Liberal MP says he has seen no empty shelves at grocery stores

Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull criticized the Conservatives for using a stock image of an empty shelf in a tweet supporting vaccination mandates for cross border truckers, and also posted photos of store shelves with plenty of food on them to prove his point.

The Whitby MP said that Conservatives were "fear mongering for political gain," and that he had been to grocery stores in his community and seen no empty shelves.

"I visited four different local grocery stores in my community, and I couldn't find any empty shelves," emphasized Turnbull. "I took many more pics."

Several users responded to Turnbull with photos of their own experience, however, including several photos submitted to Canada Proud.

Don't pretend [Melissa] Lantsman's post was presented as a real image. The text makes it clear. Here are some actual images from my trip to the store and I am one of her constituents," said user Jay Kowal.

Many responded with their stories, which often noted that while many items were still in-stock, that there were "noticeable shortages" in some areas, including fully bare shelves.

A petition launched for the reversal of a mandate tweeted by Lantsman states:

"The transport trucking industry is an integral aspect of Canadian supply chains - delivering a broad supply of essential goods and services across the country.

"The current government-imposed restrictions on the cross-border trucking industry is projected to eliminate the jobs of 18,000 drivers, increasing the number to a total of 41,000 vacancies within the industry.

"This staggering loss of essential workers will lead to inflation and steep price increases on critical medical supplies, food imports and building materials – leading also to empty shelves in Canadian retail sectors."