Carney blames high grocery bills on weak “productivity” despite not knowing what families actually pay

Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney is facing criticism over comments he made that the reason Canadians can’t afford the groceries is due to a lack of “productivity.”

Author:Quinn Patrick

Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney is facing criticism over comments he made that the reason Canadians can’t afford the groceries is due to a lack of “productivity.”

“One of the reasons why families have a hard time to afford their groceries is because we haven’t had productivity. That’s the issue,” said Carney during Tuesday’s Liberal leadership debate in Montreal.

“Wages aren’t keeping pace with prices. That’s because they’re not being given the right tools to work with, we’re not working as smart as we should. So that’s the challenge that we’re talking about and that’s the result and that’s the connection,” said Carney.

Conservatives were quick to react to Carney’s framing of the problem, pointing out that he’s served as an economic adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for years.

“After 5 yrs advising Trudeau, Mark Carney claims grocery costs rose because of weak productivity. Nonsense! Hard-working Canadians deliver the goods each and every day!

Liberal tax hikes and inflationary deficits, the results of Carney’s economic advice, are the real culprits!” wrote Opposition House leader Andrew Scheer.

Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman said that “Canadians are working harder than ever” but that the Liberal government “fuelled inflation while piling on new taxes” under his advice.

Carney’s comments follow a similar guffaw he made at the French debate the night before when he was unable to answer how much weekly groceries cost for a family of four.

He remained silent as the other candidates answered.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre responded by saying that “While Canadians were dealing with skyrocketing grocery bills due to Liberal inflation and carbon taxes, Carney was jet-setting around the world, collecting big cheques while pushing for higher carbon taxes.”

The cost of groceries has been a major issue among Canadians for years, with many putting their grocery bill ahead of their nutrition.

A 2023 survey by Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab found that 45.5% of respondents said the cost of their groceries outweighed the importance of their food’s nutritional value in terms of what they are purchasing.

While a majority of those same respondents, 63.3%, said that they are aware and concerned about the long term effects of compromising on healthy choices.

When asked if their meat or protein consumption had gone down due to soaring food costs, 49.2% said yes.