Public Options to Stop Price Gouging

In so many sectors of our economy, the market is failing us. While families are forced to choose between groceries and rent, three grocery giants dominate our food system and make billions in profits. Three big telecom companies monopolize our phone and internet plans. Five big banks control our financial services sector. The result? Their CEOs get rich, Canadians get gouged.

The cost of living crisis we face today demands bold solutions. That means expanding public ownership to lower bills and improve services while creating good union jobs in the process.

NDP governments have shown how that's possible. Whether it's public auto insurance in Manitoba, the agricultural land reserve to protect food security in BC, a public telecom provider in Saskatchewan, or of course, Medicare, our party has created public institutions that continue to make people's lives better and more affordable decades after their creation.

It's time to take the power back from the price-fixing corporate cartels that have a stranglehold on our economy and put it in the hands of the people. It's time to build a new generation of public options to reduce costs and raise our quality of life. That's why an Avi-led NDP will push for:

A low-cost public alternative to the big grocery chains. By using a high volume, warehouse style model with subsidized rent and utilities, and backed up by networked local and regional food hubs to bring in local foods, grocery costs could be cut by as much as 30-40%.

A range of public options to lower telecom prices across the country, including a network of public telecom service providers —inspired by the success of Saskatchewan's publicly-owned SaskTel —to guarantee universal, affordable and high-speed connectivity, including in rural, remote and Indigenous communities.

A public builder to deliver one million social, co-op, non-profit and supportive homes within five years, cutting costs and speeding construction by using federal lands where appropriate, adopting modular and pre-fab designs, and using scalable, repeatable construction techniques to speed delivery.

Banking services through the post office like France and Italy so all Canadians have access to affordable accounts, financial services and loans. Postal banking breaks the payday lenders' monopoly, keeps more money in the local economy and protects the most vulnerable.

Canada once had a world-renowned public pharmaceutical company, Connaught Labs, until it was privatized by Brian Mulroney's government. We will establish Connaught 2.0 to rebuild vaccine production capacity while reducing reliance on multinational pharma and foreign supply chains to ensure reliable and affordable pharmaceutical supplies for Canadians.