LILLEY: New Statistics Canada inflation numbers show life still too expensive
Gas and shelter costs still rising at unaffordable rates, food up dramatically over three years.
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Food prices are still far higher than they should be, gas prices continue to rise and rent increases are up dramatically year over year, but the Trudeau Liberals are taking a victory lap.
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LILLEY: New Statistics Canada inflation numbers show life still too expensive Back to video
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Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland held a news conference on Tuesday to take a bow and explain that despite still higher prices, we’ve never had it so good.
The reason, Statistics Canada reported that core inflation was down to 2.7% from 2.9% in March.
“This is really good news for all Canadians,” Freeland said, crediting what she called the Trudeau government’s “fiscally responsible economic plan” for why inflation was down.
And here you thought the Trudeau government wanted to ban misinformation and disinformation!
The latest Trudeau budget increased program spending by $30 billion over last year, or 7% more year over year. We are also seeing interest payments on the debt rise to $54.1 billion — or put another way, 10.5 cents of every tax dollar sent to Ottawa pays the interest payments on the debt.
The Trudeau government only knows how to do one thing and that is increase spending and unfortunately, they do it in a way that boosts rather than fights inflation.
Shelter overall was up 6.4%, but rent was up 8.2% nationally in April 2024 compared to April 2023 at a time when wages are not rising that much. Rent in Newfoundland and Labrador was up 9.3%, up 10.8% in New Brunswick and up 16.2% in Alberta.
If you drive to work, gas prices were up 6.1% in April compared to a year earlier, meaning that getting to work to pay your rent was also more expensive.
And feeding yourself; well, you can’t say it got any cheaper in April.
One of the reasons that overall inflation was lower is that food purchased at grocery stores only increased by 1.4% April versus April. Here’s the tough part: Statistics Canada noted between April 2021 and April 2024, food inflation alone is up 21.4%.
That means that the $100 of groceries that you put into your cart in April 2021 now costs $121.40. You aren’t getting any extra food, you aren’t getting better nutrition, you are simply paying more.
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The average price of a litre of gas in April 2021, according to Statistics Canada, was $1.275 per litre, but in April 2024, it was $1.698 a litre — an increase of 42.3 cents or 24.9%. A good portion of that can be attributed to the Trudeau government’s carbon tax which they still claim doesn’t drive up the cost of living.
“They’re patting themselves on the back when they realize that Canadians can’t afford to eat, heat and house themselves,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said during question period.
Freeland accused Poilievre of talking down Canada by raising questions about inflation and the state of the economy. It’s a bit like last week when she told a reporter at it wasn’t very Canadian to raise the fact that a man who killed a baby and his grandparents in a horrific car crash while fleeing police was actually out on bail.
It seems Freeland doesn’t want anyone to raise uncomfortable questions, or to point out the policy failings of the Trudeau government.
The fact of the matter is that man was out on bail due to Trudeau government policy, and inflation has been stubbornly high due to the fiscal policies of the Trudeau Liberals. Anyone telling you Trudeau is responsible for every aspect of inflation is lying to you, but so is anyone who tells you they have played no role.
They have driven up spending, which has helped drive up inflation, which helped drive up interest rates and now, we are all paying for Freeland’s mistakes.
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