The federal minister of families, children and social development says she agrees Canada is in the midst of an affordability crisis, but wants to see provincial and territorial governments do more to help.
“I think that many families, in particularly lower income families, are really struggling right now to make ends meet,” Karina Gould told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday. “The high cost of rent, the high cost of food, is having a big impact.”
“And even for folks who are in the middle class, they’re feeling the squeeze,” she added. “So yeah, people are struggling right now.”
Liberal MPs and cabinet ministers — including the prime minister — are continuing their tour of the country this week, touting their recently tabled budget, which focuses largely on pocketbook issues.
A key line item in the budget is the “grocery rebate” — a one-time payment through the GST tax credit system with the goal of helping low- and modest-income earners pay their bills. It’s a move that saw several cabinet ministers, including Gould herself, stopping at grocery stores this week to laud the Liberal government’s affordability measures.
The rebate would see eligible seniors receive $225, while a single person would receive $234, and couples with two children could receive a payment of up to $467.
But when pressed on whether the payment is enough to help Canadians who say they’re struggling to put food on the table, Gould said the measure is just a piece of the Liberal government’s larger affordability measures.
“The grocery rebate isn’t designed to absorb all of the additional costs that families are facing, but it’s designed to be there to give that little bit of extra help,” Gould said.
“It’s important also not to see it in isolation. I mean, it’s an important measure, but it’s not the only measure that we’ve taken as a government,” she also said, citing the Canada Child Benefit as an example.
Gould added when it comes to certain affordability measures — such as disability benefits or housing policy — they need to be carried out in concert with provincial and territorial governments.
“I think that there’s more that provinces could do,” she said.
“We can take important measures at the federal level, and I think we have,” she said. “We need to keep looking at what else we need to do, but we also need to make sure that provinces and territories are also supporting that work, because it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We have to be doing it together.”
Gould said the federal government is “not the only actor in this space,” when it comes to issues like social assistance and support for the charitable sector.
“I think we’ve taken a lot of measures, and that doesn’t mean we can’t think about what else needs to happen, because I think that’s really important too,” she said. “But we also need to have those partners at the provincial level as well, who are making those changes to some of their programs to really ensure that we’re helping our lowest income and most vulnerable Canadians.”
KITCHENER, Ont. – Prosecutors are arguing a man who stabbed a professor and two students in a University of Waterloo gender studies class last year should face a lengthy sentence because of the attack’s lasting impact on campus safety and security.
Federal prosecutor Althea Francis says a sentence in the upper range is appropriate not only because Geovanny Villalba-Aleman wanted to send a message about his views but also because he sought to make those with different beliefs feel unsafe.
The Crown has said it is seeking a sentence of 16 years for Villalba-Aleman, who pleaded guilty to four charges in the June 2023 campus attack.
The sentencing hearing for Villalba-Aleman began Monday and is expected to continue all week.
Federal prosecutors argued Tuesday that Villalba-Aleman’s statement to police, and a manifesto that was found on his phone, show his actions were motivated by ideology and meant to intimidate a segment of the population.
Villalba-Aleman pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault with a weapon and one count of assault causing bodily harm.
A video of his statement to police was shown in court earlier in the sentencing hearing.
In the video, Villalba-Aleman told police he felt colleges and universities were imposing ideology and restricting academic freedom, and he wanted the attack to serve as a “wake-up call.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada cut its key policy interest rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday to bring it to 3.75 per cent. Here’s what people are saying about the decision:
“High inflation and interest rates have been a heavy burden for Canadians. With inflation now back to target and interest rates continuing to come down, families, businesses and communities should feel some relief.” — Tiff Macklem, Bank of Canada governor.
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“Activity in Canada’s housing market has been sluggish in many regions due to higher borrowing costs, but today’s more aggressive cut to lending rates could cause the tide to turn quickly. For those with variable rate mortgages – who will benefit from the rate drop immediately – or those with fast-approaching loan renewals, today’s announcement is welcome news indeed.” — Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage.
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“This won’t be the end of rate cuts. Even with the succession of policy cuts since June, rates are still way too high given the state of the economy. To bring rates into better balance, we have another 150 bps in cuts pencilled in through 2025. So while the pace of cuts going forward is now highly uncertain, the direction for rates is firmly downwards.” — James Orlando, director and senior economist at TD Bank.
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“The size of the December rate cut will depend on upcoming job and inflation data, but a 25 basis point cut remains our baseline.” — Tu Nguyen, economist with assurance, tax and consultancy firm RSM Canada.
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“Today’s outsized rate cut is mostly a response to the heavy-duty decline in headline inflation in the past few months. However, the underlying forecast and the Bank’s mild tone suggest that the future default moves will be 25 bp steps, unless growth and/or inflation surprise again to the downside.” — Douglas Porter, chief economist at Bank of Montreal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
