March 11, 1977 (30th Parliament, 2nd Session)

Hon. Donald S. Macdonald (Minister of Finance):

Mr. Speaker, I would just remind the hon. gentleman that there has been a dramatic drop in the cost of food over the past two year period. In that sense, while there has been some recovery in the food component, the rate of increase in the consumer price index in comparative terms remains very much lower than the over-all cost of living in Canada two years ago. With regard to the impact of climatic changes such as drought-