QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Canada's Inflation Rate
December 15, 2021
Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold, the government leader in the Senate.
Canadians are starting to learn that the Trudeau government has set a record — a record that had stood for more than 18 years. Unfortunately, that record is an inflation rate of 4.7%, which is making gasoline, furniture, food and clothing very difficult for middle-class and particularly poor Canadians to be able to manage. Furthermore, Canadians are learning that, this fall, food costs in this country are at the highest levels they’ve been in many years.
While the inflation rate has grown to 4.7%, the average income for Canadians over that same time period has only grown by 2.8%, making it difficult for Canadians to stretch their paycheques to get the bare necessities. It’s becoming unaffordable for Canadians to survive.
My question is very simple, government leader, especially given the fact that the financial statement tabled yesterday clearly said to expect higher inflation in the future, so the government not only has a solution but they’re quite pessimistic about what’s around the corner. My question is this: How much more does the Trudeau government think the average Canadian family can afford to pay going forward?
Thank you for your question.
The Government of Canada is very concerned and mindful of the rise of the cost of living to all Canadians and is focused on measures to soften the impact of those increased costs. It remains focused on issues of affordability and the cost of living.
Canada was fortunate that we entered the pandemic in a strong fiscal position. It allowed the government to take the measures necessary to help us through that. The government has put forward a prudent plan that sets out a new fiscal anchor, and it is committed to reducing the federal debt as a share of the economy over the medium term and to unwinding the deficits from combatting COVID-19.
In addition, the programs and plans around early childhood learning and child-care policies are important policies that will help Canadians weather the economic storm as they are implemented and rolled out.
Government leader, your government’s inflationary deficits and tax increases are having an impact on the daily lives of ordinary Canadians. Last week, I raised the question right here in this chamber about the cost of food for families. The average cost is a $1,000-a-year increase for middle-class Canadian families to provide food on their tables, which we all agree is a necessity in this country.
We also learned today that housing prices are at a record high of 25% this year, yet the economic update yesterday only said the Trudeau government’s work on housing affordability is ongoing and that they will take action next year. So clearly, this is not a priority for the government.
How could the government look at Canadians with a straight face and say inflation is a priority when, in the financial statement and in the Speech from the Throne, we didn’t have any semblance that this government is willing to address spending and high taxes in this country and those two things are combining for an off-the-chart inflation rate?
Thank you for your question.
It is not the case that the government is not doing anything; it is quite the contrary. For example, the renewal of the Bank of Canada’s mandate of 2%, with additional criteria that the bank can consider, is one, but only one, indicator of the seriousness with which the government approaches the issue of inflation.
Again, it is important to remind us all, as most of us know, that the inflation we are experiencing and the cost of living is not exclusively or even largely a function of monetary policy, and it might not even be largely — certainly not exclusively — be a function of the investments that this government made with the support of all parties and members in this chamber to combat the pandemic.
It is a global phenomenon that Canada is grappling with, as are other countries.
Canada remains on track. The government is confident that its plan will help us through this period, mindful as it is of the burden and increased costs on Canadians, as you have quite properly mentioned.
