QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Cost of Food
February 4, 2026
It’s been 10 years of this dismantling, so a lot of work will need to be done.
I’m switching to another very important issue: According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, their annual report released yesterday indicated that more than 6 million Canadians are living with heart disease or stroke. What’s really concerning is that one of the most preventative measures to address risk factors — a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables — is becoming increasingly out of reach as food prices continue to rise. Under your government, food inflation has made it harder for families to make healthy choices.
Senator Moreau, while your government is proposing temporary Goods and Services Tax, or GST, measures, the root causes of food inflation remain unaddressed. Will your government support Conservative efforts to lower food prices by removing the Liberal food packaging tax and the industrial carbon tax?
I’m pleased to report that next week, we will be studying Bill C-19. What Bill C-19 does is it will provide immediate relief on grocery purchases so that Canadians will be able to have access to nutritious food. It provides more than $400 to a single person, more than $500 to a couple and more than $800 to a family with two children. It’s part of the measures that we are putting forward to make the cost of living more affordable.
It’s just one of the measures because, as you know, there are many others. I often point to a list of what the government is doing as part of a global approach to ensure there’s more affordability everywhere in Canada for low-income and moderate-income Canadians.
Bill C-19 will be a short, temporary GST measure. The real issue is what we need to do to support the health of Canadians. More Canadians are relying on food banks, and when staples like lettuce are up 40% while canned vegetables are up 12% and continue to rise sharply in price, families are forced to focus on survival, not prevention.
Will you support the Conservative measure of eliminating the tax —
Thank you, senator.
I’m asking you this question: Will you support the Liberal measure as the official opposition on Bill C-19? Will you adopt the law rapidly? Affordability is not only a question of food. It is always a question of lowering tax. That’s what the government did for 22 million Canadians.
Again, at the House of Commons, your colleagues voted against the budget that will be cutting the consumer carbon tax, providing immediate relief on groceries, investing in affordable child care and cutting the GST for first-time homebuyers. Those are sound measures —
Thank you, Senator Moreau.
