Assistant Professor Mike Moffatt has a proposal that might end the debate between Bay St. and academic economists on the need for fiscal stimulus: implement a food rebate.
The falling loonie has increased the cost of healthy food in Canada. This raises concerns about how food inflation will affect low- and fixed-income households. In his op-ed for Canadian Business, Moffatt suggests implementing what he calls a Canada Food Inflation Rebate (CFIR). This would involve piggybacking off the existing infrastructure provided by the GST credit program by providing eligible low-income households with extra money for their grocery bills via an extra rebate cheque.
“This should be a top of mind issue for any government, particularly one that campaigned on helping the middle class and those working hard to join the middle class,” said Moffatt. “And there is an obvious way to help out families struggling to pay the grocery bill: give them money.”
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