Time to reconsider supply management

DEAR EDITOR:

Inflationary food costs aren’t going away. It’s bad when we read reports of thefts from grocery stores. It’s a complex problem with many moving pieces which defies simple explanations.

Jagmeet Singh blames excess profits by the grocery chains. But what are excess profits, and who gets to decide? It’s like demanding that people pay of a fair share of taxes, without defining what a fair share is.

The NDP’s battle cry is to tax the rich, but who are the rich? It would be good to see their numbers that identify the thresholds for being rich and allowable profits. Without definitions it’s like a fox sitting down with the chickens to discuss what’s for dinner.

Singh wants to apply the universal NDP solution by raising taxes on the grocery chains.

He’s in the right forest, but is barking up the wrong tree.

Some of the solution may well rest in taxation; but less, not more.

Carbon tax is a common thread throughout the food production and distribution chain.

Carbon taxes on agricultural fuels, fertilizer and transportation are stratified into costs at every link in the chain from field to table.

Eliminating the carbon tax on agriculture and food transportation can benefit everyone by reducing food costs. Who would argue against that? After all, we can’t eat climate ideology, can we?

Maybe it’s also time to re-consider supply management which limits supply and maintains high costs on dairy and poultry products.

Grocery chain operations could be examined after understanding what constitutes a reasonable level of profit versus costs and capital investments. The same analysis can be applied to producers and intermediate food processors. These figures can’t be snatched from thin air for the sake of political theatre. They require research and intelligent analysis.

Private enterprise creates wealth; governments do not. Excessive taxes limit productivity and prosperity, and some level of profit must exist as an incentive.

There are no historical examples of countries taxing themselves into prosperity or imposing taxes that stimulate food production and reduce costs. We won’t be the first.

Garden season is approaching and seed selections are already available. People can shave costs and show who’s boss by growing and preserving their own food.

Doing something positive always beats complaining.

John Thompson Kaleden