North Island - Powell River MP Seconds Jagmeet Singh’s Price Gouging Bill

North Island - Powell River MP Rachel Blaney seconded NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s Private Member’s Bill calling on the federal government to lower grocery prices for Canadians.

“People in North Island-Powell River and across Canada can’t afford basic necessities while CEOs continue to get richer; clearly the process is broken,” stated Blaney.

“We need to put the needs of everyday people front and centre while addressing inflation.”

The Bill is aimed at ensuring Canadians are not subjected to price gouging at the grocery store, ultimately bringing down the cost of food.

The proposed Bill would increase penalties handed out for price fixing, protect small grocery stores from anti-competitive tactics from large chains, and increase the competition bureau’s powers to crack down on price-gouging abuse.

Food inflation in August remains at 6.9%, well above the overall inflation rate of 4%.

In a release, the NDP says both the Liberals and Conservatives have ‘’repeatedly voted in favour of grocery store CEOs, refusing to hold them accountable for the ever-increasing cost of living.’’