Debates of Sept. 25th, 2025

Opposition Motion—Food Taxation

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, QC]

Madam Speaker, Akiawenhrahk is the Wendat word for “river”. It represents Wendake and the Wendats who live in Wendake. This river flows through the entire constituency. The Wendats live not only on what was once known as the reserve; they live throughout the Quebec City region, throughout Quebec, throughout Canada and throughout America. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share that.

I would like to thank my colleague for his speech. I will remember the fact that he lives in the chicken capital. Now I know. My colleague praised what he considers to be the merits of the current government. The reality is that over the past 10 years, under the Liberals, food prices have risen by 40%. However, since the Prime Minister took office six months ago, prices in Canada have risen 50% faster than in the United States.

How does he explain that Canadians are paying more than Americans, when, according to him, everything is going great in Canada?

[Guillaume Deschênes-Thériault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Madam Speaker, I would like to point out that I do not live in Saint‑François‑de‑Madawaska, but I do represent Saint‑François‑de‑Madawaska in the House; it is known as the chicken capital because of its large poultry industry.

To come back to my colleague's question, we were elected with a clear mandate: to make life more affordable for Canadians and to strengthen our economy. These two things go hand in hand, because a strong economy allows us to fund measures to make life more affordable.

Unfortunately, these are measures that the Conservatives have often opposed. I am thinking of the votes against the Canada dental care plan, affordable child care, and against the national school food program, which ensures that children have food in their belly in the classroom. For our part, we understand the importance of these measures. We support them, and we are working to build a strong economy so that we can maintain these measures and keep life affordable for the entire population.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Madam Speaker, I salute my colleague, who represents a neighbouring riding. Between us lies the magnificent Chaleur Bay.

We have something else in common. Our ridings have aging populations. Seniors are particularly vulnerable to financial insecurity. Many of them cannot increase their income, so the rising cost of living is hitting them hard. They are having to make virtually impossible choices.

The Bloc Québécois wants to increase old age security for seniors aged 65 to 74. Doing so would cost $3 billion a year. It is a meaningful way to help seniors. What are my colleague's thoughts on that?

[Guillaume Deschênes-Thériault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Madam Speaker, I am glad my colleague mentioned Chaleur Bay, which is hosting the Most Beautiful Bays in the World conference this week. I am so excited to attend the conference when I get back to my riding tomorrow.

Getting back to the question, we understand the importance of maintaining an affordable cost of living and helping our seniors. That is why, a few years ago, we increased old age security for seniors aged 75 and over. We have also implemented other measures to make life more affordable, such as expanding access to the Canadian dental care plan, a measure that saves people hundreds of dollars a year.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Madam Speaker, welcome back.

According to CBC, 33% of food bank users in my colleague's province are children. There were over two million visits to food banks in March 2024. This is due to the high cost of living. The Liberals can talk about their wonderful plans. They can talk about how they are supporting children at schools, and their dental plans.

Why is this number so ridiculously high with all the plans they have in place, which have not helped the population of New Brunswick?

[Guillaume Deschênes-Thériault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Madam Speaker, I would like to point out how interesting it is that my colleague mentioned the CBC, our national broadcaster, which provides high-quality information.

Food security is a priority for us. That is why we are taking real action. The national school food program comes to mind. If this is such an important issue for my colleague, why did her party vote against this program?

I hope the opposition parties will also work with us to implement the various other measures we plan to take on food security, such as our investments in greenhouses, hydroponics and other food crops in Canada.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Mission—Matsqui—Abbotsford.

I was pleased to second this Conservative opposition day motion, because six months ago, the Prime Minister told Canadians to judge him by the costs at the grocery store. In the last six months, Canadians have looked at the price of grocery store items. We will go through that in just a moment.

I rise to speak out today on behalf of all the Canadians we represent. They are experiencing extreme hardship as a result of the failed Liberal policies of the last 10 years. The Liberals say they are a new government, but they are not. It is the same government that came in in 2015. The Liberal government is not hearing the general public. The Liberals are telling Canadians, as we have heard all day, that they have never had it so good.

Poverty and food insecurity in this country have risen almost 40% in the last two years. The reality is very grim. If members have ever had the opportunity to visit a local grocery store to put food on the table for their family, it is a road show. I watch families when I am there. They stop, and the first thing they look for is specials, the second thing they look for is 50%-off items and the third thing they look for is expired items because they have been reduced. I sit and watch people in our grocery stores in Saskatoon, where I am from. It is amazing to watch them. I am really worried, and I fear for parents. Do they have enough money at the end of the month to put a decent meal on the table?

Food inflation, as we all know, is 70% above the Bank of Canada's target. Food prices are up 40% since the Liberals took office 10 years ago. The Prime Minister told Canadians that they could measure his performance by the prices at the grocery store. That is why we have this opposition day motion.

The horror show at the grocery store is the meat department. When people go through the meat department, they stop and ask whether they can afford a roast. They open the freezer and then shut the freezer. Why? It is because they cannot afford the price of beef. It is up 33%. I have seen it in grocery stores from coast to coast.

We have heard the numbers, but just let them sink in. If someone puts a stew in their crockpot today, they will have to pay between 11% and 33% more just for the ingredients in that crockpot. Normally, it would be a lesser grade of beef going into the crockpot, but that still makes it 11% to 33% more.

I have watched shoppers all over at our grocery stores. I just mentioned the meat, and they obviously cannot afford it. The items we put in our cart at the grocery store are up across the board, from 9% to 33%.

Saskatchewan, the province I am honoured to call home, has long been called the world's food basket. Saskatchewan feeds not only this country but the world. I am going to give a shout-out. The harvest in my province is 68% complete right now, so many families are still in the fields. We wish them a very safe and prosperous harvest season. We still have over 30% to be put into the bin. We wish them all the best.

Farmers are struggling more than ever just to produce the food we need not only in this country but around the world. The total net farm income decreased by $5.2 billion in 2024. That is over 40% from the year before. In Saskatchewan, it is down 36.1%. How can we expect farmers to survive and then thrive with a third of their income gone in the last two years? Stats Canada reports that the realized net income for Canadian farmers fell by $3.3 billion, or 25%, to $9.4 billion just in 2024. There are many reasons for that, and we will get into them.

My wife, Ann, and I were honoured this August when we were asked to come to a Hutterite colony in Saskatchewan. I will not name it, but it was in southern Saskatchewan. I have many friends in the Hutterite community, and I see them a lot in Saskatoon, but this is the first time I have ever stepped foot in a Hutterite colony. We went for a long period, for a whole day. It was really interesting, and we enjoyed the experience. I certainly learned a lot.

Farming is changing. It is undergoing huge changes. The colony has to diversify now. It raises chicks and exports them to Lilydale in Wynyard, Saskatchewan. Every 37 days, the chickens are exported to Wynyard, the barns are cleaned and then this process starts all over again. I should add that everything in that facility is automated, from the water to the feed. By the way, the colony in Saskatchewan even produces its own feed because it is a lot cheaper. It is a great way to farm and produce food for all those in Saskatchewan. Also, Costco takes all the colony's chickens in western Canada.

However, the colony has had to diversify. It is now into steel because the prices of grain and canola have come down. When I sat to eat with the colony members, they told me that they felt farming is simply too risky today. There is the price of land and rent prices, as well as the weather and insurance costs. Right now, the colony is renting nine combines, which are changed out every two years. They cannot afford to buy the nine combines, but they can afford the lease every two years.

Liberal policies have had a major effect on this colony in Saskatchewan. I thought I would mention that, because we often drive by these colonies in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. They look big and nice and are this and that, but they too are under pressure because of the Liberal policies.

Let us now talk about the food bank in Saskatoon, which is the city I live in. I just told the House that my province is world-leading when it comes to food production, yet we saw a staggering 25% usage in 2024. We feed the world, yet the food bank in Saskatoon saw a staggering 25% increase because of these policies, with 43% of the people relying on the food bank being children. This reflects Saskatoon's high child poverty rate.

The executive director, Laurie O'Connor, said that they are seeing 23,000 visits to the food bank monthly in Saskatoon, for about 8,000 hampers. More middle-class-income families are making their way to the food bank in Saskatoon, which is causing more demand. It is also being used by seniors and students. Students are back at the university, at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, and they too are making their way to the food bank now. They simply cannot afford everyday living costs.

Almost all grocery stores in our province have a bin at the door for food donations, which are given back to each community's food bank. The 23,000 visitors per month is an all-time high. I have volunteered for the food bank in the city I live in, and I never would have expected in my life for 23,000 people to come through the door of the Saskatoon food bank.

I hope that the Prime Minister is listening to this today. Michael Kincade is the Food Banks of Saskatchewan executive director. He summed things up beautifully when he said, “By the time somebody goes to use a food bank [in my province], they've already starved.” We should think about that.

[John-Paul Danko, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is fascinating to listen to speech after speech of regurgitated ChatGPT prompts and a list of recycled catchphrases.

It is time to cut the crap. The Leader of the Opposition is now a pretend westerner. I suppose he is now a pretend farmer. How was the Leader of the Opposition measured by the voters in his own riding? He was fired by his own constituents.

Would the opposition not be better served by a leader who has actually worked in a real job? Would the opposition not be better served by a leader who actually supports real solutions for Canadians?

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Madam Speaker, is that not disgusting? The gentleman comes from Hamilton, the home of steel in this country. Unemployment is running rampant in his community. I mentioned in the first line of my speech that I was rising today to talk about the extreme hardship in this country. The member bowled ahead and asked a question about my leader's running in Alberta. That does not matter. He has been elected. He represents the Conservative Party in Canada. He is the Leader of the Opposition. He makes many speeches in the House of Commons.

The member should be ashamed tonight with respect to the people of Hamilton, because many of them have been laid off in the last month. We ask him and the Liberal Party what they have done for the steel industry.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Speaker, I too come from a rural riding. Shefford has many rural areas.

One economic factor that has not been discussed much here today, but which may have an impact on inflation, is labour.

This summer, in July, business owners from the Eastern Townships invited me to lunch to talk about their situation and the financial pressure caused by the issue of foreign workers and its impact. They need this labour force for their production, so it will ultimately have an effect on inflation.

In August, I met Marielle from Mont-Rouge farms. I tip my hat to her. She also told me about the importance of foreign workers and how essential they are to the workforce. Labour shortages are bound to have an impact on prices.

I would like my colleague's thoughts on this topic we have not discussed much today, namely the impact of labour on inflation and rising prices.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Madam Speaker, the hon. member from the Bloc brought up a very good point. On this side of the House, we have already talked about temporary foreign workers. We have excluded them from agriculture. We know that food is valuable in this country. We need workers. We have only 68% of the harvest in the bin in my province.

Let me say one thing, though. An MP from Ontario came to Saskatchewan this summer. He peeked out the window as the plane was landing in Saskatchewan, and he asked, “What's all that yellow thing over there? All the fields are yellow.” Can members guess what it was? It was canola. Who invented canola? Who researched canola? It was the province of Saskatchewan, and we will even drag Manitoba in as well.

Today, when the tariffs are high and the price is going down, we have had little or no support from the Liberal government over the tariffs caused by China and the EVs in this country.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Madam Speaker, I just want to share with my colleague that he did a great job of describing the amazing work that happens in Saskatchewan, where we value our land and the environment.

However, across the floor, the previous speaker made a comment. I wrote it down, as I could not believe it. He said that the Liberals are pleased to be able to relieve parents of the pressure to feed their children by having the national food program in our schools. To suggest in any way that it will relieve the pressure on parents who cannot afford to feed their children because of the policies of the government is beyond the pale.

I would like to know what my colleague has to say about that.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Madam Speaker, that is interesting. I was a school board trustee for 10 years in Saskatchewan, as well as a member of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association. In our city we have a program called CHEP, which feeds inner-city kids. It has been going for decades.

Then the federal government came along and said it wanted to start a national food program. Can members guess what has happened? Bureaucracy comes first. When we started the food program, it was because there was a need in the inner city. As a result of the government's programs and bad policies over the last 10 years, now the food program has to come to the suburban city of Saskatoon because nobody can afford to eat.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Abbotsford, BC]

Madam Speaker, at some point, the government has to give. Canadians simply cannot continue at this pace. The Prime Minister himself said Canadians should judge him by the cost of groceries. By that standard, he is already failing. Food prices are up 40% since the Liberals took power, and food inflation is now 70% above the Bank of Canada's targets.

Thinking about the debate today, and what I have heard from both sides, at the outset of my speech I want to recognize a lot of the people who work at food banks, in social services, the volunteers at churches and gurdwaras in my riding, who do so much to make up for our poor economy. They do so much selfless service to help new immigrant families, struggling single mothers, and children who need support above and beyond what their parents can give them, in many cases through no fault of their own.

Despite our partisanship here, I do not think we should lose sight of the key fact that something has to change. The government has to do something different because the statistics that I am going to share, that many other people have shared, are moving in the wrong direction right now. Across Canada, families are being crushed by the cost of living crisis. Families are spending $800 more on groceries in 2025 than they were in 2024. That is like, for many, an entire month of the Canada child benefit that they had the previous year that is now just being used for groceries.

It is a real hit to the pocketbooks of so many people. That is why Canadians are turning to food banks in record numbers. There are over two million visits every single month, up 90% across Canada since 2019 and up 81% in British Columbia on average since that time. Daily Bread projects four million visits in 2025, and 25% of Canadian households are food insecure. That is up from 18% in 2023.

The federal election was not too long ago, and we all had those experiences on the doorstep when we met with struggling parents and struggling families who are simply doing everything they can to get by, but things do not seem to be working in their favour. That is, in fact, why the hon. leader of the official opposition wanted us to talk about food today, because it is out of reach for more people than it should be.

In my own riding, the situation is overwhelming. Abbotsford's Archway food bank serves 6,000 clients a month, nearly double from three years ago. In Mission, a survey found 26% of households rely on assistance monthly or for most months. At St. Joseph's Food Bank in Mission, volunteers are stretched thin as new needs grow every single week.

I will say that I am part of St. Joseph's church, where the food bank is, and the lines are horrible. We see the lineups on the days they allot food, and it is sad to see. It is really sad to see in a country as rich and prosperous as Canada that my church, the gurdwaras and many other churches in Mission—Matsqui—Abbotsford have to do so much when people were able to take care of themselves before, no matter their background, where they came from or how long they had been in Canada; it was just easier. To the government members on the opposite bench, please recognize that. It was not like this before, and it does not have to be like this again.

The government must make those hard choices to lower taxes and make a measurable difference in the lives of Canadians. We want to support policies that will reduce the overall tax burden to give more purchasing power to Canadian families. Those members heard the same stories I heard on the doorstep.

The budget is upcoming. We need to be very careful with this budget. Yes, we are facing international pressures, but we all need to eat and to be able to afford a nutritious meal, and our children deserve those nutritious meals. The budget needs to reflect that in the coming weeks.

We did not speak enough about farmers today. When we talk about food taxation, it can come in many different forms, from all levels of government. I live in British Columbia, and we have the Agricultural Land Reserve. It is something I support a lot. It was put in place over 50 years ago to ensure that our key agricultural lands are protected for food production. However, when we take municipal government, the Provincial Agricultural Land Commission, different federal regulations on emissions, such as those on the natural gas that heats our greenhouses, and provincial rules as well, it is very hard to build the facilities we need to increase food production.

I went to Windset Farms in Delta, a company that started in Abbotsford. I spoke to the president of Windset Farms, one of the largest conglomerate marketers of hothouse tomatoes in British Columbia, and he said that it took almost a decade to get a new facility expanded. This facility is creating a world-class suite of tomatoes and other vegetable products, which fly off the shelves in our grocery stores and that Canadians all across western Canada rely on, yet the government allowed almost a decade for a facility to be expanded, simply through red tape and various administrative and taxation burdens at all levels of government. If we want to build a stronger, more resilient and autonomous Canada, it needs to start with giving people the ability to buy Canadian goods. Right now, we do not do a good enough job of that.

Just last week, Bimbo Canada, Canadian food grains, is a Mexican company that is one of the largest bakers of bread in Canada. It has a great socially responsible story to tell. One of the great stories of Canada's free trade agreement with Mexico is seeing Bimbo's presence in Canada and it making investments. A representative talked to me about the plastics registry and the undue burden that the plastics registry has put on businesses like theirs. What does that lead to? It leads to more administrative costs. That leads to higher overall costs for Canada. If the company did not have the economies of scale that it does, it would be hard to even make further investments in Canada. Today, I met with another representative of a company that is not in the food industry but who talked about how burdensome the plastics registration policies of the government are.

In conclusion, Conservatives believe it does not have to be this way. The motion before us calls upon the government to remove some of the biggest barriers to more affordability and more ability for Canadians to take care of themselves and live their very best lives. We need to continue speaking about the cost of food in this chamber and we need to, in good faith, put forward policies that would give Canadians the ability to take care of themselves once again. The school food program will not do that. No government program will do that. It has to be done by broad economic policies that impact everyone equally, and that involves reducing the overall tax burden, the regulatory burden and the infrastructure burden to build the facilities and farm the land that we need to make sure that we can live our very best lives.

[Tom Osborne, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board]

Madam Speaker, first of all, let me commend the member opposite. I actually enjoyed his comments. There are fewer than 350 of us here. When I was in the provincial legislature in Newfoundland and Labrador, I always said, as minister, if somebody asked me a real question, they would get a real answer, and if they asked me a political question, they would get a political answer. The member's speech was a real speech. The member talked about the issues. We may agree or not agree regarding the issues, but the member spoke to the issues and he spoke with heart. I wanted to commend the member on his speech.

In fairness to the Prime Minister, we have to give him time. We have been here as a government for under six months. The motion of the wave of what is happening is not only happening in Canada. It is happening in other countries as well. We see inflation and the cost of living going up in several countries around the world. I have not been there since last year, but last year I was in Florida, and the price of groceries in Florida, for example, has gone up exponentially.

I say to give the Prime Minister a chance. The budget is coming on November 4. Let us see what is in there.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Abbotsford, BC]

Madam Speaker, this is the first time the member from Newfoundland and I are debating in this parliamentary session. I appreciate his comments in good faith.

The Prime Minister set the stage for urgency, and I believe that urgency needs to be applied to food production and food sovereignty in Canada. There are many things available for the federal government to do right now that I do hope, in good faith, are included in the budget, because Canadians need relief. Canadians are suffering, and I do not think the member understands that any less than I do. I hope we see policies in place to reduce the overall tax burden on Canadian families to give them more purchasing power first and foremost.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Madam Speaker, it is simple. If we really want to tackle high food prices, we need to tackle the real causes. The main cause in North America, the main factor driving up prices, is climate disruption, droughts, floods and crop losses. We are having problems again this year.

We are now witnessing a competition between the Conservatives and the Liberals over which one is the more pro-oil and pro-gas. I have heard not one single proposal or measure about fighting climate change and adapting to it.

Can my colleague tell me a single measure that the Conservatives support?

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Abbotsford, BC]

Madam Speaker, as a member of Parliament, I have experienced more disasters and more impacts from climate change than any other member. In 2021, my community of Abbotsford was hit with a 33-day flood that wiped out the most productive agricultural land in all of Canada.

One measure to combat climate change that I was advocating with government ministers today is to give British Columbia the infrastructure to adapt to a changing climate so we can continue to produce high-quality food in the Fraser Valley and not be fearful of the effects of climate change and other natural disasters. That is the number one thing we need to do. Canada is a big country. We have the largest boreal forest in the world. We sequester a lot of carbon, but we need the infrastructure in place because the climate is changing, in Abbotsford probably more than anywhere else in the country right now.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Madam Speaker, growing up, my mother had to use the food bank, and that was when Trudeau senior was in power. Her fortunes did not change until we had a Mulroney government.

Any time we ask the question about food bank usage, the members opposite always come up with what they are doing in schools. What is more important: that parents are able to feed their children or that schools are able to feed our children?

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Abbotsford, BC]

Madam Speaker, my number one responsibility as a parent is to feed my kids. It is not the responsibility of the government nor of anybody else but me right here.

We have to take care of our family, and it is sad in Canada today that some parents cannot do that. The school food program, though, will not address that. It has to come through economic policies that give everyone a level chance to live their best life and to take care of their children.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Madam Speaker, I am really pleased to have this time today to respond to our question about why the Prime Minister would say that we are to judge him by the cost of food in grocery stores. We heard nothing tonight about why he has failed to impact that cost for Canadians.

I want to focus on agriculture. Agriculture is huge in my area, and I had a call yesterday from a farmer. We played phone tag all day because there is a two-hour difference. He was out on the field and I was doing my thing. Finally, later in the evening we connected, and he said he was out in the combine; he was still combining. His crop is canola, and he said things were pretty good and that he could make it, but there is a thing called Chinese tariffs on canola, peas, fish, seafood and pork in Canada, and they have caused the price of his product to drop to where it is not what he needs to cover the cost to move forward with his farming into the next season.

The farmer said that he needed to buy his fall fertilizer, but the government has made buying fertilizer more difficult. There are tariffs on the fertilizer he needs for the next season, and he said that he was sitting there wondering whether he should purchase it knowing that he will probably not have the amount of money he needs for inputs and knowing that, if he did, he would have no guarantees. He was sitting there wondering what he is supposed to do.

As a farmer, I can tell members that what they heard tonight about farmers is true. They are resilient. They are creative. They are innovative. They are the reason we have zero tillage and have had it for over three decades while the rest of the world is just figuring it out. That farmer's circumstances are bad, and what did the government say it would do to help in light of the tariffs from our own nation and from China? It is going to give him a loan.

More debt is not what our farmers need. What farmers need is for the government to not continue to penalize them in every way possible, whether it is with increased tariffs or telling them they have to use less fertilizer. By the way, the government wants farmers to have higher yields so they can feed the world and help out with additives to gasoline. We have departments challenging each other's purposes, and our farmers are stuck in the middle.

I really felt for that farmer. He is facing productivity challenges that he should never have to face, beyond the weather and all the other challenges our farmers face, from his own government. He is calling on the government to please stop interfering with his ability to grow his crops, feed his own family and feed the world. He does not want to face the stresses of a government that brings forward damaging policies.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

It being 6:15, it is my duty to interrupt the proceedings and put forthwith every question necessary to dispose of the business of supply.

The question is as follows. May I dispense?

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

[Chair read text of motion to House]

If a member participating in person wishes that the motion be carried or carried on division, or if a member of a recognized party participating in person wishes to request a recorded division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair.

[Harb Gill, Conservative, Windsor West, ON]

Madam Speaker, I ask for a recorded division, please.