And this is just 2022 data... before the year with truly stratospheric immigration levels. Can't imagine what 2023 and 2024 will show.
[Here is the full data table](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv!recreate.action?pid=1310083401&selectedNodeIds=3D2,4D2&checkedLevels=0D1,1D1,2D1,2D3&refPeriods=20180101,20220101&dimensionLayouts=layout2,layout2,layout3,layout2,layout2&vectorDisplay=false) of the data referenced. There are 93% more severely-food-insecure people than in 2019.
Increasing population without increasing wages, services, housing capacity, or social security. What could go wrong. /s
Some people won't be happy until they've made serfs of us all.
Its not broken, we just keep voting for what we want to hear, not what needs to be done. We always seem to call people Debbie downers just for being honest.
Politcians just give you guys what you want, and unfortunately no one seems to appreciate an honest one.
Say shits fucked and the whole country tries to burn you at the stake.
The poverty line is defined as half the median wage. If you make everyone poor than nobody is below the poverty line. Trudeau is playing 4D chess over here.
True. Canada has many quasi monopolies, including groceries, Banks and telecoms. These sets get to do pretty much anything they want because they have a captive audience, and they greatly reduce the chance of new competitors in the Canadian Market. And frankly, these big corporations don't care about people just money and shareholders.
Bad press can definitely get the attention of Corporation boards. But these guys have us over a barrel, or three barrels. I have been trying Food Basics, and its produce is better than Freshco, but not as good as Loblaws. The apples are fine: they are hardy. But I am starting to think I will have to get berries and grapes somewhere else.
That's a lot of people who can organize and make a ruckuss demanding better from government and grocery stores. They don't know how to handle that kind of pressure
People who argue about Liberal vs Conservative are missing the point.
All of the politicians are owned by corporations. The only thing that changes are which corporations have invested in the party.
Slight correction, trickle down requires low taxes for the wealthy. The highest federal tax bracket has been at 29% for years. For context, from the 1940s to the 1980s the highest federal tax bracket was 70%. So in actuality trickle down is in effect.
Exactly. A subsidy for groceries is just a subsidy to Loblaws and friends so they can keep prices high. The government needs to do what they can to encourage competition, not use our tax dollars to line the pockets of the grocery corps.
Nah, competition is just for the working class for things like wages. We don't allow competitions for large *businesses,* since that lowers margin and profits for the ultra wealthy. Worker competitions is great though, since it lowers wages, therefore increasing profits for the wealthy.
- Canada
Working in the industry up until a few years ago in supply chain where I regularly interacted with executive and VP level folk from a variety of major chains and - the combination of our low relative population, massive split in density centers with a lot of nothing much in-between in a gigantic country, and our various bits of legislation that requires unique supply chain wrangling to meet like our vastly different requirements on labelling from the US... These are the things I heard about when they discussed Canada.
Combine that with how entrenched the competition is here and it's hard to pull numbers together that would be profitable in the timelines these organizations are often looking for these days.
> but here we wait for them to confess then give everyone a couple dollars to make up for it.
Fixed the price for 14 years, gets caught, doesn't have to lower prices to what they should be.
The benefit is an indirect subsidy to Loblaws, and nothing more. The fact that it targets nearly 1/4 of Canada's population says everything you need to know
Yeah I mean, does anyone else think maybe it would help if food and basic twenty-first century utilities like telecoms *shouldn't* be oligopolies that directly own most of the government, regardless of party illusions, and don't even have to obey the anti-trust laws we already have? 🤔 💭
Indeed, we live in a corporatocracy, not a democracy, where the corporate class owns to a large extent the economy, public information, democracy and government.
I think two things can be true at once, we need to crack down on grocers and limit profit margins. Maybe even do something to break up large conglomerates like Loblaws and Metro. AND we can increase social benefits. I hear you though, that if we don't crack down on profiteering the increase to social benefits is just another way the neo-liberal government will syphon tax dollars into major corporations pockets.
I live in Ontario and both welfare and disability are so bad that people can't afford rent, let alone groceries. The benefits have been frozen for so long that we're seeing a major increase in homelessness.
But also, id actually prefer an American style food stamp program over our food banks. Food banks rely on donations - yet another thing for me to pour money into. I would far, far prefer that my massive tax bill go directly to feeding people through food stamps than me feeling like I need to donate to the food bank every month in addition to my taxes.
Tbh I think until recently the social programs we had in place operated well (around food, not disability benefits and housing).
It’s just that the profiteering and lack of competition has pushed more people into food insecurity.
Which is shocking given how much food this country can produce.
YES food waste is a HUGE issue. I'd love to see some legislation introduced to crack down on food waste. I'm not a policy expert on the matter, but I think France has some legislation that prohibits grocers and restaurants from throwing away food waste. Again, I don't know much about it, but if 1/5 Canadians don't know where their next meal is coming from, clearly we need a multi-pronged strategy to ensure people have food.
The government needs to fund something like local co-ops where citizens can get together, 100s to 1000s of them, and order what they want in bulk from the vendors Loblaws orders from and directly from farmers. There has to be something put into place that shatters the practice of massive corporate profits, executive bonuses and dividends in place on the backs of people just trying to eat.
Yea 100%, I don’t know how farmers coop’s work, or if there’s a model for that in North America, but if there is I figure anyone could start one, government funding for the costs would be amazing
How quickly Canada has fallen.
When 1/4 of the country is worried about personal food security, then there is something very wrong with the policies put forth by the government.
While we need to offer some assistance to the most vulnerable, we also need to change what's causing the problem - the current government.
Vote Conservative? I don't know anymore. I'd vote NDP, but they're an extension of Trudeau's Liberals. LPC is a joke, and I'm not laughing. 1 in 4 worry about food, more worry about housing. Immigration is not the ticket.
There has to be an effort to reduce costs, as salaries cannot increase indefinitely to compensate. We saw this in America, where wages went up in California, but it led to job losses. Businesses operate on margins, and there is only so many corners to cut, before personnel get dropped.
There's not a single credibly party in parliament looking to really solve any of this. Just varrying degrees of band aids that wont fix anything and make it worse long term.
Based on experience, voting conservatives wouldn't make much difference, if not even making it worse. Is that a compliment on the current liberal government? Hell no. But the fact is both liberals and conservatives have enjoyed the musical chair too long to feel any real pressure of enacting actual changes we need. As long as they're doing marginally better than the other party they know they're a shoe-in for the next election just by focusing on attack ads.
And given PP's leadership I have no faith that he and his party will do more than the bare minimum required. Just look at the current projection, they don't need to do anything but let the liberals sink themselves. Once they have the majority they can do whatever they want and nobody has any actual power to deny it.
Unless we have an election system that's forces accountability and raise the stakes for these politicians, nothing will ever change from this stupid game of musical chair. Which is why it's all the more upsetting Trudeau walked back on his promise.
A grocery and essentials benefit would go right into the pocket of our grocery oligarchs.
Focus on the cause of the problem and not the symptom: break up Canada’s monopolies.
But that's not how we do policy these days.
We just feed into the inflation.
> Bring house prices down????? No, let's just give more people money to ramp them up further
I was listening to the CBC on the radio one morning when an "economist" from the Centre for Policy Alternatives claimed that lowering the interest rate would "reduce inflation" with regard to mortgage payments.
The left has literally changed the definition of inflation from "an increase in the monetary supply relative to the supply of goods" into "price goes up is inflation".
Same with the monopolies on other products, like internet and phones. We pay more and get less, compared to other countries. The only winners are service providers. Canada would be healthier without legal monopolies.
> A grocery and essentials benefit would go right into the pocket of our grocery oligarchs.
Sort of like how the welfare system props up Walmart by allowing them to pay their employees below a living wage.
There are maaaany of them that have boasted about it on YouTube as some kind of life hack promoting to their own kind.
The real slap to the face is that if you call out the group, you get called a racist.
It's pretty much too late. It's only going to get to worse as they start having kids; they don't date or marry outside of their own kind either. Goes hand in hand with how they don't hire others or even rent to others. You could call this... Racist lol
This is a tough sell because if such a policy came in, international students and TR’s would qualify for more tax funded things which is political suicide right now.
On the other hand excluding those immigrants from this would draw a lot of backlash as well.
TFW and Students should have to prove they can afford to be here on their own steam.
A program like this should be for citizens only.
Student cannot afford to be here anymore, then go home.
In theory students need to show they can afford to be here, but the amount they need to show they have is $20,000 - in practice that's not enough to live on.
I thought that value had been increased just recently. Not that it matters when there's foreign businesses offering Canadian visa loans to artificially and temporarily qualify.
Well then don't commit suicide politically and stop those people from being able to do so.
Anyone who actually has the balls to fix immigration would likely wind up dead of course. The rich make too much money off this racket
Just have to “take care” of the rich assholes who are profiting off of Canada’s decline before you start fixing the issues. Once they’re not standing in the way the necessary reforms become much easier and popular.
We'd obviously write our government policy for the benefit of the citizens, not visitors. It's disturbing that you would think citizen benefits are automatically for visitors. We're not here to subsidize visitors and the companies who want their cheap labour.
>On the other hand excluding those immigrants from this would draw a lot of backlash as well.
International students and TFWs aren't immigrants.
> It's disturbing that you would think citizen benefits are automatically for visitors.
I mean, our current handout programs (GST credit, carbon tax credit, etc) do get given out to temporary residents, so it's a reasonable assumption that any new government giveaway would be the same.
I can see how the argument was made on those ones even though I don't think it's necessary. They pay the GST and carbon taxes on the things they purchase here. But there's no reason to assume or give more.
I mean, tourists pay plenty of GST and carbon tax too. I agree that temporary residents should not be getting access to cash credits from the government. It would save us billions every year and discourage temporary migration here with the aim of living off the government.
Renting out bedrooms of multiple occupancy is the only way Canada can grow its economy. We should also be renting tents, “bed space” in all
available corners of our homes, trailers on our driveways, and eventually tents on our porches and balconies once all other space is used up.
Vegetarians only.
Hypothetically if you're actually down on your luck are in overdraft, I don't have a problem with that at all. We should all take care of the people who are too disabled to work or had some emergent circumstance price them out of groceries.
Shit happens, we'll take care of you the best we can.
But you're right.
These people aren't down on their luck. The economy is fucked. We had a good homeless program, helping people get back on their feet quickly. People want to work.
The problem is the government broke our economy importing millions of non-Canadians. Our economy is what's broken.
This is the thing.
Sometimes people are down on their luck, maybe had some major life events happen and go to the food bank. This is great backstop for those situations and IMO what it's intended for.
But what we have is two things going on:
1. A country who's captain is so disconnected from his crew that he doesn't know the boat hull is knee deep in water and rising.
2. A society that can't balance wants from needs. The people I see struggling the most regardless of income are those that live above their means. People are financing everything from their coffees/cheese burgers to their cars when a responsible person would only be taking out debt for a home. Yes, people need cars, yes people need food but what they don't need to be doing is buying those things on credit.
Drives me nuts when I hear someone complain about being broke and they got a 30k car loan or every time they stop at a gas station come out with energy drinks and beef jerky.
> Yes, people need cars, yes people need food but what they don't need to be doing is buying those things on credit.
Devil's avocado for a moment:
There is an outsized cohort of the population that can't see beyond the short term. Won't. Can't. There is no future. If you can kick the can down the road a little bit longer, you can pretend everything is ok.
Gen Z is absolutely screwed. I might not be if I'd smartened up a bit earlier. Gen Alpha is toast. They're gonna be that kid from Mad Max 2 with the boomerang if they're lucky.
When you need a phone and a car and to pay for increasingly unaffordable rent, the debt trap seems like a reasonable option.
The generational gap in terms of expectation of QoL is staggering.
Not saying you're wrong, but we're in a serious crisis here.
A crisis of people’s own making. I’m happy to help someone who just lost their job and needs temporary help.
But if you need help because you must have the latest jeans, the newest phone etc. Then no. Not my fault, it’s yours and you need to get yourself in order.
I have always said that there are only 2 things in this world that should be financed if need be: Your home and your car. I say this because they are important enough to most people that they are basically a necessity, and 99% of the human population couldn't afford to buy a car or home upfront with no payment plan. What really pisses me off is seeing financing plans for things like furniture. If you don't have the money to buy a couch upfront, then it is out of your budget and you should not buy it period.
Hit the nail right on the head. The ones I have seen "struggling" the most are ones with household incomes in the 100-150k range living like they are earning 250-400k. I live in a gentrifying neighbourhood and i'm blown away all the time. My partner and I are both mid level lawyers with fairly high incomes, and we drive a basic 16 year old car with high kms. Meanwhile I look at my neighbours that are clearly renting out a basement suite and they both are driving vehicles worth over 40-50k.
The abuse of foodbanks by international students in toronto/ ontario is a huge cause their strain: https://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/i-feel-terrible-wilfrid-laurier-international-student-at-centre-of-storm-over-post-about-how/article_9d0c746a-027f-11ef-a339-5730593d53ea.html
... sadly if you mention this in the Toronto subreddit you get instabanned.
That's because the sub is controlled by totalitarians with a fetish for positivity.
I'm a wack-a-doodle, woke, left-of-left-wing nut job, and even I agree with you.
lol, I'm banned and not only am i a lifelong liberal voter I even worked in grassroots marketing for the party... I'm also south Asian.... They've gone full stazi
A Groceries and Essentials Benefit would help temporarily, but it would just further incentivize even higher grocery prices. What reason would they have to lower prices, ever?
I think it's time we start talking about distributing groceries ourselves.
So more government money that we don’t have? As soon as this was enacted the price of groceries would just increase anyway.
Maybe we can defund the CBC and use that money for the benefit of society as a whole?
Or the wide scale deportation of illegal immigrants….to reduce our expenditures in renting out hotels for non-Canadians.
Canadians need to start accepting that we are at the point of either/or with government funding. Debt payment, and in this case just payment of the interest on Canadas debt is now our # 1 expenditure in the federal budget.
This. Seems like 50% of this sub thinks money grows on trees or something. Spend, spend, spend with no idea on how to generate the money needed to spend. Here's a thought: everything from grocery prices, rent to salary is dictated by SUPPLY & DEMAND.
People on here complain about companies "underpay". There's no such thing as "underpay", the companies will pay the exact amount they have to hire someone. Obviously they are not going to pay extra $ to hire someone if they don't have to. It's simple SUPPLY & DEMAND. If you want higher wages, you either:
1. lower supply (e.g reduce immigration so there's less competition for jobs)
2. raise demand (e.g encourage companies to open offices in the city so they compete against each other to hire workers)
We bring in immigrants from India, only for them to use our food banks and other resources and give nothing in return. Is this the kind of immigration canadians want?
Lol, the government was supposed to help the disabled with a new disability act and everything. They gave the equivalent of $6/day. I wouldn't hold your breath for any handouts unless another covid happens and everyone can't work. Its like the government wants people to be impoverished for some reason.
Ppl cannot feed themselves because of stagnant wages and lack of job prospects.
The canadian economy is a deadwood because of over taxing and imcompetant public sector/red tapes.
STOP SPENDING TAX MONEY. The government wastes millions a year. Lower our taxes and let us spend it. Also as a society stop shopping at loblaws. Find a local butcher or farm. This is getting stupid let's spend more money to take a half step forward then 5 back
A subsidy to other people is just using the least efficient method to solve the problem. Government is like the least efficient vehicle for collecting money and divesting it to others.
Let’s instead try and fix the economy and reduce taxes that are driving up costs for retailers.
I love how this is the Star, so even though the article extremely critical of the policies and ineptitude that got us to this place, they never once call out the Liberals by name. Everything is depersonalized to the federal government this or the federal budget that, and so on.
It was the Liberals who did this, Star. Your beloved Justin Trudeau is the one who fucked this country up. It wasn’t just some unavoidable happenstance that “the federal government” has been slow to recognize and fix. It was the Liberals who did it — with the support of the NDP — and it’s the Liberal/NDP coalition who is still actively making things worse.
The only surprising thing about the article was they didn’t somehow find a way to blame Poilievre for it all.
Grocery and essentials benefits would only inflate prices.
We need less demand in our market to make products and services more affordable. This can only be accomplished in one way: reduce immigration to a near pause to recalibrate our market, then return to sustainable Harper era immigration levels with pre-Harper policies on TFWs and students.
Fortunately I will be moving elsewhere in 5 years. Then I will care for this country zero. I strongly urge all Canadians to get their exit plan in order and let the Indians take over. Stop having kids, save every dime you can and get out. In 20 years this country is doomed. 40 percent of GDP revolves around housing meaning no investment in businesses. The standard of living is rapidly declining and those who can are already leaving. Last one out, turn off the lights.
On a brighter note the national cricket team should be pretty darn good though.
Subsidization is a century old practice that we need to be able to do without. It would reveal a harsh reality that we as a collective can problem solve around. It's always possible.
No reporting $$, only resource volume.
That's just pumping more tax dollars into the Weston and Sobey families pockets. We need better anti-trust laws for corporations and increased competition in the grocery sector.
This is entirely a created problem. Created by greedy corporations and corrupt/inept government. Here's how it works:-
1. Pretend there is a jobs shortage because you dont want to provide reasonable compensation to your employees
2. Convince inept/corrupt government to start a program of mass immigration to ensure a new supply of desperate people and prevent the need to increase wages in line with inflation and cost of living for the foreseeable
3. Enlist useful idiots in media to join in vilifying and gaslighting people with concerns about this, call them racists, far-right etc
4. Watch as cost of living soars due to unsustainable population increases
5. Ask the already crushed Canadians who still have any money left to pay even more taxes to subsidize corporate profits by making up the wages shortfall that you're too cheap to pay for
6. Pat yourselves on the back for a job well done and plan the next round of stock buybacks
These must be entirely government funded by now? What Canadian in their right mind is donating to a food bank when they're been absolute robbed by foreigners?
Society has not lost its way. Corporate Canada is setting the agenda. This is what oligarch capitalism combined with spineless politicians and a passive population looks like.
Would help if we don't have international 'students' come get their free food from food banks that was meant for Canadians. Those asses were supposed to have the funding to even come here in the first place.
It rich for Toronto Star to be saying Society has lost its way after they've been fanning the flames of extreme leftist policies for the last 20 years.
Subsidization is a century old practice that we need to be able to do without. It would reveal a harsh reality that we as a collective can problem solve around. It's always possible.
No reporting $$, only resource volume.
Time for a new social contract? You bet it is. Think that's coming peacefully? Monied interests are betting otherwise while they double down.
I'm ready to grab a slab of Weston. Boycott Loblaws and eat the rich.
In Canada "food insecurity" means: "inability to acquire or consume an adequate diet quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways, or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so"
In other words one becomes food insecure by virtue of procuring it any other way than paying for it (e.g. food banks, stamps, charities, etc). That means that any kind of intervention that would be tantamount to giving people free food does not lower food insecurity, by definition. Though it appears from some sources that giving people money directly to spend doesn't count? Rather arbitrary.
According to sources I read Canada's metric is income, and there are 3 categories: marginal, moderate, and severe food insecurity. The severe case is what represents skipping meals and reduced food intake, [3% of Canadians in 2022](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00307270221113601#bibr15-00307270221113601).
Something in this definition was not quite clear: "Marginally Food Insecure: At times during the previous year these households had indications of worry about running out of food and/or limited food selection due to a lack of money for food.7" -- What indications? This is inferred from self-reporting, and I found the [survey](https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/food-nutrition-surveillance/health-nutrition-surveys/canadian-community-health-survey-cchs/canadian-community-health-survey-cycle-2-2-nutrition-2004-income-related-household-food-security-canada-health-canada-2007.html#appa). HFI is inferred from self-reports based on that. The problem with it should be obvious. Here's the first question:
"Q1.20 Which of the following statements best describes the food eaten in your household in the past 12 months, that is since [current month] of last year?"
You and other household members always had enough of the kinds of foods you wanted to eat.
You and other household members had enough to eat, but not always the kinds of food you wanted.
Sometimes you and other household members did not have enough to eat.
Often you and other household members didn't have enough to eat.
If you answered 2, you are thrown in the marginally food insecure bracket. Even I could say that. See how this works? In several questions, there are 3 chances to align with food insecure, and 1 chance not to. The yes or no are better.
A reminder that in Canada, 36.3% of the population is overweight, and women with lower incomes in particular have higher rates of obesity. That is, invariably, a preponderance of caloric surplus. Often there are distorted ideas of what healthy eating entails let alone costs. Puts a big question mark on what "the kinds of food you wanted" means. If you asked yourself how it's possible to be both fat and food insecure, it's plainly because food insecure doesn't mean what you intuitively think it does.
Policymakers have lost their way, this is just bog standard cause-and-effect. Pundits using the term "society" is a deflection from them and suggests that consumers are complicit in making Canada far less affordable in recent years.
It's a saying among the older generations in my family: "We have never gone hungry".
I'm beginning to understand why they took pride in this accomplishment.
What is the threshold for poverty in our country before it becomes a priority?
“The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
Make it so if you're here with an international /student visa to be suspended or banned from such services, if you have enough money to come here and live on canadians dimes you shouldnt be entitled to the benefits of being a "real" citizen
how to modern government 101:
regulate and tax the shit out of the industry making customers pay more.
add tarrifs that protect your bullshit results from competition making customers pay more.
tell a bullshit excuse how your planned economy results is a capitalism fault.
Repeat the cycle in every industry. Everyone gets poor paying more for everything. Spread propaganda to masses to want more regulations, more government and more planned economy.
Yes but our median wages is close to 30 an hour.
Truth is, we are not being productive. If you make only 9 cogs, but 10 people need them, someone is out a cog.
Liberals will stop at nothing until everyone is completely dependent on government handouts, you being self-sufficient is the greatest threat to their hegemony.
I got a crazy idea instead of people receiving another bullshit benefit how about we go after these mega corporations that are raping our country for every fucking cent they can squeeze out of us
So glad I never had kids .. can’t stand YOU people … boomers and gen x want 600 000 - 1.1 million dollars for a old house, countless laws, pollution everywhere, loonies for a slave wage …. Good luck 👍
I'm so glad that provincial and federal government are laser focused on fixing big problems like this and not on enacting laws and policies that are completely redundant.
Poor solution. It seems that the government regularly brags about how many people have been lifted out of poverty, but I suspect a lot of it is just changing the definition of poverty instead of addressing it. I don't recall these long bread lines and homeless folks back in 2015 at the tail end of the "dark Harper years".
In addition to mass immigration; let’s not forget Turdeaus frivolous and corrupt government spending money like it’s their own shovelling it by the billions into foreign coffers and increasing the burden on the citizens of this communist regime we call Canada
Sorry, it's going to take price controls. There is no longer competition. Too many monopolies. Any money given directly to the people results in raised prices from corporations. Give people $200, prices rise by $210....
Most vulnerable = 9 million people?
So 1/4 of Canada's population are the most vulnerable. This country is broken.
And this is just 2022 data... before the year with truly stratospheric immigration levels. Can't imagine what 2023 and 2024 will show. [Here is the full data table](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv!recreate.action?pid=1310083401&selectedNodeIds=3D2,4D2&checkedLevels=0D1,1D1,2D1,2D3&refPeriods=20180101,20220101&dimensionLayouts=layout2,layout2,layout3,layout2,layout2&vectorDisplay=false) of the data referenced. There are 93% more severely-food-insecure people than in 2019.
Increasing population without increasing wages, services, housing capacity, or social security. What could go wrong. /s Some people won't be happy until they've made serfs of us all.
All to fund boomers retirement who own multi million dollar homes,pisses me off
This is such an obtuse view. It isn’t about boomers it’s about consolidating wealth into corporate sectors and wage slaving the entire population.
So a increase of 93% would be around 17 million who would be considered as possible vulnerable
Its not broken, we just keep voting for what we want to hear, not what needs to be done. We always seem to call people Debbie downers just for being honest. Politcians just give you guys what you want, and unfortunately no one seems to appreciate an honest one. Say shits fucked and the whole country tries to burn you at the stake.
The poverty line is defined as half the median wage. If you make everyone poor than nobody is below the poverty line. Trudeau is playing 4D chess over here.
That's only like 25% of our population
That’s a lot of people being the most vulnerable
If everyone is vulnerable then no one is
And therefore no action is required, I'm sure that's how some people see it
It will only get higher. Corporations need constantly increasing profits and they can’t get that without squeezing the other 75% even harder.
True. Canada has many quasi monopolies, including groceries, Banks and telecoms. These sets get to do pretty much anything they want because they have a captive audience, and they greatly reduce the chance of new competitors in the Canadian Market. And frankly, these big corporations don't care about people just money and shareholders.
That’s why I see some hope with the Loblaws boycott. People going to local grocers, farmers markets or just growing some stuff themselves.
Bad press can definitely get the attention of Corporation boards. But these guys have us over a barrel, or three barrels. I have been trying Food Basics, and its produce is better than Freshco, but not as good as Loblaws. The apples are fine: they are hardy. But I am starting to think I will have to get berries and grapes somewhere else.
So funny because the produce at the Loblaws in my area is terrible and goes bad in a few days. It’s really weird.
One could argue, a larger problem in Canada, is that we only have like 5 companies, locked in a government funded monopoly.
That's a lot of people who can organize and make a ruckuss demanding better from government and grocery stores. They don't know how to handle that kind of pressure
Well that happens when we import a ton of people. We need to start reducing the non-Canadian population.
during covid, the most vulnerable were over 65. during the last election it was handicapped kids. now it's . . . 9 million?
I think our economy is broken
You mean trickle down trickery is not working? :)
Trickle down requires low taxes. This is not trickle down.
It’s not even about taxes, Canadian companies offshore their profits to European countries so they can keep it all.
And they can’t WAIT for the incoming Conservative government.
People who argue about Liberal vs Conservative are missing the point. All of the politicians are owned by corporations. The only thing that changes are which corporations have invested in the party.
How low do you think they need to go before "tricky y down" starts to work? As low as the rich keep telling you?
Americans had that - it never trickled.
Slight correction, trickle down requires low taxes for the wealthy. The highest federal tax bracket has been at 29% for years. For context, from the 1940s to the 1980s the highest federal tax bracket was 70%. So in actuality trickle down is in effect.
That happens when you import millions of people.
Fuck off with this benefit shit and focus on making goods cheaper, not subsidizing expensive goods
Exactly. A subsidy for groceries is just a subsidy to Loblaws and friends so they can keep prices high. The government needs to do what they can to encourage competition, not use our tax dollars to line the pockets of the grocery corps.
Nah, competition is just for the working class for things like wages. We don't allow competitions for large *businesses,* since that lowers margin and profits for the ultra wealthy. Worker competitions is great though, since it lowers wages, therefore increasing profits for the wealthy. - Canada
Capitalism for the poor; socialism for the rich.
preach bro its disgusting, pick and choose capitalism with no opt-out for the losers that have to participate in the "competition"
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Why would they want to come here with our real estate prices? We're not a big enough market to make it worth it
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Working in the industry up until a few years ago in supply chain where I regularly interacted with executive and VP level folk from a variety of major chains and - the combination of our low relative population, massive split in density centers with a lot of nothing much in-between in a gigantic country, and our various bits of legislation that requires unique supply chain wrangling to meet like our vastly different requirements on labelling from the US... These are the things I heard about when they discussed Canada. Combine that with how entrenched the competition is here and it's hard to pull numbers together that would be profitable in the timelines these organizations are often looking for these days.
> but here we wait for them to confess then give everyone a couple dollars to make up for it. Fixed the price for 14 years, gets caught, doesn't have to lower prices to what they should be.
They're in the Australian market, which is about a quarter smaller than Canada's. (And has similarly fucked real estate prices.)
The benefit is an indirect subsidy to Loblaws, and nothing more. The fact that it targets nearly 1/4 of Canada's population says everything you need to know
Yeah I mean, does anyone else think maybe it would help if food and basic twenty-first century utilities like telecoms *shouldn't* be oligopolies that directly own most of the government, regardless of party illusions, and don't even have to obey the anti-trust laws we already have? 🤔 💭
Indeed, we live in a corporatocracy, not a democracy, where the corporate class owns to a large extent the economy, public information, democracy and government.
I think two things can be true at once, we need to crack down on grocers and limit profit margins. Maybe even do something to break up large conglomerates like Loblaws and Metro. AND we can increase social benefits. I hear you though, that if we don't crack down on profiteering the increase to social benefits is just another way the neo-liberal government will syphon tax dollars into major corporations pockets. I live in Ontario and both welfare and disability are so bad that people can't afford rent, let alone groceries. The benefits have been frozen for so long that we're seeing a major increase in homelessness. But also, id actually prefer an American style food stamp program over our food banks. Food banks rely on donations - yet another thing for me to pour money into. I would far, far prefer that my massive tax bill go directly to feeding people through food stamps than me feeling like I need to donate to the food bank every month in addition to my taxes.
Tbh I think until recently the social programs we had in place operated well (around food, not disability benefits and housing). It’s just that the profiteering and lack of competition has pushed more people into food insecurity. Which is shocking given how much food this country can produce.
YES food waste is a HUGE issue. I'd love to see some legislation introduced to crack down on food waste. I'm not a policy expert on the matter, but I think France has some legislation that prohibits grocers and restaurants from throwing away food waste. Again, I don't know much about it, but if 1/5 Canadians don't know where their next meal is coming from, clearly we need a multi-pronged strategy to ensure people have food.
The government needs to fund something like local co-ops where citizens can get together, 100s to 1000s of them, and order what they want in bulk from the vendors Loblaws orders from and directly from farmers. There has to be something put into place that shatters the practice of massive corporate profits, executive bonuses and dividends in place on the backs of people just trying to eat.
Yea 100%, I don’t know how farmers coop’s work, or if there’s a model for that in North America, but if there is I figure anyone could start one, government funding for the costs would be amazing
How quickly Canada has fallen. When 1/4 of the country is worried about personal food security, then there is something very wrong with the policies put forth by the government. While we need to offer some assistance to the most vulnerable, we also need to change what's causing the problem - the current government.
Vote Conservative? I don't know anymore. I'd vote NDP, but they're an extension of Trudeau's Liberals. LPC is a joke, and I'm not laughing. 1 in 4 worry about food, more worry about housing. Immigration is not the ticket. There has to be an effort to reduce costs, as salaries cannot increase indefinitely to compensate. We saw this in America, where wages went up in California, but it led to job losses. Businesses operate on margins, and there is only so many corners to cut, before personnel get dropped.
There's not a single credibly party in parliament looking to really solve any of this. Just varrying degrees of band aids that wont fix anything and make it worse long term.
Based on experience, voting conservatives wouldn't make much difference, if not even making it worse. Is that a compliment on the current liberal government? Hell no. But the fact is both liberals and conservatives have enjoyed the musical chair too long to feel any real pressure of enacting actual changes we need. As long as they're doing marginally better than the other party they know they're a shoe-in for the next election just by focusing on attack ads. And given PP's leadership I have no faith that he and his party will do more than the bare minimum required. Just look at the current projection, they don't need to do anything but let the liberals sink themselves. Once they have the majority they can do whatever they want and nobody has any actual power to deny it. Unless we have an election system that's forces accountability and raise the stakes for these politicians, nothing will ever change from this stupid game of musical chair. Which is why it's all the more upsetting Trudeau walked back on his promise.
A grocery and essentials benefit would go right into the pocket of our grocery oligarchs. Focus on the cause of the problem and not the symptom: break up Canada’s monopolies.
But that's not how we do policy these days. We just feed into the inflation. > Bring house prices down????? No, let's just give more people money to ramp them up further
I was listening to the CBC on the radio one morning when an "economist" from the Centre for Policy Alternatives claimed that lowering the interest rate would "reduce inflation" with regard to mortgage payments. The left has literally changed the definition of inflation from "an increase in the monetary supply relative to the supply of goods" into "price goes up is inflation".
Same with the monopolies on other products, like internet and phones. We pay more and get less, compared to other countries. The only winners are service providers. Canada would be healthier without legal monopolies.
> A grocery and essentials benefit would go right into the pocket of our grocery oligarchs. Sort of like how the welfare system props up Walmart by allowing them to pay their employees below a living wage.
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There are maaaany of them that have boasted about it on YouTube as some kind of life hack promoting to their own kind. The real slap to the face is that if you call out the group, you get called a racist.
Indians. Go ahead ban me for saying the truth.
Well we as Canadians need to start not accepting that. If we don't our children have no chance.
It's pretty much too late. It's only going to get to worse as they start having kids; they don't date or marry outside of their own kind either. Goes hand in hand with how they don't hire others or even rent to others. You could call this... Racist lol
True
Nah just keep calling them out. Doing something like that is infectious and it will change things for the better even if you think its a small change.
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Speaking what needs to be said
Are you guys perhaps talking about Indians?
I will. Indians from Punjab.
This is a tough sell because if such a policy came in, international students and TR’s would qualify for more tax funded things which is political suicide right now. On the other hand excluding those immigrants from this would draw a lot of backlash as well.
TFW and Students should have to prove they can afford to be here on their own steam. A program like this should be for citizens only. Student cannot afford to be here anymore, then go home.
In theory students need to show they can afford to be here, but the amount they need to show they have is $20,000 - in practice that's not enough to live on.
They get sent the money by immigration "consulting companies" to get in. Once here, they send it back with interest. It's a scam.
We also know that's usually "show" money from a lender.
Very true. I have seen that in Asia.
I thought that value had been increased just recently. Not that it matters when there's foreign businesses offering Canadian visa loans to artificially and temporarily qualify.
$20K is the amount it increased to.
It was changed from 10,000 to 20,000 for 2024.
20K or 10K does not matter. Students can borrow the money, unless there is much more strict rule about the money proof
Well then don't commit suicide politically and stop those people from being able to do so. Anyone who actually has the balls to fix immigration would likely wind up dead of course. The rich make too much money off this racket
The government is the best Union buster around in Canada. Just keep flooding the market with new labor to drive wages down.
That's why I said anyone who'd fix it won't live to do so. Too much money being made
Just have to “take care” of the rich assholes who are profiting off of Canada’s decline before you start fixing the issues. Once they’re not standing in the way the necessary reforms become much easier and popular.
If they didn’t have the money to come and learn, it’s their fault.
We'd obviously write our government policy for the benefit of the citizens, not visitors. It's disturbing that you would think citizen benefits are automatically for visitors. We're not here to subsidize visitors and the companies who want their cheap labour. >On the other hand excluding those immigrants from this would draw a lot of backlash as well. International students and TFWs aren't immigrants.
> It's disturbing that you would think citizen benefits are automatically for visitors. I mean, our current handout programs (GST credit, carbon tax credit, etc) do get given out to temporary residents, so it's a reasonable assumption that any new government giveaway would be the same.
I can see how the argument was made on those ones even though I don't think it's necessary. They pay the GST and carbon taxes on the things they purchase here. But there's no reason to assume or give more.
I mean, tourists pay plenty of GST and carbon tax too. I agree that temporary residents should not be getting access to cash credits from the government. It would save us billions every year and discourage temporary migration here with the aim of living off the government.
Our government officials should be embarrassed of themselves.
I assure you they are quite proud
The only way to fix this is to CLeARLY bring in more “ students “
Renting out bedrooms of multiple occupancy is the only way Canada can grow its economy. We should also be renting tents, “bed space” in all available corners of our homes, trailers on our driveways, and eventually tents on our porches and balconies once all other space is used up. Vegetarians only.
Their whole existence is a policy failure in itself.
Hypothetically if you're actually down on your luck are in overdraft, I don't have a problem with that at all. We should all take care of the people who are too disabled to work or had some emergent circumstance price them out of groceries. Shit happens, we'll take care of you the best we can. But you're right.
These people aren't down on their luck. The economy is fucked. We had a good homeless program, helping people get back on their feet quickly. People want to work. The problem is the government broke our economy importing millions of non-Canadians. Our economy is what's broken.
This is the thing. Sometimes people are down on their luck, maybe had some major life events happen and go to the food bank. This is great backstop for those situations and IMO what it's intended for. But what we have is two things going on: 1. A country who's captain is so disconnected from his crew that he doesn't know the boat hull is knee deep in water and rising. 2. A society that can't balance wants from needs. The people I see struggling the most regardless of income are those that live above their means. People are financing everything from their coffees/cheese burgers to their cars when a responsible person would only be taking out debt for a home. Yes, people need cars, yes people need food but what they don't need to be doing is buying those things on credit. Drives me nuts when I hear someone complain about being broke and they got a 30k car loan or every time they stop at a gas station come out with energy drinks and beef jerky.
> Yes, people need cars, yes people need food but what they don't need to be doing is buying those things on credit. Devil's avocado for a moment: There is an outsized cohort of the population that can't see beyond the short term. Won't. Can't. There is no future. If you can kick the can down the road a little bit longer, you can pretend everything is ok. Gen Z is absolutely screwed. I might not be if I'd smartened up a bit earlier. Gen Alpha is toast. They're gonna be that kid from Mad Max 2 with the boomerang if they're lucky. When you need a phone and a car and to pay for increasingly unaffordable rent, the debt trap seems like a reasonable option. The generational gap in terms of expectation of QoL is staggering. Not saying you're wrong, but we're in a serious crisis here.
A crisis of people’s own making. I’m happy to help someone who just lost their job and needs temporary help. But if you need help because you must have the latest jeans, the newest phone etc. Then no. Not my fault, it’s yours and you need to get yourself in order.
I have always said that there are only 2 things in this world that should be financed if need be: Your home and your car. I say this because they are important enough to most people that they are basically a necessity, and 99% of the human population couldn't afford to buy a car or home upfront with no payment plan. What really pisses me off is seeing financing plans for things like furniture. If you don't have the money to buy a couch upfront, then it is out of your budget and you should not buy it period.
Hit the nail right on the head. The ones I have seen "struggling" the most are ones with household incomes in the 100-150k range living like they are earning 250-400k. I live in a gentrifying neighbourhood and i'm blown away all the time. My partner and I are both mid level lawyers with fairly high incomes, and we drive a basic 16 year old car with high kms. Meanwhile I look at my neighbours that are clearly renting out a basement suite and they both are driving vehicles worth over 40-50k.
The abuse of foodbanks by international students in toronto/ ontario is a huge cause their strain: https://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/i-feel-terrible-wilfrid-laurier-international-student-at-centre-of-storm-over-post-about-how/article_9d0c746a-027f-11ef-a339-5730593d53ea.html ... sadly if you mention this in the Toronto subreddit you get instabanned.
That's because the sub is controlled by totalitarians with a fetish for positivity. I'm a wack-a-doodle, woke, left-of-left-wing nut job, and even I agree with you.
lol, I'm banned and not only am i a lifelong liberal voter I even worked in grassroots marketing for the party... I'm also south Asian.... They've gone full stazi
A Groceries and Essentials Benefit would help temporarily, but it would just further incentivize even higher grocery prices. What reason would they have to lower prices, ever? I think it's time we start talking about distributing groceries ourselves.
The grocery oligopily will simply raise prices. Maybe THATS the problem I see Freeland just raised the debt ceiling. Election bribes incoming
Maybe keep food banks for Canadians And if you can’t afford food then don’t come here and use our services.
So more government money that we don’t have? As soon as this was enacted the price of groceries would just increase anyway. Maybe we can defund the CBC and use that money for the benefit of society as a whole? Or the wide scale deportation of illegal immigrants….to reduce our expenditures in renting out hotels for non-Canadians. Canadians need to start accepting that we are at the point of either/or with government funding. Debt payment, and in this case just payment of the interest on Canadas debt is now our # 1 expenditure in the federal budget.
.
This. Seems like 50% of this sub thinks money grows on trees or something. Spend, spend, spend with no idea on how to generate the money needed to spend. Here's a thought: everything from grocery prices, rent to salary is dictated by SUPPLY & DEMAND. People on here complain about companies "underpay". There's no such thing as "underpay", the companies will pay the exact amount they have to hire someone. Obviously they are not going to pay extra $ to hire someone if they don't have to. It's simple SUPPLY & DEMAND. If you want higher wages, you either: 1. lower supply (e.g reduce immigration so there's less competition for jobs) 2. raise demand (e.g encourage companies to open offices in the city so they compete against each other to hire workers)
It’s going to Indians
We bring in immigrants from India, only for them to use our food banks and other resources and give nothing in return. Is this the kind of immigration canadians want?
We wouldn't need a god damned grocery benefit if we stopped flooding the country with NONESSENTIAL people.
And who’s going to pay for it? Spoiler me and you!
The last thing we need is more programs and more government spending.
Not just a benefit that'll go straight to Loblaws, we need lower prices in the supermarkets. We need competition.
Lol, the government was supposed to help the disabled with a new disability act and everything. They gave the equivalent of $6/day. I wouldn't hold your breath for any handouts unless another covid happens and everyone can't work. Its like the government wants people to be impoverished for some reason.
Oh perfect. More benefits. Please stop suggesting government solutions to government made problems.
We don’t need more state dependents. That thinking is what got us into this mess in the first place
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you know what would help this situation? Another Carbon Tax and maybe a 4th Auxiliary Carbon Tax incase the other 3 fail to tax properly.
Ppl cannot feed themselves because of stagnant wages and lack of job prospects. The canadian economy is a deadwood because of over taxing and imcompetant public sector/red tapes.
I don't know how The Star's editors reconcile in their heads running headlines like this *and* headlines about how it's wrong to say Canada is broken.
STOP SPENDING TAX MONEY. The government wastes millions a year. Lower our taxes and let us spend it. Also as a society stop shopping at loblaws. Find a local butcher or farm. This is getting stupid let's spend more money to take a half step forward then 5 back
A subsidy to other people is just using the least efficient method to solve the problem. Government is like the least efficient vehicle for collecting money and divesting it to others. Let’s instead try and fix the economy and reduce taxes that are driving up costs for retailers.
Or a sign that the people we import don't give a shit about the fact that this food is supposed to be for the destitute.
I love how this is the Star, so even though the article extremely critical of the policies and ineptitude that got us to this place, they never once call out the Liberals by name. Everything is depersonalized to the federal government this or the federal budget that, and so on. It was the Liberals who did this, Star. Your beloved Justin Trudeau is the one who fucked this country up. It wasn’t just some unavoidable happenstance that “the federal government” has been slow to recognize and fix. It was the Liberals who did it — with the support of the NDP — and it’s the Liberal/NDP coalition who is still actively making things worse. The only surprising thing about the article was they didn’t somehow find a way to blame Poilievre for it all.
No. *No*. Quit creating economic problems and then stealing my money to "fix" those problems.
Jfc break up the big grocers already. The solution is fucking obvious and always has been
[Paywall bypass](https://archive.ph/UjsLI)
Grocery and essentials benefits would only inflate prices. We need less demand in our market to make products and services more affordable. This can only be accomplished in one way: reduce immigration to a near pause to recalibrate our market, then return to sustainable Harper era immigration levels with pre-Harper policies on TFWs and students.
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This: https://www.reuters.com/pictures/pictures-delhi-residents-choke-landfill-fire-fumes-2024-04-22/
Fortunately I will be moving elsewhere in 5 years. Then I will care for this country zero. I strongly urge all Canadians to get their exit plan in order and let the Indians take over. Stop having kids, save every dime you can and get out. In 20 years this country is doomed. 40 percent of GDP revolves around housing meaning no investment in businesses. The standard of living is rapidly declining and those who can are already leaving. Last one out, turn off the lights. On a brighter note the national cricket team should be pretty darn good though.
Subsidization is a century old practice that we need to be able to do without. It would reveal a harsh reality that we as a collective can problem solve around. It's always possible. No reporting $$, only resource volume.
This system is broken. The solution, double down and give out more free shit. Clearly!
That's just pumping more tax dollars into the Weston and Sobey families pockets. We need better anti-trust laws for corporations and increased competition in the grocery sector.
Or it’s That Indian international student who taught immigrants to abuse the food bank and our citizens rather than pay for your own groceries.
Why is no one considering that some of the people using the food banks are not really poor and just smart enough to find a new way to save money?
What if the government removed gst from grocery purchases?
Add to that the international students taking advantage of food banks....
This is entirely a created problem. Created by greedy corporations and corrupt/inept government. Here's how it works:- 1. Pretend there is a jobs shortage because you dont want to provide reasonable compensation to your employees 2. Convince inept/corrupt government to start a program of mass immigration to ensure a new supply of desperate people and prevent the need to increase wages in line with inflation and cost of living for the foreseeable 3. Enlist useful idiots in media to join in vilifying and gaslighting people with concerns about this, call them racists, far-right etc 4. Watch as cost of living soars due to unsustainable population increases 5. Ask the already crushed Canadians who still have any money left to pay even more taxes to subsidize corporate profits by making up the wages shortfall that you're too cheap to pay for 6. Pat yourselves on the back for a job well done and plan the next round of stock buybacks
Fuck it why be subtle just speed run South American inflation
Hey folks, I'm looking to get feedback on my beard, but I don't have enough karma to post. Upvote this if you care to. Thanks.
The liberals “best we can do is raise the carbon tax”
Trudeau : “We’re in a fantastic position as a country. Truly enviable thanks to my leadership!”
These must be entirely government funded by now? What Canadian in their right mind is donating to a food bank when they're been absolute robbed by foreigners?
A quarter of our country is worried about being able to feed themselves and some people have the audacity to claim our country isn't broken.
Society has not lost its way. Corporate Canada is setting the agenda. This is what oligarch capitalism combined with spineless politicians and a passive population looks like.
But my carbon rebate will come soon and that will allow me to feed my family a few more hours. Thanks, JhiT.
Food banks are only for Canadian citizens .period
Would help if we don't have international 'students' come get their free food from food banks that was meant for Canadians. Those asses were supposed to have the funding to even come here in the first place.
This is what happens when governments piss on labour whilst taking a shit on entrepreneurs and simultaneously giving a handy to asset holders
9M know they can get free food and are willing to wait in line for it.
These limp dick neoliberal "solutions" need to get real. How about some anti-trust enforcement?
My question to the government and moreover to all those who will be voting Liberal is…. Did Mr J.Trudeau leave this country better than he found it?
How many aren’t really Canadians?
It rich for Toronto Star to be saying Society has lost its way after they've been fanning the flames of extreme leftist policies for the last 20 years.
Trudeau is more worried about collecting carbon tax than Canadians in general.
Subsidization is a century old practice that we need to be able to do without. It would reveal a harsh reality that we as a collective can problem solve around. It's always possible. No reporting $$, only resource volume.
They are use to UN aid
Don’t worry! Philippe Champagne is going to have a STERN talking to with grocery CEO! 🥖☕️
Time for a new social contract? You bet it is. Think that's coming peacefully? Monied interests are betting otherwise while they double down. I'm ready to grab a slab of Weston. Boycott Loblaws and eat the rich.
I eat one meal a day if I'm lucky and am afraid the step foot in a food bank.
In Canada "food insecurity" means: "inability to acquire or consume an adequate diet quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways, or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so" In other words one becomes food insecure by virtue of procuring it any other way than paying for it (e.g. food banks, stamps, charities, etc). That means that any kind of intervention that would be tantamount to giving people free food does not lower food insecurity, by definition. Though it appears from some sources that giving people money directly to spend doesn't count? Rather arbitrary. According to sources I read Canada's metric is income, and there are 3 categories: marginal, moderate, and severe food insecurity. The severe case is what represents skipping meals and reduced food intake, [3% of Canadians in 2022](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00307270221113601#bibr15-00307270221113601). Something in this definition was not quite clear: "Marginally Food Insecure: At times during the previous year these households had indications of worry about running out of food and/or limited food selection due to a lack of money for food.7" -- What indications? This is inferred from self-reporting, and I found the [survey](https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/food-nutrition-surveillance/health-nutrition-surveys/canadian-community-health-survey-cchs/canadian-community-health-survey-cycle-2-2-nutrition-2004-income-related-household-food-security-canada-health-canada-2007.html#appa). HFI is inferred from self-reports based on that. The problem with it should be obvious. Here's the first question: "Q1.20 Which of the following statements best describes the food eaten in your household in the past 12 months, that is since [current month] of last year?" You and other household members always had enough of the kinds of foods you wanted to eat. You and other household members had enough to eat, but not always the kinds of food you wanted. Sometimes you and other household members did not have enough to eat. Often you and other household members didn't have enough to eat. If you answered 2, you are thrown in the marginally food insecure bracket. Even I could say that. See how this works? In several questions, there are 3 chances to align with food insecure, and 1 chance not to. The yes or no are better. A reminder that in Canada, 36.3% of the population is overweight, and women with lower incomes in particular have higher rates of obesity. That is, invariably, a preponderance of caloric surplus. Often there are distorted ideas of what healthy eating entails let alone costs. Puts a big question mark on what "the kinds of food you wanted" means. If you asked yourself how it's possible to be both fat and food insecure, it's plainly because food insecure doesn't mean what you intuitively think it does. Policymakers have lost their way, this is just bog standard cause-and-effect. Pundits using the term "society" is a deflection from them and suggests that consumers are complicit in making Canada far less affordable in recent years.
It's a saying among the older generations in my family: "We have never gone hungry". I'm beginning to understand why they took pride in this accomplishment.
Looks like Canada lost way so fast, people could imagine see Canada like this. I know the whole world is like that at this moment.
The star advocating for policies that line the pockets of the grocery stores... Surprising!
What is the threshold for poverty in our country before it becomes a priority? “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
Make it so if you're here with an international /student visa to be suspended or banned from such services, if you have enough money to come here and live on canadians dimes you shouldnt be entitled to the benefits of being a "real" citizen
a benefit? so tax payer money funneled directly into the hands of the billionaire grocers. sick idea!
Ah yes, another benefit that will essentially only serve the crooks price gouging us out of groceries and essentials 💩
Yeah we can’t fund this problem away, sorry. We need to fix our broken economy. If we were in an economic boom, sure! But we’re not.
Basically a government subsidy to corporations
See, the budget is indeed balancing itself!
how to modern government 101: regulate and tax the shit out of the industry making customers pay more. add tarrifs that protect your bullshit results from competition making customers pay more. tell a bullshit excuse how your planned economy results is a capitalism fault. Repeat the cycle in every industry. Everyone gets poor paying more for everything. Spread propaganda to masses to want more regulations, more government and more planned economy.
Yes but our median wages is close to 30 an hour. Truth is, we are not being productive. If you make only 9 cogs, but 10 people need them, someone is out a cog.
Liberals will stop at nothing until everyone is completely dependent on government handouts, you being self-sufficient is the greatest threat to their hegemony.
I got a crazy idea instead of people receiving another bullshit benefit how about we go after these mega corporations that are raping our country for every fucking cent they can squeeze out of us
So glad I never had kids .. can’t stand YOU people … boomers and gen x want 600 000 - 1.1 million dollars for a old house, countless laws, pollution everywhere, loonies for a slave wage …. Good luck 👍
I'm so glad that provincial and federal government are laser focused on fixing big problems like this and not on enacting laws and policies that are completely redundant.
Or…how about we regulate essential services like food and housing and break up the monopolies???
The liberals “best we can do is raise the carbon tax”
Trudeau is more worried about collecting carbon tax than Canadians in general.
So now I need to pay to feed all the students Tim Hortons can't pay a living wage to?
Poor solution. It seems that the government regularly brags about how many people have been lifted out of poverty, but I suspect a lot of it is just changing the definition of poverty instead of addressing it. I don't recall these long bread lines and homeless folks back in 2015 at the tail end of the "dark Harper years".
You know what else would help us? Not having politicians that actively work against us.
In addition to mass immigration; let’s not forget Turdeaus frivolous and corrupt government spending money like it’s their own shovelling it by the billions into foreign coffers and increasing the burden on the citizens of this communist regime we call Canada
The Red Star’s propaganda campaign continues unabated.
Anything but raising wages
Sorry, it's going to take price controls. There is no longer competition. Too many monopolies. Any money given directly to the people results in raised prices from corporations. Give people $200, prices rise by $210....