(Ottawa) The New Democratic Party (NDP) wants the federal government to impose a price ceiling on basic products in grocery stores if it cannot convince grocers to lower their prices themselves.
In Europe, some countries have implemented similar measures and, although Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said he has studied this issue, he does not think it is a good idea.
“You have raw materials that are traded globally. So think about sugar, think about wheat, how can you get a price in a particular region? “, he said on Tuesday.
“But I think the best way to do that is to continue to put pressure on grocers, on big manufacturers around the world, and increase competition. »
For several months, the Liberals have been trying to get Canada’s large grocers to sign a code of conduct which, according to them, will lower food prices.
Minister Champagne even revealed that he is seeking to court a foreign grocer to enter the Canadian market, in order to improve competition.
“I think it would boost the market and get better prices,” he argued.
“We’re talking about a basket of essential products that should be affordable for Canadians, and we want to force grocery stores to do that, otherwise we’ll impose a price cap,” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh proposed Tuesday.
His party is currently introducing a non-binding motion in the House of Commons calling for such a measure, but it is unlikely to pass.
Not only are Mr. Champagne and his liberal colleagues opposed to the idea, but so are conservatives.
If Singh was serious about lowering food prices, the NDP would support Conservative efforts to eliminate the carbon tax, Conservative spokesperson Sebastian Skamski said in a statement Tuesday.
The Conservatives have focused on their “take out the tax” approach to improving affordability by removing carbon pricing, a key Liberal environmental policy.
Grocery prices have increased globally since 2021, due to climate change, inflation, geopolitical risks such as the war between Russia and Ukraine, and, in Canada, lack of competition between grocers.
Feeling the pressure, some European governments have capped prices on basic goods or signed deals with grocery stores to cut costs.
Last year, the French government reached a three-month deal with supermarket chains to cut prices on hundreds of staples and other foods.
Countries like Hungary and Croatia have also imposed price controls on products such as cooking oil, certain cuts of pork, wheat flour and milk. Spain, meanwhile, abolished all value-added tax on essential goods and halved the tax on cooking oil and pasta, to 5%.
Executives from Loblaw, Metro, Empire, the owner of Sobeys, Walmart Canada and Costco, were all questioned by MPs about their profit margins amid high food inflation, which grocers say they have not unduly taken advantage of.
Although food inflation has moderated significantly, reaching just 1.4% in April, prices have increased by 21.4% over the past three years.
In April, some consumers boycotted Loblaw, accusing the grocery giant of raising prices.
