NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh makes campaign-style stop in Nanaimo to push for lower grocery prices
As grocery store prices continue to take a major bite out of most people's budgets, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was in Nanaimo Monday, taking aim at that grocery store sticker shock.
“At a time when Canadians are having the most difficulty ever buying groceries, the fact that grocery stores have chosen that time to increase their margins is evidence of greed,” said Singh from Maffeo Sutton Park.
In July, the Liberal government rolled out one-time rebates of several hundred dollars to some 11 million eligible Canadians -- essentially a rebranded GST rebate aimed at offsetting the cost of food.
Singh said more help is needed, and pointed to greater transparency about stores’ profits and increasing competition to drive down prices.
“There’s lots of ways to put in place an excess profit tax, we've looked at lots of countries that have done so,” said Singh.
University of Victoria business professor Mark Colgate says high grocery costs are especially acute on Vancouver Island – and cites a couple of reasons for that.
“There is just a very small number of major grocery stores on the Island -- less than you would see on the Lower Mainland, and when you have higher transportation costs and less competition, that’s going to lead to higher prices,” said Colgate.
Singh’s appearance and campaign-style pledge came on traditional NDP turf that he wants to protect, said political scientist Hamish Telford.
“He doesn’t want to give any free ground to the Conservatives and Pierre Poilievre -- who have been riding high in the polls,” said The University of Fraser Valley professor. “This is in part a defensive move by Jagmeet Singh.”
Also on Monday, Prime Minister Trudeau visited a farmer's store -- where he vowed to prioritize affordability when parliament resumes in the fall, and Singh’s Nanaimo appearance comes as Poilievre has surged in the polls -- hammering the Trudeau government about inflation and housing prices.
“Food inflation is still running very high -- and so he wants to capitalize on that vis a vis the government -- as well as against the Conservatives,” said Telford.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW Is there a cost to convenience? Canada approves new cancer immunotherapy treatment
A new cancer treatment recently approved in Canada promises to cut treatment time down to just minutes, but experts have differing opinions on whether it's what's best for patients.
Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
Canada's new dental program offering hope of free care to millions but many dentists aren't signed up
A new Canadian dental care program is offering the hope of free care to millions, but while 1.7 million people have signed up for the plan, only about 5,000 dentists have done the same.
Province boots mayor and council in small northern Ont. town out of office
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
King Charles III returns to public duties with a trip to a cancer charity
King Charles III will return to public duties on Tuesday when he visits a cancer treatment charity, beginning his carefully managed comeback after the monarch’s own cancer diagnosis sidelined him for three months.
NDP says Ottawa's new grocery task force isn't living up to government promises
The federal government says the task force it created to monitor and investigate grocery retailers' practices has not conducted any probes and doesn't have a mandate to take enforcement action.
A group of Toronto tenants have been on a rent strike for a year and say there's no resolution in sight
Dozens of tenants in Toronto's Thorncliffe Park area have now been withholding their rent for one year, and it’s unclear when the dispute will end.
U.K. police arrest man wielding a sword in east London, 5 people are taken to the hospital
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and two police officers on Tuesday in the east London community of Hainault before being arrested, police said.
Archeologists search for remnants of Halifax's 250-year-old wall that surrounded the city
Archeologist Jonathan Fowler is using ground-penetrating radar to search for historic evidence of the massive wall that surrounded Halifax more than 250 years ago.