Op-Ed | No more scraps: making the election about ending hunger in Canada

By Nick Saul and Jasmine Ramze Rezaee

We need concrete commitments from every party to tackle food insecurity head-on, such as strengthening income security programs like the Canada Child Benefit and the newly-created Canada Disability Benefit.

As Canada heads to the polls on April 28, the stakes have never been higher. And the lines at food banks winding out the door and around the corner have never been longer. The question before us is not just which leader should govern, but what kind of country we want to be. Will we allow food insecurity to spiral further out of control, or will we demand real action to ensure that every Canadian can afford to eat?

Right now, millions of Canadians are struggling to pay for their groceries. In 2023, a staggering 8.7 million people—one in four—faced food insecurity due to financial hardship, a 49 per cent increase since 2020. Families, children, seniors, workers, and people with disabilities are being pushed to the brink, with Indigenous and Black communities severely impacted. And yet, political leaders continue to treat hunger as if it were an individual problem rather than a systemic one.

Let’s be clear: hunger isn’t about laziness or a lack of food. The issue is affordability. Wages haven’t kept up with skyrocketing costs, and our outdated social programs are failing to catch those who fall through the cracks. Nearly 67 per cent of food-insecure households in 2023 depended on wages, salaries, and self-employment for their main income, but still couldn’t make ends meet. Meanwhile, almost half of households that depended on Employment Insurance as their primary income faced food insecurity. How is it that people who work full-time, or those relying on government support, still cannot afford basic necessities?

Food banks—never meant to be a permanent solution—are overwhelmed, serving over two million people monthly. But those numbers tell only a small fraction of the story. The truth is that the vast majority of food-insecure Canadians don’t even use food banks; they suffer in silence, rationing meals and making impossible choices between rent and groceries.

This crisis isn’t happening in a vacuum. Economic instability, exacerbated by global events—including American President Donald Trump’s reckless trade policies and tariffs—threatens to send prices soaring even higher. If we don’t take action now, more Canadians will be forced to go without the most basic human need: food. That’s why we launched our #NoMoreScraps campaign, and penned an open letter that has garnered more than 200 organizational endorsements from coast to coast. 

This election must be about more than just short-sighted tax cuts, which do little for those struggling the most. We need concrete commitments from every party to tackle food insecurity head-on. That means strengthening income security programs like the Canada Child Benefit and the newly created Canada Disability Benefit. It means implementing a Groceries and Essentials Benefit—a reimagined GST/HST credit that provides immediate relief to those most in need.

These policy choices are about what kind of economy and society we want to build. What values do we want to stand for as a nation? Countries that actively reduce inequality and invest in comprehensive social programs consistently outperform their counterparts across a broad range of indicators—whether in economic growth, social cohesion, or public health. Fair wages and a strong safety net don’t just help the most vulnerable; they also strengthen society as a whole.

And what if we do nothing? We need only look south to see the consequences. The United States has allowed wealth and power to concentrate in the hands of a few, eroding its middle class and leaving millions behind. Do we want to follow that path, where some dine on abundance while others have to make due with scraps? Do we want to build an economy that hoards prosperity or shares it?

The choice is ours. We believe no one in Canada should go hungry—not in one of the wealthiest nations in the world. On April 28, we must demand more from our leaders. No more delays, no more scraps. This election, let’s demand a future where everyone has a dignified seat at the table.

This op-ed was originally published April 17, 2025 by The Hill Times and can be found here.