Quebec’s leftist sovereigntist occasion will marketing campaign partly on operating public grocery shops and a wealth tax forward of the final election scheduled for October.
Québec solidaire, which holds 11 of the nationwide meeting’s 125 seats, says it desires to revive affordability by bringing down meals costs and tackling the housing disaster.
“We noticed survey outcomes this week, the vast majority of Quebec households’ major considerations are the price of lease and groceries,” stated Québec solidaire’s co-spokesperson and laws chief Ruba Ghazal. “We need to sort out the affordability disaster and provides most Quebecers some respiratory room.”
Some 350 occasion members are gathered in Montreal this weekend to undertake positions on the price of dwelling, affordability and wealth redistribution.
They adopted a movement on Saturday saying that, if Québec solidaire have been to type authorities, it will launch a pilot undertaking to create public non-profit grocery shops. The federal government would purchase meals in bulk, prioritizing native merchandise, and promote them at decrease costs than huge chain shops.
“Eighty per cent of the distribution of meals gross sales are within the arms of solely 5 major grocers,” stated Alejandra Zaga Mendez, Québec solidaire’s financial system critic. “Now we have to have extra competitors in an effort to scale back costs.”
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Ghazal added that Canada’s main grocery chains have made massive earnings as some Quebecers battle to place meals on the desk. The occasion desires to cap the revenue margins for these retailers at two per cent.
She says publicly run grocery shops may assist carry the price of groceries down by as much as 30 per cent.
The occasion estimates that the pilot undertaking would require an preliminary funding of $100 million, and would value $85 million per 12 months to function.
Québec solidaire says it plans to cowl most of these prices by growing taxes on the ultrarich.
The occasion adopted a movement to impose an annual capital tax of 1 per cent on these with belongings price $25 million or extra. Québec solidaire says that would result in $5 billion in authorities income.
The occasion has stated it’s drawing inspiration from New York Metropolis’s democratic socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
Mamdani’s guarantees included sooner — and free — buses, in addition to city-run grocery shops. The preliminary retailer, he stated, would open subsequent 12 months, with the remaining outlets — finally one in every of New York Metropolis’s 5 boroughs — opening by the tip of his four-year time period.
Avi Lewis, the federal New Democratic Occasion’s new chief, additionally put ahead a public grocery initiative. Earlier this 12 months, town of Toronto adopted a movement to open 4 municipally operated grocery shops as a part of a pilot undertaking.
Over the weekend, Québec solidaire members may also debate the occasion’s housing plan, which features a cap on lease will increase, in addition to coverage priorities on well being, schooling and the setting.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
