Continued Illusions

The ever increasing cost of groceries.

Last May, after his cabinet-swearing in ceremony, Prime Minister Mark Carney said that one of the ways Canadians could judge his leadership was by the prices they paid at the grocery store.

Yikes!

This remark was made on the heels of an election where the carbon tax, the cost of living and the price of food were atop the concern list of many voters across the country.

Mr. Carney cancelled the consumer carbon tax in the early days of his first (pre-election) government but kept the industrial carbon tax in place.

This cut the cost of fuel, albeit temporarily¹ but didn’t change the sky-high cost of groceries, which are among the highest in the G7.

Yet - the Prime Minister still won’t show up to Question Period to answer questions and defend his record to the Canadian people.

Carney rarely attends Question Period - his attendance rate is 29%.

Prime Ministers Harper (64%) and Trudeau (46%) made Question Period attendance much more of a priority than the current Prime Minister.

But when you think about it, it’s no wonder he’s hiding from his record.

Under the Carney Liberals, food prices have skyrocketed by 7.3%, making Canada the food inflation capital of the G7. In fact, a new survey from Spergel shows that more than half of Canadians are now forced to take on debt to afford to eat.

That’s bad - and it warrants an explanation in the House of Commons.

That same survey also outlines the new normal for Canadian consumers: 60.6% of survey respondents admitted to skipping meals or reducing portions due to financial pressure over the past 6 months, and over half of respondents said they used a loan to buy groceries in the past 6 months.

In the last half year, 2/5 of Canadians delayed paying a bill so they could buy groceries. 57.6% are worried about grocery money at least sometimes in that same timeframe. 1 in 2 Canadians feel that debt payments made essentials at least somewhat harder (groceries, rent, utilities) and respondents also described common coping behaviours: 55.8% shopped at multiple stores to chase deals, 49.1% bought less meat/protein, 49.1% used coupons or price matching more than before, and 44.2% bought fewer fruits and vegetables.

This abnormal problem is also a made-in-Canada problem with 70% of our food produced domestically, including 80% of processed foods. From grocery aisles, to the till, to restaurant tables - Canadian consumers have seen food prices rise more than twice as fast as all goods.

Now for a year, the Liberals have praised their decision to ‘cut’ the carbon tax, but I’ll remind you that they only cut a small portion of the overall tax on carbon emissions - the consumer tax.

What remains is the most significant part of the governments’ overall tax: the industrial carbon tax, which taxes farm equipment, fertilizer and food processors which drives up the cost of food production and passes that cost down ultimately to consumers (you!)

Not only that, but the Liberals have also kept in place their: a) fuel standards tax, which costs seven cents a litre and rising to 17 cents a litre on farmers, truckers, and those who bring us our food and; b) their food packaging tax that will cost Canadian consumers $1.3 billion.

No wonder it’s so expensive to feed your family here in Canada.

Not only that - there’s more bad news.

This year, families will pay $1,000 more for groceries than last year – and don’t take my word for it, take Statistics Canada’s²:

• The price of beef stewing cuts are up 39%

• Lettuce is up 39%³

• Roasted and ground coffee is up by 36%

• Pork shoulder cuts are up 34%

• Whole chicken is up 28%

• Ground beef is up 21%

• Frozen spinach is up 20%

• Strawberries and oranges are up 18%

• Baby formula is up 13%⁴

• Canned vegetables are up 12%⁵

It doesn’t have to be this way. It wasn’t like this before.

The Prime Minister said we should judge him by the prices at the grocery store, so let’s do that.

It’s becoming nearly impossible to feed your family here in Canada on even a very good salary. These hidden Liberal taxes on food production and fuel drive up the cost of food - a cost that is ultimately passed down to the consumer at the till.

Canadians face the highest food inflation in the G7, which has doubled since Mark Carney took office and is twice as high as it in the United States. 2.2 million Canadians visit a food bank every month and food bank usage has more than doubled since the Liberals took power.

Food costs are up 6.2% - groceries are up 50% year-over-year and restaurant meals are up 8.5%.

A 2025 budget deficit of $78.3 billion has turned Canada into the food inflation capital of the G7 where our families are relying on charities to put food on the table. It’s no wonder that nearly 30% of students are skipping meals because they can’t afford to eat.

This is unacceptable.

A Dalhousie University study shows that the average family of four in Canada will spend nearly $18,000 in groceries in 2026 - an increase of nearly $1,000 from 2025.

Things were supposed to be better under Mark Carney - but they’re actually worse than they were under Justin Trudeau.

They’re worse.

Records like this remind me why I am and always will be a Conservative.

My colleagues and I ran an election a year ago to address the cost of living, housing, fuel and government. I earned the trust of my supporters in Ponoka – Didsbury and they sent me to Ottawa with a clear mandate to address these issues. It is the honour of a lifetime to support these good people in Parliament.

How anyone can ever betray the trust of their constituents - much less to support a Liberal record that entails the highest food inflation in the G7, jacks up the price of groceries by $1,000 this year, sends 2.2 million people to the foodbank every month and makes it nearly impossible to put food on the dinner table, is beyond me.

That’s not a record I want any part of.

In fact, it’s a record I vow to fight against and correct every day I walk into the House of Commons.

I’m here on behalf of my constituents who have placed their trust in me - I continue to work to keep that trust every single day.

I want to reassure the voters of Ponoka-Didsbury that a snowball would be living comfortably in hell before I would even consider betraying their trust.

I was elected a Conservative; I am a Conservative, and a Conservative I will remain.

1. Gas hit $1.64/litre in Calgary and Edmonton last week, $2.00/litre in Montreal and $2.11/litre in Vancouver.

2. Prices all relevant to January - December 2025.

3. Since 2023.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.