A woman wearing a face covering shops for groceries. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / KzenonA woman wearing a face covering shops for groceries. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / Kzenon
Midwestern

NDP motion to investigate food prices passes in House of Commons

The federal NDP's Opposition Day Motion calling for action on high food prices carried Monday in the House of Commons.

The NDP motion called on the government to close tax loopholes for corporations and CEOs that allowed $30 billion worth of tax avoidance in 2021 alone.

"We've seen a lot of stories and we've heard from a lot of people that they are really hurting when it comes to buying groceries," said NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.

The motion also called for increased penalties for price fixing, and an investigation into "greedflation."

"We need to investigate the prices set on food, because we know in the not too distant past that we had bread price fixing happen in Canada, where large grocery stores and bread makers colluded to drive up the price of bread," Singh pointed out. "We're concerned about the fact that while we're seeing a little cooling on inflation in the other sectors, food prices are simply not coming down."

Singh said a move by Loblaws to freeze no name product prices at their inflated rate shows grocery stores can play a role in the price of food.

Singh concluded it's time to tackle corporate greed which is pushing up the cost of food for Canadians.

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