- Member of Parliament
- Member of the Subcommittee on Review of Parliament’s involvement with associations and recognized Interparliamentary groups
Member of the Joint Interparliamentary Council
- Conservative
- Lambton—Kent—Middlesex
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $149,801.69
- Government Page
Madam Speaker, it impacts the bill because, every step along the way, families would not need a government program if they could afford to buy food. If it costs more to put inputs into food for farmers, it is going to cost more for families to buy food for their kids. Why are two million people going to a food bank in a month? They should not need to, and it is because of the policies of the government.
We would not need this kind of program if food inflation were not so high and if the carbon tax were not on everything. It is to the point where people cannot afford to live. Canadians cannot afford to buy food. If it costs overhead to heat greenhouses, and it costs farmers overhead to heat their barns, of course the price of food is going to go up. It is going to be hard for families to afford nutritious food because farmers need to make money too when they are trying to sell their crops. They have to pass that on to consumers.
If anybody does not see that the carbon tax increases the production cost of food, they are choosing not to see it. Again, if it costs the farmer more to grow food, and it costs truckers more to ship the food, then it costs families more to buy food. They should be able to buy food with the money in their pockets that they take home with their wages, but the government is making it unaffordable for families. We would not need this government program if families could afford to buy their food.
Families are seeing unaffordable price increases on the food they buy for their loved ones year over year. Almost daily I am hearing in my office from folks, young and old, who are having difficulty getting by. Many do not have enough to buy their groceries or pay their heating bill, their rent or their mortgages, and more families are visiting food banks. Food bank usage hit another record high in 2023 with two million people using a food bank in a single month. Two million people cannot eat and satisfy their hunger with fluff reports or studies.
Canadian consumers face inflation on food at 8% to 9% year over year. Again, 20% of Canadians report skipping a meal each day. What they need is lower grocery prices so they can afford to feed their families. Meanwhile, the government just wants to tax to the max with two carbon taxes plus HST. It is enough. Canadians deserve better than a Prime Minister and a government that just seems to be going through the motions.
The Prime Minister can deny all he wants, but Canadians know that inflation is real. The Governor of the Bank of Canada also said something last Monday at the finance committee about how government spending affects the ability of the Bank of Canada to bring inflation down. The Governor indicated that government spending makes it more difficult for the Bank of Canada to hold the line and bring the inflation rate down. As a result, monthly mortgage payments for Canadian families are rising when they renew their mortgages. Their mortgage interest rates are almost double or more to what the interest rate was to their previous renewal.
High taxes, increased red tape and bureaucracy have driven investment out of Canada, causing our economy to slide each year with a continued low Canadian dollar, making everything bought from our largest trading partner, the U.S., more expensive. Canada is on track to be one of the most unproductive and least prosperous countries in the OECD.
The International Monetary Fund listed Canada as having the sixth-worst misery index out of 35 industrialized countries. Simply put, the higher the score, the worst the economic situation. Canada scores the sixth highest, but the NDP and the Liberal Party do not want to talk about any of this. They want to make it appear as though they are helping, even though the NDP and the Liberals are the cause of unaffordable prices and people's misery.
That is why the Leader of the Opposition, along with those on this side of the House, have been holding the Prime Minister and his government to account for spending and inflation. Can there be any doubt? It is time for a real change from the inflationary, all-too-costly coalition of the NDP-Liberal government.
To sum up, Bill C-322 is better suited to be put forward in a provincial legislature than in the national Parliament. However, if the member for Acadie—Bathurst is truly serious about helping Canadian families afford nutritious food for their tables, he should persuade his colleagues to reduce food costs by axing the carbon tax.
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Madam Speaker, Governor Macklem continued by responding to the second question, which was what the effect on inflation would be if the carbon tax were to be eliminated. He said that it would create a one-time drop in inflation of 0.6%.
If the carbon tax were eliminated, it would result in a drop in inflation of 0.6%. The overall inflation rate is currently at about 3.2%. At that rate, eliminating the carbon tax, by the Governor of the Bank of Canada's estimate, would reduce inflation by more than 18%.
The lead author of Canada's Food Price Report 2023, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, has pointed out that the carbon tax has made business expenses go up. Dr. Charlebois points to “the compounding effect” up and down the food chain, as the supply chain is exposed to increased costs from the carbon tax. Let us take a look at that supply chain and why food is costing more.
The carbon tax increases costs for heating greenhouses, as well as dairy, poultry and hog barns. It increases costs for running the machinery necessary for production operations, especially the cost of electricity. In fact, in 2020, according to Statistics Canada, production costs for greenhouses were up 31.8% above the 10-year average. In 2021, the latest year for which facts are available from Statistics Canada, greenhouse costs were up 9.3% over those of 2020. Electricity costs for greenhouses were up in 2021 by 8.2% over 2020. Other fuel costs were up 7.7% over those of 2020.
In case anybody does not see that this is a problem, Statistics Canada reports that, as of 2021—
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Madam Speaker, Governor Macklem said there are two separate questions. The governor said, “...how much are the increases in the carbon tax adding to inflation each year? That number is about .15 percentage points of inflation. That's the direct impact on those three components.”
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Madam Speaker, if it costs the farmer more to grow food and costs the trucker more to ship food, it is going to cost families more to buy food to feed their children.
When the Bank of Canada governor, Tiff Macklem, appeared on Monday before the finance committee, my colleague, the member for Northumberland—Peterborough South asked the governor how the carbon tax affects inflation. Governor Macklem said that it is really two separate questions.
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- Sep/19/23 3:01:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is not rocket science; it is basic math that the NDP-Liberal government just does not seem to get. If it costs the farmer more to grow the food and costs the trucker more to ship the food, it is going to cost Canadian families more to buy the food.
After eight years of raising taxes on families, farmers and truckers, they want to quadruple the carbon tax. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost.
When will the Prime Minister cancel his plans to increase his inflationary carbon tax?
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- Sep/19/23 2:59:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the government, Canadians are seeing record inflation, and they are seeing their grocery prices skyrocket thanks to the carbon tax. Tiff Macklem, the Bank of Canada governor, agrees and said that the carbon tax announcements that have it going up increase inflation each year.
The NDP-Liberal carbon tax has increased the cost of apples by 61%, and that is just one example. Everything is more expensive.
Will the Prime Minister cancel his plans to increase his inflationary carbon tax?
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- Jun/13/23 3:09:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we cannot fight fires with inflation. The government's inflation is causing the cost of food and groceries to skyrocket.
Farmers pay carbon tax to get their crops from the field to their warehouse and from their warehouse to the grocer's warehouse. Then the grocer pays carbon tax to get the food to the grocery store, and then families pay carbon tax to drive to the grocery store to buy their food. This tax on tax on tax never ends, and it is increasing the cost of our food.
There is no common sense in this, so when will the government axe the carbon tax?
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- Jun/13/23 3:09:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we cannot fight fires with inflation—
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- Jun/13/23 10:02:36 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to table the supplementary opinion of the Conservative Party of Canada for the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food's report on food price inflation.
While we appreciate the work done by the committee and the study for this report, we believe more information must be made available to Canadians in terms of the Liberal government's policies and its contribution to food inflation in Canada. It was made abundantly clear throughout that the Liberal members of the committee purposely avoided discussion or inclusion of politically inconvenient facts and recommendations related to the carbon tax, out-of-control spending and inflationary deficits, which drive up the cost of goods we buy, including essentials like food and fuel.
We understand that food loss and waste come at an enormous economic cost to businesses, society and the environment. The Conservatives recommend that the Government of Canada remove the carbon tax; complete a comprehensive study on the economic impact of the carbon tax and clean fuel regulations; study how increases affect the cost of food production, the price of food and the entire food supply chain; and immediately reverse its policy on front-of-package labelling.
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- Apr/17/23 1:55:58 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, after eight years, Canadians cannot afford to live. It is a tax-and-spend government.
William, a senior in my riding, wrote to me: “The cost of no name chips is $1.33 per bag if you buy 3 at No Frills. Walk into a Shoppers Drug Mart the same bag in the same package is twice the price or more. Walk into a Zehrs that same bag is 1&3/4 more. At Sobey's or Metro, a small plastic cup the size of a small coffee with 8-10 grapes in it you'll spend $7.00. The cost of 6 muffins is now $7.99, a year ago they were 4.99. I'm a pensioner living on $1750 a month. If I didn't own my home, I'd be screwed.”
He is not alone. I am hearing this from people all over this country, from all the people reaching out to my office and from the Canadians I talk to in the places I go. We are billions of dollars in debt, or trillions actually, and future generations are worried about their future because we are not prosperous. The Liberals have driven up inflation. They have driven up the cost of living. Canadians are feeling hopeless, and Conservatives are going to bring back hope for Canadians.
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- Dec/7/22 3:03:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that answer just proves that the Liberals are completely out of touch with reality. The reality is that the vast majority of Canadians will not see a cent from the programs they have announced. We are talking about the basic necessities of life.
Poor Liberal policy and reckless inflationary spending are going to cost Canadians an extra $1,000 on their groceries next year. That is an over 10% increase on food prices. A family of four is going to be paying more than $16,000 next year on groceries alone.
Will the government give Canadians a break and axe the carbon tax?
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- Nov/29/22 3:08:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has created a mess. Everything it touches is broken: the arrive scam app, huge passport backlogs, NEXUS at a standstill and the fact that 1.5 million Canadians used a food bank in a single month. Seniors are telling me they are skipping meals, and they are not alone. One in five Canadians are skipping meals.
This is all thanks to the Liberals' inflationary spending, and it is completely unacceptable. When will the government stop making life hard for Canadians and give them back control of their lives?
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- Nov/1/22 2:50:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 51% of Canadians are struggling to afford food, and those who cannot cut back any further are being driven to their local food banks. However, the government does not care. It is too busy blowing money on $7,000-a-night hotel rooms or the $54-million arrive scam.
To pay for their scandals and secret backroom deals with the NDP, they want to raise taxes, further driving up the cost of basic necessities such as food. Canadians cannot afford this costly coalition. Will the Liberals end their inflationary spending?
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- Jun/22/22 2:25:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the cost-of-living crisis is real, and it is hurting Canadians in my riding and across Canada. Inflation has hit a 40-year high of 7.7%, and all the Liberals are doing is playing the blame game. Inflation has increased the cost of groceries by more than 25%, which is lowering the amount of food families and seniors can put on their tables. The cost of fuel has been increasing, which also has a direct impact on the cost of production and the cost to transport food to grocery stores.
The stories I am hearing from my communities are heartbreaking. The food banks in our small rural towns are busier than they have ever been, and demand is going up exponentially. Skyrocketing food prices are driving up food security concerns across the board. One woman even caught her senior neighbour eating canned cat food because she could not afford groceries. Many more seniors have told me they believe the hardship and lack of support is because the government is waiting for them to die.
That is unacceptable, and the Liberal government is letting this happen.
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- Apr/29/22 11:34:00 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the average price of a home in Canada is $874,000 and quickly rising. For millennials looking to buy a home, the thought of buying a home is like getting that pet unicorn they dreamed of when they were children.
Will the government stop adopting policies that drive up inflation, find a common-sense solution and help millennials and young families hoping to buy a home?
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