SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 324

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 4, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 324 - Jun/4/24
Mr. Ken Hardie (Fleetwood—Port Kells, Lib.)
  • Jun/4/24 10:16:03 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am totally on side with the motion, but it is a matter of the what and the how. What we want to do is see food prices moderate or come down. With respect to how, though, I want to talk about the price cap and ask my hon. friend a question. The free market response to a price cap quite often ends up being rationing. What would the response be if big grocery decided that we were forcing them to sell milk, eggs, butter, etcetera at a low price, so they were not going to make a whole bunch of those things available to people? Are there thoughts, or could there be thoughts, on how to deal with that issue?
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Context: House Hansard - 324 - Jun/4/24
Ms. Kristina Michaud (Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, BQ)
  • Jun/4/24 10:19:24 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I understand the motion's underlying intent. The rising cost of groceries is affecting everyone and causing a lot of headaches, but I wonder whether a price cap is feasible. For example, how are we supposed to cap the price of bread when wheat prices are determined by the Chicago Board of Trade exchange? How can we cap the price of fresh vegetables when we know that soaring prices primarily reflect crop losses caused by floods and droughts resulting from climate change? I wonder how practical it is to force a produce farmer from California to sell his broccoli to Quebeckers and Canadians at a lower cost than he would charge Americans. Can my colleague tell me how this would be done in practical terms?
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Context: House Hansard - 324 - Jun/4/24
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)
  • Jun/4/24 1:35:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the member could provide her thoughts with respect to instituting a price cap and how that would help the constituents who she represents or northern residents of Canada, generally speaking. Could she give some sort of an indication on whether she believes there would be any consequence to having a price cap?
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Context: House Hansard - 324 - Jun/4/24
Mr. Luc Thériault (Montcalm, BQ)
  • Jun/4/24 1:37:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues mentioned earlier in their analysis of the NDP motion, it is targeting a genuine problem but proposing a false solution. How would we cap the prices of essential foods? I would like my colleague to tell me how the price of bread can be capped when wheat prices are negotiated on the Chicago Stock Exchange.
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Context: House Hansard - 324 - Jun/4/24
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)
  • Jun/4/24 3:55:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, does the member have any concerns at all with regard to the government applying a price cap, as she is suggesting? Is there another country in the G20 doing this? I understand that France might be. I do not quite understand France. Could the member provide any evidence of any G20 country that actually has some sort of a price cap that has been demonstrated to be effective and has not negatively impacted supply?
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Context: House Hansard - 324 - Jun/4/24
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)
  • Jun/4/24 5:02:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I referenced earlier, there is a concern with the impacts of a price cap. The NDP has consistently brought up France as a country we should be looking to when setting up our model. I understand that, within the G7, Canada is doing reasonably well on the food inflation issue. Does the NDP have any information from the last three or four years about the cumulative total of food inflation in France was compared to Canada?
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