Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she must strike a balance between helping Canadians suffering from the effects of inflation and pursuing a policy of fiscal restraint — or risk making the cost of living problem worse.
In an interview airing Sunday on Rosemary Barton Live, Freeland, who also serves as deputy prime minister, said she was open to further action on affordability issues but that she believes measures already underway — worth $8.9 billion — would help alleviate the impact on Canadians.
“I have to strike a balance. One is supporting Canadians with affordability challenges and the other is fiscal restraint, because I don’t want to make the Bank of Canada’s job harder than it already is,” Freeland told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
The Bank of Canada has a mandate to maintain Canada’s inflation target, which is two per cent (within a one to three per cent range) per year. Freeland said it was the bank’s responsibility to deal with inflation and she respected its independence.
In a speech earlier this month, she argued that previously announced programs — including boosts to benefits for low-income workers, increasing other inflation-indexed benefits and implementing the government’s child-care and dental programs — would help with affordability concerns.
Freeland reiterated that view in the interview airing Sunday, saying money from those programs was already on its way to Canadians.
‘It’s OK to be mad’
The finance minister acknowledged the frustration felt by many Canadians around rising prices, particularly for key everyday goods. She said friends have been sending her pictures of prices at the pumps, and she’s aware that groceries are more expensive.
“And for a lot of Canadians, it is causing real hardship. I really understand that,” she said.
Asked about the general unease many Canadians feel about the economy, Freeland struck a similar tone.
WATCH | MPs discuss how government could move to handle inflation:
MPs debate tools to tackle the soaring cost of living
4 days ago
Duration 9:35
Peter Fragiskatos, parliamentary secretary to the minister of national revenue, and Dan Albas, Conservative finance critic, joined Power & Politics on Wednesday to discuss the soaring cost of living and what Ottawa can do to provide Canadians with relief.
“I say it’s OK to be mad,” she said. “It’s OK to be mad at me. I really understand that this is an incredibly challenging economic time. It’s really, really hard for a lot of people.”
The federal government has been under fire concerning inflation from both the opposition Conservatives and the New Democrats. The Liberals have a supply-and-confidence agreement with the NDP to keep the minority government afloat on key votes.
Opposition on the attack
In response to Freeland’s speech, Conservative MPs Dan Albas and Gérard Deltell issued a statement criticizing what they call the government’s “tax-and-spend” strategy.
“This flawed economic approach eats away at the earnings of hard-working Canadians and ignores the most basic principle of economics: that spending during an inflationary crisis will only fuel inflation further. Yet, the Liberals continue down this path with reckless abandon, inflicting more inflationary pain on Canadians.”
The NDP, which has argued that corporations are taking advantage of inflation to increase profits, says the government should put an “excess profits tax” on oil and gas companies and give money back to Canadians through the GST/HST credit and child benefit.
Leader Jagmeet Singh called Freeland’s approach “absolutely insulting.”
‘Soft landing’ still possible
Freeland met earlier this week with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said recently that a recession in the United States is not “inevitable,” although inflation is “unacceptably high.”
Canada still has a path to a “soft landing,” Freeland said, where the country could stabilize economically following the enormous blow of the COVID-19 pandemic without the severe recession feared by many.
WATCH | Finance minister, U.S. treasury secretary discuss economic conditions:
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and her U.S. counterpart, Janet Yellen, discussed rising inflation and various affordability measures, though Freeland maintains Canada is not planning a federal fuel-tax holiday as a break from record-high gas prices.
Freeland maintained an upbeat tone about Canada’s ability to weather global economic uncertainty, especially when compared with other G7 countries.
“The challenge is not over, but I truly believe that we’re going to get through this together,” she said.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
