Canada's NDP issued the following press release on May 10, 2024.
TORONTO – On Friday, Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and NDP candidate for Toronto—Danforth Clare Hacksel committed to ending corporate handouts to profitable grocery giants driving up food prices for Canadians.
Singh says an NDP government would stop giving profitable grocery giants subsidies and reverse the corporate handouts Conservatives put in place, making them pay what they owe to put money back in people’s pockets.
“Canadians are making tough choices about what groceries their family can afford and food banks are seeing more people than ever,” said Singh. “But the grocery sector made record profits last year, raking in $6 billion. Loblaws has almost doubled its profit margin in the past five years and Metro has the biggest profit margin of any grocery company.”
“We believe people should be getting a break — not wealthy corporations.” - Clare Hacksel
“Canadians know that the problem is corporate greed—that’s why thousands of people are boycotting Loblaws right now. But instead of going after this unchecked greed, Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre prefer to handout money to big grocery chains. New Democrats know that’s wrong. We believe people should be getting a break — not wealthy corporations,” added Hacksel.
Earlier this week, New Democrats uncovered that the Liberals gave $25.5 million to Loblaws and Costco between 2019 and 2023 while they were making massive profits. This is in addition to the $2.35 billion in handouts to the three big grocery chains given by successive Liberal and Conservative governments. Meanwhile, the average family of four is expected to spend over $700 more on food due to grocery price inflation this year.
“In the next election, you’ll have a choice between someone who fights to lower your costs, or the Liberals and Conservatives who feed the greed with massive handouts,” said Singh. “With an NDP government there will be less greed and lower costs because we’d end the Liberals’ and Conservatives’ corporate handouts.”