For Canadians like Missy Anderson, the cost of living is becoming a crisis.
She’s 38 years old, a mother of four, and lives in Burlington, Ont. Like many other Canadians she has been forced to make difficult choices about how she spends her money.
“It’s a juggling act,” she said in an interview on CBC’s The House that aired Saturday. On top of the costs of feeding and caring for her children, a low-dose chemotherapy treatment to address Stage 1 cervical cancer presents another challenge for the freelance writer.
Inflation in July was up 7.6 per cent in July over the same period last year. It was the first month-to-month decline since 2021, but the cost of living is still taking a bite out of Anderson’s budget — and she’s hoping for help from politicians.
LISTEN | Which party has the best plan to fight inflation?
CBC News: The House17:09Which party has the best plan to fight inflation?
Missy Anderson, a mother of four, talks about her difficulty coping with the cost of living and experts Trevor Tombe and Sean Speer discuss the politics and policy of possible solutions.
“They need to understand how the average Canadian is living. They offer benefits that I think they think sounds good — stuff like one-time $500 help for rent,” Anderson told host Catherine Cullen.
“If you’re in this area, that’s not going to do a whole lot for help. That’s like two trips to the grocery store.”
Anderson is hoping for more help as soon as possible.
The federal government announced this week new measures that are aimed at helping with the affordability challenge, including the rental benefit Anderson describes, as well as boosted GST credits and a new dental benefit.
“These are things that will make a difference in people’s lives right now, but they are sufficiently targeted that they will not contribute to increased inflation,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre, however, argued the plan would “pour gasoline on the fire” of inflation. Scotiabank head of capital markets economics Derek Holt also criticized the government for shelling out more spending.
No easy solutions for short term pain
Trevor Tombe, an economist at the University of Calgary, told The House it was unlikely the recently announced measures would have a significant effect.
But he noted it might be hard to address the root problem of inflation quickly, so one of the things governments need to be honest about is “recognizing clearly and explicitly that there’s not a lot that can be done in the very short term,” he said.
Much of inflation is caused by global factors and high energy prices, Tombe said, on which government policies around spending or transfers can have limited impact. Rate hates from the Bank of Canada will also take time to have an effect on inflation, Tombe noted.
Governor of the Bank of Canada Tiff Macklem walks outside the Bank of Canada building in Ottawa on June 22, 2020. Economist Trevor Tombe says it will take time for interest rate hikes to cool inflation. (Blair Gable/Reuters)
Sean Speer, a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and former economic policy adviser to Stephen Harper agreed that long term planning was needed to comprehensively deal with major challenges facing Canada today.
“I don’t think we’ve heard enough from the government either on short term plans either to boost supply, but more important long term plans. There are just so many areas where we find ourselves supply constrained: health care, housing, energy,” he said.
NDP claims victory on benefits announcement
Speer noted Poilievre was benefiting from being out in front of the inflation issue, and there may be a battle now brewing about the federal carbon tax.
“While the purpose of the carbon tax is to raise prices over time, there has been over the past 12 months or so such a significant increase on energy prices that it risks accelerating the increases intended by the carbon tax even faster,” he said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told The House the new announcement — which he’s touted as a major victory — will help ease costs for Canadians, by lowering the burden of dental costs while other prices remain high.
LISTEN | NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh talks about new benefits, Poilievre’s win:
CBC News: The House9:31Jagmeet Singh trumpets dental plan as fight over working class vote heats up
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh talks about new federal measures announced this week that are aimed at helping ease the affordability issue, and reacts to Pierre Poilievre’s election as Conservative leader.
But he said the dental benefit is only a temporary plan. He told The Canadian Press that his party would no longer be flexible with the government on this issue and expected a fulsome program next year.
But Missy Anderson is looking for action now rather than future promises.
“People have children, people are working hard every day and they can’t can’t afford their bills. We need something to start happening.”
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
