The big agri-food players must come and justify the exorbitant increase in the grocery basket in Quebec, the official opposition demanded Thursday in the National Assembly.
The day after the appearance in the Commons in Ottawa of the big bosses of the grocery store chains, the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) demands in turn to be able to grill the leaders of the industry. We must understand why the bill has exploded, justified the interim Liberal leader, Marc Tanguay.
“It’s the role of parliamentarians, it’s our job to do that,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Thursday.
“We want to understand how it works, how the transfer of the cost to the invoice is done. And I think that in any process, there is always the possibility of seeing if we can improve things. »
The Parti Québécois (PQ) quickly indicated via Twitter that it supported the PLQ’s request.
“The price of groceries is unsustainable and downright anxiety-provoking for families in Quebec,” wrote Liberal MP André Fortin, who is driving the demand. According to Statistics Canada, the price of food increased by 10.4% between January 2022 and January 2023.
He officially asked to hear in parliamentary committee the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA), but also the leaders of Metro, Loblaw and Sobeys-IGA.
Breeders and processors too
But the list does not end there. The PLQ also demands that pig, poultry and beef farmers, Olymel, the Grain Producers Federation, poultry processors, slaughterhouses, trucking associations and live animal transporters come to explain themselves.
Parliament is currently recessing in Quebec and will resume its work next week.
A parliamentary committee should then consider Mr. Fortin’s request. The CAQ deputies, who are in the majority in the commissions, will tip the scales.