CTVN - Thursday, May 23, 2024 - 12:00 a.m. (ET) - Segment #7

be to inspire, the maker of barbie says the dolls aren't for the public. They won't be for sale. So the role model dolls are created just in their likeness truly to honour those athletes. I would love to do to, I feel I feel everyone's pain out there, but there is only one. It is gifted to the role models. >> That puzzles parents, why not sell them all? >> So the mall to all the girls, the girls can play with barbies, not only just princesses, they can actually be kicking a ball or. >> Sinclair says being a barbie role model is an honour. >> You know, and iconic toy. Hopefully I can inspire the next generation of young canadians. >> I asked the maker of the dolls, whether they're considering selling them to the public. And I was told that there are no plans right now, but you never know what the future holds. Sarah plowman, ctv news. >> The country's largest documentary festival least temporarily shuttering its toronto theatre. Hot docs is lying all staff and closing its season for the next 3 months. The organization has been warning for weeks that it's running out of money and needs more support its ally to sign of struggle in canada's act, saying this year just for laughs filed for bankruptcy protection and cancelled its long-running festivals in montreal and toronto. Lac la music has released its ranking for the top 10 greatest albums of old time topping the list is lauryn hill's iconic, the miseducation of lauryn hill. Also in the top 5 is michael jackson's thriller, the beatles abbey road, prince's pepple ryan and frank ocean's blonde albums by stating one-day kendrick lamar. I ne winehouse, nevada and be on site earl in the top 10 today. >> I think it's really, really good. I think the fact that, you know, that they've got a little bit of rock, they got a little bit of r d r&b and hip-hop music about music is certainly the most of this into the most streamed genres of the last number of years. So it's no surprise that dot style of music dominates the chart. I'm surprised that there's no world music, there's no live album. There's no blues music. >> And as we head to the break, more from the number one right album by lauren hill's tight spread back in a moment. >> A pretty face take a minute. She'll be coming ‘round the mountain when she comes. She'll be coming ‘round the mountain when she comes. She'll be coming ‘round the mountain. And the river. And the desert. And whatever types of terrain she can find out there. Yeehaw. The Ford Bronco family. Designed to take you here, there and home again. ( ) You're just too good to be true Can't take my eyes Off of you ( ) Michelob Ultra. Good. Good. Good morning. Hey. Good morning with Dulcolax ...for a gentle and fast relieve Dulcolax Soft Chews works with the water in your body... in as little as 30 minutes. Making your good morning... ...even better with Dulcolax. ( ) Make room for more fresh ingredients. Say to goodbye to less-than-fresh take out. Say hello to home made and delicious. HelloFresh, home cooking made easy. Arghhh!!! [woman sneezing] Don't let airborne allergens scare you. Aerius provides fast relief of your 15 worst allergy symptoms. So you can love the air again. Aerius. At Pet Valu, we treat your pet like our pet. Well, Georgie, it's time for adult food. And there's a lot of great options to choo... too choose from. They grow up so fast. I know... I do this like ten times a day. It's odd how in an instant things can transform. Slipping out of balance into freefall. I'm glad I found stability amidst it all. Gold. Standing the test of time. For Junior Hockey supremacy, here we go the stage for the chl's ultimate prize is set.

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dow only.on tsn [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] >> Hi and there welcome to power-play, I'm strategy strategy. Tonight, grocery price showdown. >> You act like you don't have the power to stop these greedy CEO's, but you do. >> Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau: we're going to continue to stand up for canadian consumers. >> Vassy: the ndp is pushing for a corporate tax hike of sorts, an excess profit tax arguing the feds have failed to bring down grocery cost. MPs are here to debate the solution in moments. Then cross border boost. >> Canada is our number one trading partner when we do business. >> The prime minister's just back from a trade mission to philadelphia. Part of a so-called charm offensive strategy ahead of the U.S. election. What else do the feds need to be doing ahead of that day? Former canadian ambassador to the U.S. david macnaughton will be with us coming up. Plus dental care debate. >> This is something that we absolutely must get right. The conservatives call the rollout of the dental care program a disaster, while the liberals accuse pierre poilievre's party of wanting to scrap the program a the power to stop these greedy CEO's, but you do. And I know the conservatives don't like, it but we've go the to take on corporate greed. >> Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau: here's where we're going to continue to stand up for canadian consumers, and indeed I know the minister is looking into competition act to see if there needs to be referred on a number of things that come forward. But we're going to continue to stand up for the middle class and people working hard to join it. >> He's been in power during the worst food price inflation in over four decades. Will the prime minister agree with me that his carbon tax coalition is nothing more than an anticompetitive price fixing scheme that is costing canadians at the grocery store? >> Vassy: canadian grocery bills have skyrocketed up more than 20% over the past three years. Now, inflation is finally coming down, but that just means the skyrocket being has exploded. It doesn't mean the consumers can expect a return to prespike prices. New data today found 64% of canadians think this the prices they are seeing at grocery stores are continuing to get worse. Add to that a brand new report out from finks canada which shows one in four canadians face food insecurity and one in 10 are living in poverty. As you heard in the clip, the ndp is arguing it all means that it's time for a so-called excess profit tax on large grocery chains. Let's get into a debate on what the solution might look like with MPs to lead, mohammed is the heritage parliamentary secretary. Next to him andrew scheer is the conservative house leader and next to him don davies is the ndp finance critic, hi, everybody, nice to see you, thank you very much for making time for the conversation. The prime minister at one point said no way, no how to the wind fall tax, that it would be bad economics and eessentially passed on to consumers. Then last fall it promised to force stabilized price, what is the government's position. Are you in favour of what the ndp is proposing? >> We started out this -- we started out on this path with trying to work with industry. Are the grocery code conduct, something that we've worked arrested on with industry. We've now seen loblaws come to the table to sign this. This is a commitment that canadians need to see on the part of the industry to be able to show that there in fact is a commitment to transparency, there's a commitment to ensuring that the canadians can afford the food that they need to buy. So we need to be able to continue to work with industry and to push solutions with them if they are not prepared to work, we will use everything available in the arsenal, but the action of grocer's coming on board is an indication that the industry understands that they need to be part of the solution. >> Vassy: so to be clear, one grocer after two years of fighting it has now come on board. That's loblaw. Walmart and cost counter-offensive are still outstanding. Your government has not been clear whether to force that, in legislation, and I didn't hear an answer whether whether you're supportive of the ndp's -- >> We are open to all tools in our arsenal. Loblaws coming on board is one piece. We need to increase perspective competition, that's why we've been putting forward measures to revisit and open up and to improve the competition act. That's in the budget. They're going to oppose t that's how you get foreign grocer's and competition into the industry and make sure this industry's actually doing its part. I think this is where it becomes real important to acknowledge that this is first of all a global phenomenon. This is a global problem. Now, in that, we also recognize therefore that we've had to take additional steps. So putting a school food program in place to be able to get the kids the food that they need every single day.

those are the types of measures that we are putting in place. In addition to $106 million to support farmers and to support the food supply across the country. >> I'm certainly not indicating or insinuating or implying that inflation isn't something that was experienced elsewhere, but food prices in canada have gone up by 20% over three years. Do you think it matters to canadians if it's also going up in other parts of the world? >> And beyond, that when you are saying you are willing to use every tool available to you, at when point? Like, at what point do oidiosis, hey, this isn't working, food prices are 20% higher, we're now going to do x, y or z? >> As you noted, there is now stability. It has not been a drop in stability in food prices. You have seen the cpi come down this month. These are important factors that go into demonstrating that things fact are on a path to improvement. There is lots more work to be done, you know. We have done everything that we can do to help or we continue to do the work that is required to help farmers decarbonize, dot things that are required >> What about the short-term? People who have 20% higher bills. >> That is why a school food program is an important step. Until you are able to test at the. Test test. Test test. What more would you party be prepared to do to address the cost of groceries? >> First of all I have to address a couple of things this were said that are just not true. Prices aren't going up in canada because of global phenomena in. Prices are going up in canada because justin trudeau massively flooded the economy with brand new cash printed out of thin air, more dollars chasing fewer goods caused the inflation crisis that canadians are suffering through and we see the devastating results. Millions of canadians going to the food bank for the first time.

and remember, he said that he was going to go into debt so that canadians didn't have to. Now we've seen massive interest rates hikes and canadians are suffering through all of that and he's not stopping, he's doubling down. Most important take away for canadians as they examine these issues is to know that justin trudeau is following the exact same set of policies that caused the misery in the first place. He's not changing course. He's not admitting the error of his ways. He's going to keep hiking that -- >> You heard my line of questioning. I'm not absolving the government of their responsibility for overseeing what has happened, but you are presenting it as a black and white situation. It's either all their fault or -- or it's none of -- none of their fault. I don't think that's fair. That's not accurate to canadians and therefore my question to you is what would conservatives do to actually make a difference at the grocery store? Would you support an excess profit tax? Do you think that that would make a difference? Would you go beyond just cutting the carbon tax? How would a conservative government make my bill any different at the grocery store? >> I've never known a tax hike to lower prices. Getting rid of a tax will absolutely lower priced and to stabilize inflation we will restore budget sanity by bringing in a dollar for dollar loss so that all of the extra new spending that justin trudeau's unleashing in the economy stops. That's the essential part. We have to preserve the power of the paycheques that canadians work so hard to get. Every time justin trudeau floods or economy with new money that devalls what someone has taken home in the form of their paycheque, they can buy less it. And the government absolutely is responsible for that. Justin trudeau was the one selling all of those government bonds -- >> Vassy: so all of the inflation goes away when conservatives stop spending more? >> No, wait. When the government government stops making money out of thin air, that is when you control inflation. And that has to happen. It's not happening with justin trudeau. He's borrowing billions and billion also more. >> Vassy: s inflation is within the target rate, between 2 and 3% right now. >> After years of massive increases and prices are still going up. That's the other thing to remember. Just because they like to talk about stablization all that means is it's going up more slowly but it's still going up and still eroding the power of the paycheque. >> Vassy: okay, I want to get the ndp in this because you are the one proposing this excess windfall tax or excess tax. What evidence do you have that it would lower prices for canadians? >> I'm glad you used the word evidence because it's nice to get bahama to actual numbers here. As you have he pointed out, grocery prices have gone up 21% in the last three years. Statistics canada says that freshry prices profits have doubled in the last five years and the competition tribunal. >> Vassy: not the profit margins. >> Most profits have doubled in the last five years. The competition tribunal last summer in june stated that grocery prices are rising at the fastest level in 40 years. At the same time, you have millions of canadians experiencing food insecurity, as you pointed out, one in four people in this country between the ages of 18 and 24 are going to food banks. We've not seen this kind of food insecurity in this country for a long time. Now, what's the cause of this? It's clearly greedflation. We had eight major grocery chains in this country in 1984. We now have five. There's five major grocery chains. And in our view, they are clearly abusing their monopoly in the marketplace to gouge consumers. Anybody who goes to a grocery store in the last year will tell you that. Prices have gone way out of whack and that's when products are shrinking at the same time. Now, to Mr. Scheer's point, that he thinks that it's a flooding of money into the economy, canadians aren't going to the grocery stores buying more food than they ever did before. There's no increased demand for food. Food demand is the same. >> It's the price that is have gone up. >> Vassy: my question to you, Mr. Davies, respectfully, was whether or not adding an extra tax to these stores will actually lower the price for consumers, because to Mr. Scheer's point, normally, when a corporation or anybody else attacks in -- for extra tax -- taxation, they will pass that on to the consumers. What is to prohibit that from happening? >> Not necessarily. Not only -- not only will it help, but it has helped. So during world war ii, we brought in a lot of profit mechanisms in order to stop gouging. When you have an emergency like we had with covid, there are certain industry that is will take advantage of that situation and drastically raise their prices. You have to make sure, particularly when you have a monopoly situation, that that doesn't happen. We brought in a when excess profit tax in this country in 2022 on the banks of financial institutions. >> Vassy: are you looking for that, like a one-time, 1% -- >> It could be temporary. Now, this is on excess profits. We understand that the grocery industry has to experience profits. When there's excess profits that you can incredibly say are the result of gouging, price gouging, abusing your dominant place in the marketplace. >> Vassy: do you have credible evidence, with all due respect, the margin have increased according to that competition bureau report that you referenced, modest yet meaningful amount of 1 or 2 percentage points. That's excessive to you? >> What happens in the grocery industry is margins are low, but volumes are high. What the competition tribunal found was that each increase in margins of 1% represents a billion dollars of excess cost

to consumers in canada. So that's when when the grocery industry says, oh, no, we arrest low margin industry and margins have gone up only a little bit, that results in massive prices. And do you know what proof that is, at the grocery store. Walking and buy a loaf of bread, walk in and buy a pound of beef, walk in and buy chicken breasts and you will see that prices are outrageous. Well, well, product -- sizes have shrunk. >> Vassy: and you're sure that this tax is going to make the difference? >> The uk has done it, 20 european countries have done it. >> Vassy: well, actually that's not true. Some of the european countries have only levied it on oil and gas company which did see a far bigger increase on profit margins, not grocery stores. Only portugal. >> Well, the thing about annexation profits tax is it does a couple of things. It sends a message to the industry that any attempt to gouge will be -- will be met with excess taxes. Second of all, it returns some tax dollars to the government for the subsidy that is we've given them. You might remember that this government gave $26 million to these major companies for freezers, and finally what it does, is it provides a source of money for a national school nutrition program and to give a gst rebate to canadians that will put money in their pockets and actually help -- >> Vassy: okay, I have time for 1:30-second final point for each of you, yes or no to what Mr. Dave vilnius is proposing? >> Well, what I did want to say is Mr. Scheer has given us a master class in misinformation, lack of evidence, lack of data and this notion that somehow eliminating the carbon tax is going to -- is going to somehow be the salvation and you rightly point out it's a 1% factor. The reality is that this is a global challenge that we're all dealing w canada that one of the lowest inflation rates in the world, in the g7. We are doing all that we can with industry and industry isn't prepared to play ball. We have lots of tools in the arsenal we are prepared to use. >> Vassy: you haven't answered at what point you make that determination. Isn't 20%a enough of a place to make a move? >> As I say, we would not be actively engaging on this if we didn't think it was a serious challenge to do this and we will continue to do so. You've rightly pointed out, as -- in your conversation with Mr. Davies, that there it is not a whole lot of evidence that doing an compet profit tax delivers you the value in terms of value to -- >> Why did you threaten in the fall? >> It is -- it is one of the tools available to us. We have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time and do multiple things at multiple points in time to try and solve the problem. And conservatives will give you one solution, our job is to make sure that there are many solution that is will actually deliver value to canadians. >> Vassy: does Mr. Muhammad have a point, Mr. Show, that you are offering one solution around the carbon tax that won't actually do much of a lot for canadians at the grocery store? >> I think the important thing to remember is that we are offering a solution, they are just offering more of the same, the same failed policies that caused the crisis in the first place y not start with the low-hanging fruit? The second the finance minister comes into the house of commons and tables a motion to lower, to eliminate the carbon tax, that comes off. That comes off immediately. Why not do that first? We know it's ineffective on the environment side. >> Vassy: because it might not be the most effective think for the cost of living? >> But it is absolutely the simplest thing to do and it will have a real impact. All of this data shows that, yes, the carbon tax adds to inflation, it adds to the increased cost of food prices. We could also start with stopping the liberal practice of underwriting some of these large grocery chains with some of the handouts that they've given away from tax dollars and focus more on preserving the power of your paycheque by fixing the budget, ensuring that inflation comes down and interest rates come down and eliminating the carbon tax so there's more money in people's pockets and they don't pay those extra prices -- >> Vassy: again, that's 1% of what they are paying, according to the analysis. Last word to you, Mr. Davies, look, your colleagues have both pointed out that there are things, for example, the subsidies to grocery stores. You are supporting the government that's making those to fix their fridges and things like that. Aren't there other ways beyond this tax that you could address the issue for canadians? >> Actually right now canadians, millions of them, are hungry and they are hurting. What the liberals want to do is go cap in hand to the industry to listen and talk what the conservatives 2022 do -- >> Vassy: you are supporting them in that endeavour? >> We're not supporting them on lots of issues, we're supporting them on the confidence supply agreement and the conservatives want to protect corporate profits. The ndp wants immediate action now. We are the only people that are proposing concrete proposals right now that will put money in canadians' pockets immediately and fund concrete programs to actually put food in kids' stomachs in september. >> Again, is there evidence that that will absolutely happen? >> Absolutely there is. >> Vassy: okay, I have to leave it there, I've gone way over as usual, I appreciate all three of you making the time for the discussion. Muhammad, andrew scheer and don davies. A little later on the show we will dig into this show with our front bench. Up next, we're going to talk about the prime minister's visit to the u.s., with former ambassador to the u.s., david macnaughton. He of course led negotiations on the last round of nasa, he will be with u Salonpas, makers of effective pain relief patches for 89 years believes in continuous improvement, like rounded corners that resist peeling, with an array of active ingredients

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