The NDP Is Still Trying To Pin Blame On Grocery Stores To Deflect From Their Support For Inflationary Liberal Policies

If the NDP succeeds in convincing Canadians to blame inflation on Canadian businesses, it will only incentivize the further embrace of disastrous economic and monetary policies.

Ignorance of basic economics may not be an official prerequisite for being a part of the NDP under Jagmeet Singh’s leadership, but it certainly seems that way.

The NDP consistently demands certain policies be implemented, only to then campaign against the predictable consequences of those policies.

For example, the NDP supported the carbon tax, supported restrictions on the expansion of the oil & gas sector, supported massive government deficits, and supported continued increases to government spending – even claiming the Liberals weren’t spending enough.

Now, with food prices surging, energy costs rising, and the overall cost-of-living rising at a much faster pace than wages, the NDP is acting as if they had nothing to do with it.

Instead of taking responsibility for the damage that high-tax, high-spending Liberal-NDP Pact policies have caused, they are relentlessly trying to pin the blame on grocery stores and ‘CEOs’:

“It’s time to summon the CEOs

Grocery CEOs owe you answers about the price of food

Justin Trudeau & Pierre Poilievre are protecting them

Today, New Democrats will lead a vote on a motion to compel them to testify before Parliament

You deserve answers”

And, while the NDP has been struggling in the polls as Canadians question why Singh keeps criticizing the Liberals while keeping them in power, it’s clear that the other parties are feeling the pressure to be seen as ‘doing something’ about the CEOs, in what is an empty performative move:

“Members of Parliament have summoned the heads of Canada’s largest grocery store chains to answer for rising grocery prices.

On Monday, a House of Commons committee studying food price inflation called on the CEOs and presidents of Loblaw Companies, Metro and Empire Company Limited — which operates chains including Sobeys, Safeway and FreshCo — to attend an upcoming meeting.

The hearing has not yet been scheduled.

The proposal to hear from the grocery leaders came from NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, and it received unanimous support from Liberal, Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs.”

No party wants to be seen as “on the side of the grocery chain CEOs,” which shows that some of the NDP rhetoric has already sunk in with the public.

People understandably want someone to blame for the declining economic prospects of many Canadians.

And because we can see and feel the impact of rising food prices directly, it’s easy to attribute blame for inflation to grocery stores.

The truth – that inflation has been caused by a combination of global events and deliberate policy choices by the federal government (supported by the NDP) – is more complicated to explain.

In today’s soundbite world, simple explanations usually end up dominating over complex ones, even when the simple explanation is wrong.

The problem is that if we assign blame incorrectly, our policy decisions in response to an issue will also be incorrect.

If Canadians end up going along with the NDP narrative on inflation, they will demand higher taxes on grocery stores, more centralized government power, and more government deficit spending in response.

That would only make things worse, and the NDP would then undoubtedly demand even more centralized government power to ‘respond’ to the worsened conditions.

That’s why it is essential to push back against the politically-convenient response to inflation, and continue explaining why lower taxes, support for the oil & gas sector, and fiscal responsibility are needed.

Spencer Fernando

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