Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I wish Conservatives had not tried to disrupt my colleague's inspiring speech with all of their procedural tactics, as they have been doing all day. The Conservatives, of course, have the most egregious record. We saw them, under the Harper regime, allow bread price fixing that cost the average family $400.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to return to the other point in the motion my colleague talked about, which is to “stop Liberal and Conservative corporate handouts to big grocers”. We saw this under the Harper government. They took a hands-off approach, and it cost the average Canadian family $400 for groceries, which they should not have had to pay.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I am always happy to listen to my colleague. The French government forced big companies to lower prices on approximately 5,000 grocery items. This approach was copied by South Korea and Greece for other tools and other measures. Does my colleague agree with what the NDP is proposing today, namely the approach of using government measures and tools to lower the price of essential foods and forcing companies to lower their prices, like France, Greece and South Korea did?

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I always enjoy the fantasies of my colleague. The reality is that half of the national executive of the corporate Conservatives are corporate lobbyists. We have seen their national campaign manager and their deputy leader as corporate lobbyists. The member stressed the fact that opposition days are non-binding.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I listened to my colleague's speech very carefully. However, we have a motion before us, and I did not hear him say that he would be supporting the motion. The motion is to force big grocery chains to lower the prices of essential foods or else face a variety of tools, including a price cap; to stop delaying the reforms to the nutrition north program; and to stop the Liberal and Conservative corporate handouts to big grocers that we have seen.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, the NDP has been the strongest supporters of supply management for two very good reasons. It provides a higher quality of product, and we see this right across the country. The supply-managed sector is really an example to the rest of the world, which is why other countries are looking to adopt the same type of approach.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, the Conservative Harper government was a terrible financial manager. In fact, Conservative financial management is an oxymoron. The Conservatives are simply incapable of managing the public purse. My colleague, the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, is absolutely right.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, we have the motion before the House. If the Conservatives, after trying to sabotage the debate this morning, are now saying that they are going to support it, then that provides the impetus, with a majority of members of Parliament voting in favour of it, to ensure this happens.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I am saddened that no Conservative or Bloc MPs are participating in the debate. That they would pull a trick like this on an opposition day shows their vulnerability. The reality is that I am going to be devoting most of my speech now to what Conservatives did when they were in power.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is clearly opposed to this motion, so I think it is important that I read it. It states, and I quote: That, given that the cost of food continues to increase while grocery giants such as Loblaws, Metro and Sobeys make record profits, the House call on the government to: (a) force big grocery chains and suppliers to lower the prices of essential foods or else face a price cap or other measures; (b) stop delaying long-needed reforms to the Nutrition North program; and (c) stop Liberal and Conservative corporate handouts to big grocers.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, these are tough times for people across the country. We can see it. We see that lineups at food banks have doubled since this government came to power. We remember that they also doubled under the Harper government. When the Conservatives were in power, it was bad news for Canadians.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I did answer my colleague's question. The reality is that if companies try to gouge again and pass those costs on to consumers, the excess profit tax kicks in. That is why, during the Second World War, the excess profit tax that was put into place as a tool at that time did not ignite or engender any passing on of those costs to consumers.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I am so sorry. I should not mention that there is not a single Conservative here. That is true—

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives do not seem to have an interest in national school lunches or in an excess profits tax, and I want to ask my colleague whether that is because the corporate Conservatives are so entrenched with lobbyists. The national director, or the campaign manager, for the member for Carleton and the Conservative Party is a lobbyist for Loblaw and has been very much involved in promoting a company that is food price gouging.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true.