QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Cost of Living
March 9, 2026
Government leader, Sylvain Charlebois, known as “the Food Professor,” warns that rising energy prices are poised to hit Canadians not only at the gas pump but also in their kitchens. Food inflation could climb even higher, worsening already record-high levels of food insecurity. To make matters worse, Senator Moreau, your government’s industrial carbon tax is scheduled to rise once again on April 1, adding more pressure to an already stressed food supply chain.
Senator, Canadians cannot afford another hike in food prices while your government ignores the root causes of food inflation. Will you commit today to scrapping the industrial carbon tax — or, at minimum, freezing its upcoming increase — to provide meaningful relief to Canadian families?
The industrial carbon tax is a tool to make polluters pay for their pollution. The idea is for the government to ensure polluters pay more when they are doing things that are harmful to the environment.
Now, you’re talking about inflation. Inflation is tied to global supply chains. Climate-driven shocks are in fact related, and that’s a good reason why the industrial carbon tax should remain. Climate-driven shock is part of the cause of inflation, just as are other currency pressures, which have been volatile in recent years. So there are many things that are related to inflation. I think the industrial carbon tax is a good tool to prevent inflation from going higher.
But the fact is that a quarter of Canadian households are food insecure and a third of food bank users are children. They’re facing another steep increase in food prices because of the industrial carbon tax, which is set to rise again on April 1. Targeted relief helps but does not address the causes of inflation. Will your government remove the industrial carbon tax, the food packaging tax and other burdens to deliver lasting relief to Canadian families?
I think my first answer gives you an idea of the second one.
As far as the government is concerned, you can address affordability with a number of measures. That’s why the government lowered taxes for 22 million Canadians and is cutting the consumer carbon tax, not the industrial one but the consumer carbon tax. We are protecting Pharmacare, lowering the requirement to access the Disability Tax Credit and providing immediate relief on groceries.
