Prices in Canada continue to go up under Mark Carney’s government, and many of them are automatic, meaning that Parliament does not approve them (cost of postage, alcohol, passports etc.) Does this increasing reliance on ‘escalator’ taxes concern you? Let me know here!

Food inflation in Canada: Carney reheats his predecessor’s leftovers

March 5, 2026

How do you feel when you leave the grocery store these days? Shocked? Angry? Numb? Depressed? Anxious?

Stephanie has spoken countless times in the House of Commons and at Committee about the food inflation crisis that the Liberals helped to create and now refuse to solve. Most recently, she raised the issue during Question Period, noting that the temporary measures the Liberals are offering (GST rebate with the rollout of the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit) will not result in a single grocery price reduction. She also pointed out how puzzling it is that they voted against the common sense Conservative motion to remove hidden taxes on food (including the industrial carbon tax on farm equipment, fertilizer and food processors, the fuel standards tax and food packaging tax), and to take steps to boost competition in our overly concentrated grocery sector.

Rather than looking inwardly at the root causes of this inflationary crisis (like the government overspending, printing money, and the imposing countless punishing taxes) they refuse to take ownership of the damage they have caused or state any intention of changing course. The Liberals have chosen instead to re-heat Justin Trudeau’s leftovers by sending cash to those who (supposedly) need it most in hopes of appearing benevolent.

Rather than looking inwardly at the root causes of this inflationary crisis (like government overspending  and the imposition of countless punishing taxes) they refuse to take ownership of the damage they have caused let alone state any intention of changing course. Instead, the Liberals have chosen to re-heat Justin Trudeau’s leftovers – sending taxpayer cash to those they deem need it most in hopes of appearing benevolent.

As we’ve seen before, the main problem with these payments and rebates is that they are poorly targeted and distributed. Ultimately, regardless of the tax bracket someone falls into, the exorbitant price of food is unfair for everyone – and leaves us all with less of our paycheques to save for our futures. And, as the government continues to spend money that it doesn’t have, our nation plunges further into debt without a long-term solution to the food inflation crisis. In essence, they continue to spend our cupboards bare and then throw a few taxpayers some scraps in typical “let them eat cake” fashion.

In 2023, Minister Champagne (now the Finance Minister) claimed he would “stabilize food prices,” after a “historic” meeting with grocery CEOs. But since then, food prices have actually increased, making Canada’s food inflation the highest in the G7 (double what it is in the USA). In fact, Canada’s has doubled since Mark Carney took office. It’s simple — the Liberals can’t bring down the price of food because they are incapable of staying within a budget. The sooner they can admit this and seek to right the ship, the sooner Canadians would feel relief everywhere, including at the grocery store.

In any case, the Official Opposition worked to help pass the government’s GST top-up so that at least some Canadian families get a bit of temporaryrelief. Unfortunately, the Liberals’ stopgap falls well short of a real solution. It doesn’t lower the cost of the actual food by a single cent, and, with just $10 a week for a very small number of people, will not even put a dent in the bills for most families. Still, this small measure is better than nothing.

Stephanie and her Conservative colleagues will continue to push for fiscal accountability but as you can see in one of her latest exchanges with Minister Champagne, the Liberals don’t seem to understand what happens when more money goes out than comes in.