objective changed. He now wants price increases to keep pace with inflation. In other words, the minister is telling us that he wants inflation to keep pace with inflation. Senator Gold, in concrete terms, how much can Canadians expect prices to drop by Canadian Thanksgiving?