Despite the declining headline inflation rate, the food inflation rate in Canada has remained high, and experts say it may be a while before grocery prices head in the other direction.
“I’m afraid I can’t be the bearer of good news,” Gary Sands, senior vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, told CTV News Channel on Tuesday. “I don’t see any relief in the short-term coming.”
Numbers from Statistics Canada’s latest inflation report, published Tuesday, showed that in January, food prices saw a year-over-year increase of 11.4 per cent, up from 11 per cent the previous month. Since last August, the food inflation rate has been above 10 per cent.
In a research note published on Friday, RBC economist Claire Fan said global economic conditions suggest that the food inflation rate could slow down this year.
“Growth in grocery prices ticked slightly higher again in January, to 11.4 per cent year-over-year. That is still an exceptionally high rate of price growth, but lower agricultural commodity prices and easing global supply chain pressures are expected to slow food price growth this year,” Fan wrote.
But even if the food inflation slows, David Macdonald, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, says that doesn’t mean food prices are coming down.
“This is one of the things, I think, that’s misunderstood about inflation. These prices aren’t going away. They might just slow a bit,” he said in an interview with CTV News Channel Tuesday.
D.T. Cochrane, economist with Canadians for Tax Fairness, calls the food inflation “the most disconcerting category, because it’s the one we face week after week.”
“A lot of our housing costs were locked into, but food, we see it all the time, and I think it will continue to rise for a couple more months,” he told CTV News Channel on Tuesday.
Climate-related events over the last few months, such as flooding in B.C and droughts in California, have had a significant impact limiting imports and production, Sands explained, in addition to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“We’ve also experienced significant increases in fuel surcharges and transportation and, you know, input costs throughout the supply chain continue to be passed on to the retailer,” he said.
The spread of avian flu in North America has also wreaked havoc on the poultry industry, which has had to cull millions of chickens. Chicken prices rose nine per cent from December to January, faster than almost every other grocery item.
“There’s just a myriad of factors that are impacting the grocery supply chain,” Sands said.
Sands acknowledges many of these factors that have led to high food inflation are out of the federal government’s control, but says the government could help ease the cost burden when it comes to fuel costs and other transportation issues.
“Those are the subjects of a lot of fun discussions right now with the government and industry,” he said.
Cochrane also wants to see the federal government apply more scrutiny into the profit margins of major grocery stores. The CEOs of the three major grocery chains — Loblaw, Metro and Empire — are set to testify before a House of Commons committee as they face accusations of profiting off of inflation.
“The government needs to figure out what needs to be done. And so first, they need to explain to us exactly what’s going on here. There’s no easy solution to this,” he said.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
