Good morning, members of the committee.

First of all, we welcome the changes to competition law. Increasing competition can be a way of reducing the price of goods and services. Both the Competition Bureau and the Competition Tribunal must therefore have the right tools giving them greater power so that, ultimately, they can fulfill their mandate properly.

We particularly welcome the expansion of remedies available to private parties. In our view, this amendment is worthwhile in terms of defending consumer rights, particularly given the addition of remedies for deceptive commercial practices.

We also welcome the intention to frame the right to repair and the government's intention to consult on this issue, as confirmed in Tuesday's budget.

In short, we believe that the federal government should draw inspiration in particular from the French legislation surrounding repairability and durability ratings.

When it comes to regulating grocers and suppliers, we believe that industry self-regulation through the Canada Code will not achieve the desired objectives. It is essential to adopt a mandatory code of conduct between grocers and suppliers, to provide it with sanctions, to have its application supervised by an independent authority, in this case the Competition Bureau, and above all to ensure that consumer groups are consulted as part of its development.

In addition to the competition measures set out in Bill C‑59, we believe that other measures would help reduce the effect of the rising cost of living, particularly when it comes to food.

That is why we are proposing, for one, to abolish the Goods and Services Tax, or GST, pertaining to essential goods and products, including all food products.

We are also proposing that the government tackle the problem of shrinkflation by imposing mandatory display of quantity changes to products for a period of six months, following the example of Brazilian legislation.

In summary, we believe that Bill C‑59 provides some very promising measures to tackle the rising cost of living. We believe, however, that the bill could go even further, including by making a code of conduct for grocers mandatory and by abolishing the GST on food products.

Thank you very much for your attention.

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