Saskatchewan NDP calling for special committee on food pricing

The prices on grocery store shelves keep going up and more and more people are having to either pare down their list each week or get help from places like the food bank, so the Saskatchewan NDP wants the government to take a closer look.

The NDP is calling for a special committee to investigate food pricing and to work with the federal investigations already underway.

NDP Leader Carla Beck said the higher prices are having serious consequences for people.

“We see families, seniors, walking past the meat aisle because they simply can’t afford it. Hard-working people in this province who have never used a food bank before are now relying on them,” Beck said Tuesday.

She talked about the conundrum for ranchers in the province as well. People are paying more and more for meat, but the price producers are being paid for their products isn’t keeping up.

“Saskatchewan people deserve to know whose pockets those dollars are going into,” said Beck.

Trent Wotherspoon, the NDP’s critic for affordability and agriculture, said the government needs to investigate supply chains, manufacturing and transportation — all contributing factors to rising costs.

“Without a doubt, when you look at the livestock situation and fairness on these fronts, the meat-packing industry and its consolidation and anti-competitive behaviours are a big problem,” said Wotherspoon.

“We need to make sure that we have regulations and laws, structures, in place that are going to serve consumers and producers. That’s what this committee would be all about.”

Food pricing outside of local sectors would be a focus as well, according to Wotherspoon. He said the committee would also look at grocery store issues, fair pricing and food security in the north where a jug of milk can go for $16.

The federal government has its own investigations into such things and Beck said there is a federal role to play in this situation, but there’s also one for Saskatchewan.

“We need to be going to bat for the very unique needs of producers in this province. And what I’m hearing from producers is they don’t have a lot of time. There are people now making decisions … about selling off their herd,” she said.

The motion to strike a special committee was defeated on Tuesday.

Agriculture Minister David Marit said politics should be kept out of something like this, so after conversations with the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association, he encouraged producers to raise the concerns themselves.

“When you’re in a free enterprise market like we are, I think it’s important for the industry (and) the stakeholders … to really reach out to the competition bureau to see is there unfair practice happening here or is there not,” said Marit.

The minister said any new regulations or laws would be more on the federal government side of things.

Marit acknowledged there’s a duopoly in meat processing right now, which he said did cause the government some concern. But when he left it with a couple of companies that he thought could have made inroads, they told him no because they wouldn’t be able to compete with the big two.

The minister talked about other factors making things more expensive as well, like costly inputs on farms, labour shortage and the carbon tax.

“It’s a broader spectrum than just one thing,” said Marit.