Refuse to provide relief to Canadians, and then complain afterwards…
Like many Canadians, Michael Coteau is shocked by high food prices:
“This is completely unacceptable! Almost $40 for 5 pieces of chicken.
There is no way Loblaws can justify this?”
This is completely unacceptable! Almost $40 for 5 pieces of chicken.
There is no way Loblaws can justify this? https://t.co/36qMFvQEWI
— Michael Coteau (@coteau) January 4, 2023
Unlike many Canadians however, Couteau is in a position to do something about it directly.
Coteau is the Liberal MP for the riding of Don Valley East.
The party Coteau is a part of has been imposing policies that raise food prices.
Among those policies is the carbon tax, which impacts all aspects of the food supply chain.
After all, the carbon tax is explicitly designed to drive up prices and thus reduce consumption.
In real terms, it makes Canadians poorer, and does so in order to supposedly ‘save the planet.’
As an MP, and as someone who is ostensibly worried about food prices, Coteau had a great opportunity to take action on December 8th of 2022.
On that day, a Conservative motion was being voted on that would have removed the carbon tax from the food supply chain in Canada.
Here is the text of the motion:
“That, given that,
(i) Canada’s Food Price Report 2023 states that a typical farm will pay $150,000 in carbon tax per year when the carbon tax is tripled,
(ii) families will pay an additional $1,065 for groceries in 2023 for a total of $16,288 due to increased costs being passed on to consumers,
(iii) food bank visits were at an all-time high reaching 1.5 million in March 2022, a 15% increase from the previous year according to Food Banks Canada,
(iv) 20% of Canadians are skipping meals and grocery price inflation is at 11%,
the House call on the government to cancel the carbon tax that is applied to all food inputs and production, including:
(a) all farm fuels;
(b) grain drying;
(c) fertilizer;
(d) transportation; and
(e) other appropriate aspects of the food supply system.”
Well, surely Coteau must have voted for the motion, given his public concern over high food prices!
Nope.
He voted against it:
The Liberals & NDP voted down the motion, and the carbon tax thus still applies to the food supply chain in Canada, driving up prices at a time when Canadians are desperately seeking relief.
What this makes clear is the Liberal government has decided on a crass and manipulative ‘strategy’ to deal with high food prices and inflation:
Make it worse, pretend to have nothing to do with it, complain and blame it on private corporations.
The Liberals & NDP are now singing from the same song sheet, blaming grocery chains for high prices in an effort to distract from the role that massive government spending and tax hikes have played in making everything more expensive.
Whether Canadians end up giving in to that manipulative message will go a long way in deciding whether people will vote for a change in government, or stick with the same policies that have made life so expensive.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
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