By Jaryn Vecchio

Should the federal government be blamed for the rising food costs?

Sep 18, 2023 | 5:00 PM

Food prices continue to remain high across the country, but who’s to blame for this?

There’s been lots of finger-pointing with the federal government criticizing large retailers and the Retail Council of Canada calling out food manufacturers and producers.

However, the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association believes the federal government should be getting most of the blame.

“It’s not entirely the government’s fault, but the government is definitely a part of it,” said Gunter Jochum, the president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association.

In his opinion, the government’s carbon tax is forcing everyone to raise their prices. Right now, the tax is set at $65 per tonne of CO2 equivalent with it set to rise by $15 a year until 2030.

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“We can argue that it’s a small incremental increase, but that’s not entirely true. On my farm alone and we’re just an average size farm, this year alone is around $40,000,” said Jochum.

He added those producing and transporting food are also getting hit hard. To help offset the cost, they’ve raised their prices which has forced retailers to increase theirs.

Speaking of retailers, Jochum believes they’re getting too much of the blame. It’s gotten to the point that the federal government said they’ll start taxing them if they don’t come up with a plan to lower their costs by Thanksgiving. Jochum thinks this will only increase the problem.

“It’ll just get put onto the consumer and will not address food inflation,” he said.

Multiple retailers met with members of the federal government on Monday to speak about the issue.

This included Loblaw, Metro, Empire, Walmart, and Costco.

In a statement, the Retail Council of Canada said they aren’t going to continue talks if they continue to get the undeserved blame.

“In order for any future discussions to be credible, they must include not only food retailers but also processors, manufacturers, as well as other relevant businesses within the supply chain. Any conversation that doesn’t include the vendors, whose costs make up more than 70 per cent of the price to customers, will not provide meaningful outcomes,” the statement read.

Just like Jochum, the Retail Council of Canada believes the federal government is also playing a part in the increases. They also explained getting rid of the carbon tax for farmers, manufacturers, and producers would make a huge difference.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow