Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time.
I am thankful to be speaking today on what is a very important issue to the people of the riding of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan: Canadians would judge the Prime Minister by the cost at the grocery store.
Before I continue, this is the first opportunity I have had to speak in the House, and I would like to thank the people of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan for their confidence in sending me back to Ottawa to be their voice. The riding of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan is five square kilometres bigger than Switzerland. It may have better chocolate, but we have better cows, better hockey players and better maple syrup.
I would like to thank my campaign team, who helped me cover this vast territory: Scott Pettigrew, Kyle Lillie and Avery Boechler, who showed up every single day and may have missed a couple of classes at high school, but do not tell his mom. I also thank Barb and Mick LeBoldus, Ken Schwalm, Karen Vishloff and numerous others who door-knocked, put up signs and went from community to community, door to door, knocking and putting on events.
I also want to thank my two beautiful daughters Saoirse and Eilidh, who are ages 13 and 10, and who are asking good questions about democracy, sacrifice, why Daddy does what he does and why he represents the people of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan. I know they do not like me saying “Daddy” anymore at that age, so I have to start using “Dad”.
The Liberals have continued their disastrous record of making Canadians poorer and food more expensive. Canada's core inflation for August came in at 50% higher than the Bank of Canada's target as the deficit balloons the cost of living. It does not stop there. Food inflation came in at three-quarter per cent this year over last year, which is 70% over the Bank of Canada's target. As a result, food banks gave Canada and the Liberal government a D on poverty and food insecurity. The Prime Minister's spending and deficit today are not as bad as Justin Trudeau's. No, they are worse. Today's PBO report made that abundantly clear. All of his extra spending on bureaucratic administration and high-priced consultants is costing Canadians higher debt and taxes, and more inflation.
I shared the vast size of my riding of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan. It is truly blessed with an abundance of potash, which is fertilizer for those who do not know, railway lines that take goods to market and a first-class military base that trains the next generation of pilots and is home to the world-famous Snowbirds air demonstration team.
However, it is also home to fertile lands that are considered the bread basket of Canada. We cannot have a bread basket without farming. The challenges and extra costs facing our agricultural producers have been piled on and on by the Liberal government. Costs are then passed on to consumers.
I would like to share a broad overview of what Canada's agriculture sector is facing.