“High energy prices are driving up the cost of food. We are helping people right now by making the school food program permanent and giving families emergency relief. Conservatives are wrong to call the school food program garbage, because it feeds children. We are also spending $3.2 billion to fix deeper problems in the food system. This money will help local communities build better storage and supply chains, which increases competition and keeps food prices steady.”

“Mr. Speaker, we know that Canadians are struggling with the cost of living. Of course, we also know that the oil price shock is what is driving the consumer price index up. The consumer price index would be at 2.4% if it were not for the rise in energy prices that has driven it up to 3.1%. That directly impacts the cost of food over time, and we see that the inflation of food prices is significant and elevated. That is exactly why we have given families a boost today and a bridge to tomorrow. That includes helping both with more emergency or immediate relief and support, which includes a billion-dollar investment, and making the national school food program permanent. It also includes the groceries and essentials benefit. I am glad to hear the member opposite acknowledge that those programs really help people. Often we hear from the Conservatives that they do not acknowledge them. They call the national school food program “garbage” or claim that it does not serve any food to children, when we know in fact that is false. I have witnessed it with my own eyes when I have toured food programs in my riding. We have also moved forward on a national food security strategy, which is significant at $3.2 billion. Previously, we never had what I would say is a medium- to long-term strategy to address the structural problems in the food system. We have had numerous reports done by the Competition Bureau that looked at corporate consolidation within the food system all along the supply chains. The reality is that this leaves our food system vulnerable to shocks in the global market. Commodity prices affect the input costs for our farmers, the cost of transportation and distribution, and the costs for our retailers, all of whom assume some of those costs and eventually pass them down to consumers in raised prices at the grocery store. Therefore, over time, having a food system that is vulnerable and highly dependent upon global supply chains is not the most resilient strategy. What we are doing is investing in the infrastructure that communities need in order to be able to distribute food and to develop shorter supply chains and more sustainable regional food systems that have cold storage and distribution, that do value added. On Vancouver Island, in Victoria and the surrounding areas, there is much activity in the food system. I have toured it and met with many of the groups in the past. Before I was in politics, I served on the board of Food Secure Canada, an organization that has advocated for sustainable local food systems. This national food security strategy is something I have advocated for since entering politics seven years ago. I am very proud to stand with a government that is making a $3.2-billion investment into the structural challenges in the food system, to develop the infrastructure and capacity at the community scale, to develop more resilience and essentially create competition so independent grocery stores would be able to get access to local food and do it in a more affordable way that is somewhat insulated from the commodity price fluctuations that have made our food system quite vulnerable to shocks.”

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“Our fund is $3.2 billion, not just one billion. We are giving money directly to local charities and groups that feed people in our communities. To really stop hunger, people need good incomes. Wages in Canada are now growing faster than prices, and we are creating many jobs.”

“Mr. Speaker, again, it is more than just a billion-dollar fund. It is $3.2 billion. The local food infrastructure fund has already made a significant difference in my community. There are organizations, mostly non-profits and charities, in my community that offer solutions at a community scale to the food insecurity challenges we see rising in our communities. They are doing a great job. What we are doing is boosting their efforts by offering more financing and support directly from the federal government, which arguably is something we have not had before and is probably the missing piece to really addressing the root causes of food insecurity. Every expert in the country will tell us that food insecurity is the direct result of income insecurity. Therefore, really, the long-term solution to food insecurity is to make sure we have high-paying jobs in Canada. Wages have been outpacing inflation in Canada. The Canadian economy has added twice the number of jobs—”

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