Windsor shoppers welcome word of 'grocery rebate'
Word Tuesday’s federal budget will include a one-time “grocery rebate” for low-income Canadians is welcome news for shoppers outside Windsor grocery stores.
“I think that would be an awesome thing,” says Pat Hayden, who left the store Monday with a half-dozen bags of groceries.
“They should give them a break.”
Hayden says on more than one occasion she’s left the supermarket “with a headache” brought on by sticker shock — and she’s not alone.
“I probably spent about 70 or 80 dollars and I really didn’t have much to show for it,” says Jane Buttery.
High food costs and the high cost of living overall are driving more people to food banks.
June Muir, president of the Windsor-Essex Food Bank Association, says they saw 8,000 new clients in 2022.
“I really have never seen it like this before,” she says.
Muir says they’re more frequently helping those you might not expect to see at a food bank.
Seniors, post-secondary students and even people with full-time jobs who have nothing left after paying the bills.
“I’m hoping that this budget tomorrow is going to help those who truly need it,” Muir says.
Canadian food analyst Sylvain Charlebois, with Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab, agrees the grocery rebate is a positive thing… in theory.
“On one hand, it’s a targeted policy, which is really desirable. On the other hand, it’s very little and you basically have to hope that people will use it for food,” he says.
Charlebois says it might be a better idea for Canada to look into a program like food stamps in the United States.
“You basically get people to buy desirable food products — fruit, vegetable, meat products, healthy products,” he says.
However, he says, that program took years to assemble in the U.S.
The federal government will unveil its budget Tuesday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
Amish youth experience a rite of passage called Rumspringa. It’s not what you might think
The idea of “Rumspringa” has a specific spot in the American imagination. A rite of passage for young people in some Amish communities, Rumspringa is seen by most outsiders as a wild time away from strict Amish rules, when teenagers can experiment with the modern vices of the world.
Djokovic needs medical attention after getting knocked on the head by a water bottle at Italian Open
Novak Djokovic needed medical attention after apparently getting knocked on the head by a water bottle after a win at the Italian Open on Friday.