Trudeau is a bit too quick to brag about lower inflation
Typical Liberal rhetoric ignores reality in favour of leftist nonsense
The Trudeau Liberals were doing a “victory lap” when the inflation rate fell to 2.8% in June, down from over 8% a year ago. There is plenty of political capital in beating inflation and Trudeau wants to cash in on the report with the prospect of losing the next election high on his mind. But it seems likely his knee jerk reaction to the headline number was too partisan friendly to prompt him to read the whole report and temper his enthusiasm before ordinary Canadians lost all respect for him.
The reality is that Canadian spend over 30% of their income on housing costs and house prices have outpaced incomes by almost 50% since Trudeau was elected in 2015. That punishing rise was a direct result of Trudeau immigration and fiscal policies with excess borrowing fueling inflation and high levels of immigration increasing demand for homes faster than the homebuilding industry can bring new units to market.
Next to housing, groceries and personal care are major expenses for Canadian consumers. Inflation in those categories remains over 7%. The only relief from Trudeau policies was a decline in the cost of running your smartphone and a temporary reduction in gasoline prices which will soon leap higher as Trudeau’s carbon taxes and a lack of support for higher oil output take their toll.
On the bright side, the cost of losing yourself in drink has risen only 5.4% over the past year so many can still afford to drink it off, although wages have not kept pace with even that cost so parties will more often offer beer than wine and spirits.
One of the risks in a premature declaration of victory in curbing inflation is the electorate’s reaction when that trend is reversed. Oil prices have risen over 10% in the past few weeks and gasoline prices are sure to follow. Natural gas prices have also firmed since the beginning of the summer, rising about 30% from a low of $2 a gigajoule on June 1, 2023 to the current $2.60 per gigajoule range for natural gas at the AECO hub in Alberta. The short term relief in energy and fuel costs will very likely revert to sharp increases this fall as the weather gets colder and carbon taxes fuel even higher inflation. Even the governor of the Bank of Canada admits Trudeau’s useless carbon tax adds to inflation despite Trudeau’s misleading rhetoric that the tax is “revenue neutral”.
Reality is descending on Canadians whose support for Trudeau reflected his faux empathy and incessant claims he “has your back” which are now ringing hollow. Canadians are realizing they are worse off under Trudeau with every mortgage payment and every checkout at the grocery store or gas station. The malaise is demonstrated in polling data that show the Liberals suffering a poor second place showing in recent weeks.
With any luck, there will be an election in the next year or so and we can look forward to the end of the toxic and destructive Liberal regime and get back to basics with lower deficits, an expanding energy industry and sensible fiscal and monetary policies under Pierre Poilievre. Personally, I can’t wait.
"On the bright side, the cost of losing yourself in drink has risen only 5.4% over the past year "
I find ALL cheap beer and wine has risen at least 20% Y over Y.($2 500ml beer is now$2.75++ and the sub $8 decent Italian wine now above $10)
Politicians will take credit if something is perceived good, so maybe Trudeau a little more blatant. GDP + jobs seems to also be bragging matters, my fear is the 1 trillion $+ federal deficit now with interest rates above zero will totally get out of control. Most of the provinces and cities in the same category, but they cant print money....
Govt's have lots of power and can get very nasty imposing new fees, charges with aggressive collecting.