Jagmeet Singh demands a cap on grocery prices

TORONTO—On Thursday, Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was at a Toronto Loblaws store with NDP candidate for Spadina Fort-York Norman Di Pasquale to call on the government to cap the price on essential grocery items to lower grocery prices.

This announcement comes on the same day it was reported that Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. were forced to pay $500 million to settle a class-action lawsuit regarding their involvement in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme. Singh said that Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre failed to protect Canadians from a $5-billion scam and forced Canadians to fight back alone to get some sort of justice, and that’s wrong.

Singh and Di Pasquale shopped for a few essential items before speaking to reporters.

“Everyone knows the feeling of paying more than ever at the till and walking out with fewer grocery bags—that’s the feeling of being ripped off,” said Singh. “Canadians are working harder than ever but finding it harder than ever to get ahead. It’s not their fault. For years, Conservatives and now Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have stacked the deck against people. They’ve written rules that make it easy to price gouge. The scales are tipped in their favour so billionaires can get richer and richer, and Canadian pay for it.

“It’s time to re-write the rules. If greedy CEOs want to keep ripping people off, the government needs to provide relief at the till with a cap on essential items like bread and baby formula.”

With food prices through the roof, the number of people relying on food banks doubled in Toronto over the last year. The grocery sector has hiked margins, and is making record profits—a whopping $6 billion in 2023 alone. Singh says it’s time to change the rules to protect people’s wallets by outlawing gouging.

Last month, the NDP proposed a plan to lower grocery prices, but Pierre Poilievre and Justin Trudeau voted it down—choosing to protect big grocer CEO profits.

“When it comes to rising grocery prices, the Conservatives would pour gasoline on the fire,” said Singh. “Pierre Poilievre believes the government should have no rules for big businesses. Conservatives believe CEOs should charge as much as they can get you to pay. New Democrats believe it’s time to take on corporate greed, and finally tip the scales in people’s favour, for once, by lowering grocery prices.”

Singh also pointed out just how far Justin Trudeau is willing to go to help grocery CEOs instead of people; he gave the CEOs of Loblaws and Costco $26 million to buy new fridges. Singh said it's time to end handouts to grocery giants that gouge.