While Trudeau fiddles, Canada burns

Burns from hot inflation that is, since the wildfires are within the normal range

Liberals blame wildfires on CO2 emissions, despite the total absence of evidence the wildfires are outside of the normal range and plenty of evidence that many of the fires are the result of arson by climate nutters trying to promote the specious “climate change” narrative that is so ingrained into our socialist government parties. But the blame for food and housing prices that are well out of reach for many Canadians struggling to make ends meet - that isn’t a “federal issue” according to Trudeau who prefers to blame provincial and municipal leaders. He is right they have a role in the housing crisis, but it is an indirect role since the nosebleed home prices are a manifestation of federal monetary and fiscal policies - decades of driving interest rates down and home prices up as lower rates made it possible to bid prices higher, and a couple of years of higher rates making mortgage renewals costly but with limited impact on prices in the face of expanding immigration fueling even more demand.

Food inflation is another matter, one which the Liberal governmeng and its NDP supporters want to blame on “corporate greed” rather than federal policies which include a carbon tax driving up the costs for farmers and supply management preventing the free market from operating to bring farm prices down. Canada is not the only jurisdiction with high food prices but it is far from a low food cost country despite being a major food producer and exporter. Why not? Stupid Liberal policies are the problem.

Bringing down food price inflation will requires policies that lower the cost of transporting food from farm to store to households, and much of that cost is diesel fuel and gasoline since almost all food travels by truck. Carbon taxes are a significant factor. Semi-trailers have one or two gas tanks each holding 120 to 150 gallons of fuel and the trucks average mileage is 6.5 miles per gallon. Federal and provincial taxes on fuel are a material cost. They include the following taxes:

Carbon tax of 10-15 cents per liter
Federal excise tax of 10 cents per liter
Provincial fuel tax of 10 - 19 cents per liter
HST of 13%

On average, taxes comprise about 29% of the cost of fuel.

A $20,000 load of fresh produce delivered to an Ontario store but sourced in California or Florida or shipped from Alberta or Saskatchewan or PEI will have imbedded in its cost about $3,000 of fuel costs and of that almost $900 or 4.5% from taxes at all levels. Making motor fuel tax free would reduce the cost of most foodstuffs by enough to take the sting out of food inflation. But the Trudeau Liberals and many Provincial leaders prefer to pretend that CO2 causes climate change and impose taxes which do little but increase the cost of food for Canadians. By comparison, grocery store chain profits average about 1.5% of sales and contribute about one third as much to food costs as taxes do, and without that profit food chains wouldn’t exist. Jagmeet Singh likes to spout progessvie rhetoric and talking points blaming food inflation on “corporate greed” ignoring the reality that it is government taxes making up the real source of much of the food inflation which inlcudes the taxes paid by the grocery chains which alone are 1% of the food costs (assuming a 40% tax rate).

High food costs include high costs of fertilizer passed on by farmers, and the costs of Liberal “supply management” which limits output of key foodstuffs like milk and eggs. Canadian milk prices are about 29% higher than those south of the border, a direct reflection of Liberal policies imposing “milk quotas” to protect those prices and curry favor with farm voters, particularly in the Ottawa valley. Canadian egg prices remain below those of the U.S. because Canada has avoided avian flu affecting chickens, but are up 16% year over year because of “supply management”. Supply management is a political choice made by the Trudeau government (and is predecessors) who prefer Canadians pay more for food than compete with offshore suppliers on a level playing field.

Meat prices are up sharply owing to feed costs and a lack of growth in herds as farmers grapple with repressive Liberal policies including carbon taxes and with drought, a normal climate event that Liberals want to blame on CO2 rather than planning for droughts which occur regularly in nature. It is nice to have a whipping boy for every bad hair day.

Bread prices have soared with geopolitics affecting supply from external sources. Canada should be insulated with its extensive wheat growing farmland but once again politics is playing a role and the problem has been exacerbated by the drought mentioned earlier and a lack of planning to deal with it.

Think food prices will abate any time soon? Not likely. Agricultural policy is a political football, supply management is an entrenched Liberal platform and despite its rich lands and productive farms, Canadian food production will always lag its potential as politicians can’t help themselves from interfering in markets while imports of foodstuffs will keep being penalized by needless tax policies that drive up the costs of diesel fuel.

Nope. Instead leftists like Jagmeet Singh will keep pointing at “corporate greed” as the cause of inflation rather than his perpetuating the Trudeau Liberals to satisfy his own greed by qualifying for a lifetime pension, and like Trudeau calling anyone who criticizes him “homophobic”. Maybe the true relationship between Singh and Trudeau will emerge next Pride parade now that Trudeau and Sophie have separated and he can “come out” and tell Canadians what really went on?