Three of Ontario’s four major political parties have vowed to take steps to lower food prices, but an expert says some of the main drivers of rising costs are beyond the province’s control.
The issue of affordability has been a priority for Ontario residents throughout the election campaign, especially as more residents feel a pinch when buying groceries and basic groceries.
Canadian statistics reported earlier this month that total food spending rose 8.8 percent from a year ago, while Canadians paid 9.7 percent more for in-store food in April, the biggest increase since September 1981
The NDP, Liberals and Greens are proposing targeted plans to tackle rising food prices, while progressive conservatives say they will cut costs and help residents save money through various measures such as reducing gas taxes.
Liberal leader Stephen Del Duca said he saw firsthand how the price of food “skyrocketed”, making it “much harder” for Ontario households to make ends meet.
If elected, he said his party would remove the 8 percent provincial portion of the harmonized sales tax on all prepared food below $ 20. The party said it would fund the measure by imposing a 1% tax on companies operating in Ontario with profits in excess of $ 1 billion a year and by raising individual income taxes above $ 500,000.
Liberals, NDP, Greens want to improve transparency
“So you go to your grocery store on the way home, maybe get a grilled chicken or a side dish, as many families often do, take it home for dinner. “Every time it’s under $ 20, our plan will save you 8 percent,” Del Duca said on Sunday during a campaign suspension in Windsor, Ont.
“Same thing in a bakery, same thing in a coffee truck, same thing in every single place you can go, anywhere in this province.”
But Mike von Massow, an associate professor in the Department of Food Economics, Agriculture and Resources at the University of Guelph, said the plan would not provide “broad relief” as currently only a “small segment” of food products under $ 20 taxed with a tax in the province.
Liberals are also proposing to legislate “fair and open negotiations” between retailers and food suppliers, which Del Duca says will reduce prices in the long run.
Doug Ford, left, Andrea Horvat, center left, Stephen Del Duca, center right, and Mike Schreiner. (Chris Young / Canadian Press, Michael Charles Cole / CBC, Evan Mitsui / CBC, Alex Lupul / CBC)
“We want to make sure that … our local Ontario-based food suppliers can actually have a real chance not only to sell what they produce, but also to do it in a fair way,” he added.
The NDP and the Greens have made similar commitments to support the Code of Conduct for Foodstuffs to improve transparency in industry.
“We need to make sure that when we have food retailers, especially large chains, they don’t agree to keep prices high because it hurts consumers,” NDP leader Andrea Horvat said on Sunday. campaign in Essex, Ont.
Von Masow said that this could be “a very good thing in terms of controlling the market power of some of these big grocers”, but it did not necessarily lower food prices, as a similar code of conduct introduced in Australia, does not have this effect.
“As always, the devil is in the details. “It’s easy to say ‘We’ll do this,’ but until we see exactly what they’re doing, it remains to be seen,” he said.
Horvat said the NDP will also create a provincial food strategy that includes working with farmers to improve access to food from local sources while supporting agricultural jobs.
The main reasons are beyond the control of the province
Meanwhile, the Greens have promised to provide start-up funding and land for healthy food markets, community property, community gardens and roofing areas, as well as a nutritious school lunch program for the public school system.
They also say they would invest in research and innovation that improve the sustainability of how the province grows, produces and distributes food.
Cost-saving measures proposed by progressive conservatives seeking re-election include lowering the gas tax by 5.7 cents a liter, extending the CARE tax credit to low-income Ontarians and providing $ 10 a day in childcare until 2025
Despite various campaign promises, von Masow said some of the main reasons for rising food prices were beyond the province’s control, citing extreme weather events and the war in Ukraine as examples.
He noted that Ukraine and Russia account for 30 percent of world trade in wheat, and wheat prices have risen with declining trade.
Von Masov noted that there had been a “significant” drought in western North America, including the prairies. The result is a nearly 30 percent drop in cereals in western Canada last year, he said, adding that it has also affected the beef industry.
There are also continuous supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which have led to rising food prices, von Masow said.
“What we have now is an almost perfect storm of factors that are leading to rising food prices everywhere,” he said.
“If we can’t deal with the root causes, then we have to deal with the prices themselves and it will be very difficult to make food prices fall without directly subsidizing certain basic products. And it would be very expensive to do something. “
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