Prime Minister Mark Carney met with all of Canada’s premiers in Charlottetown on Thursday to discuss how best to respond to Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats. Guest host Mitch Cormier canvasses a room of reporters waiting for the results of the First Ministers Meeting, then speaks with PEI Premier Rob Lantz, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and incoming council of the federation chair, NWT Premier R.J. Simpson about how exactly Canada might respond.
And, The House's summer season focus on food security continues with Ottawa's push to bring down food costs and drive competition in Canada's grocery sector — namely by funding local 'food hubs' across the country.
What are these hubs, and can they really make a difference for Canadian pocketbooks? Mitch Cormier travels around Prince Edward Island to meet farmers Trisha and Rose Viaene — who flipped the table on big grocers after being lowballed for their garlic crop — and corner store owner Krunal Patel, who has to buy dry goods from Canada's grocery empires, to stock his shelves. Then, Grower's Station executive director Ann Higgs, PEI Federation of Agriculture executive director Donald Killorn and food expert Mike von Massow explain how these food hubs help both farmers and small grocers, and whether scaling them up will bring food costs down.
Finally, Agriculture Minister Health MacDonald sits down with The House to share why the federal government is concerned about grocery competition and what he hopes Canadians' grocery carts will look like as the food strategy takes effect.
This episode features the voices of:
Rob Lantz, Premier of Prince Edward Island
Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta
R.J. Simpson, Premier of Northwest Territories
Trisha Viaene, former garlic farmer
Rose Viaene, executive general manager of Riverview Country Market
Jenn Pfenning, president of the National Farmers Union
Charles Aondo, delivery driver for Growers Station
Ann Higgs, executive director of Growers Station
Mike von Massow, food economist at the University of Guelph
