On Wednesday Freeland opened the door to doing more, saying she knows "the most vulnerable in our society need to be supported" but warning that any aid plan will be balanced with maintaining fiscal controls. That includes child care agreements with provinces that will slash daycare bills for many families starting this year, increases to the Canada Workers Benefit and old age security pension promised in the 2021 budget, and annual increases to GST rebates and the Canada Child Benefit.
#To be barked by the liberas driver#
In Canada, the Liberals have been reluctant to introduce similar measures, fearing that flooding the economy with money could drive up demand at a time when supply chain issues are a key driver of inflation.įreeland's $8.9 billion "affordability plan" published in June mainly included measures promised long before inflation began its sharp climb, and which Freeland has said were already included in Canada's budget plan. In August France passed a $26-billion aid package that increased pension and welfare payments and hiked the gasoline rebate implemented in the spring from about 24 cents to almost 40 cents.
Germany this week produced its third aid package of the year, worth another C$72 billion, including direct payments to seniors and students to help with soaring energy bills and a reduced rate for some electricity used by most households. Internationally many governments have moved to ease the pain of inflation. In much of Ontario, natural gas rates went up 20 per cent or more in July.Ī report this week by Equifax Canada said Canadians are starting to rack up debt to stay on top of their bills, with a 6.4 per cent increase in credit card balances between the first and second quarters of this year.
Gas prices are still on average 12 per cent higher than they were in September 2021. But that did little to ease the cost of basic needs like groceries, which was almost 10 per cent more than a year ago. Inflation is starting to ease - the rate fell to 7.6 per cent in July after hitting a 39-year high of 8.1 per cent in June - largely because the price of fuel began to drop. Wednesday's sessions included a briefing from economists about the cost-of-living conundrum, just hours after the Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate for the fifth time in seven months in its continued effort to get inflation under control. "It was really important for me to get that kind of direct fingertip feel of what is happening in the Canadian economy and what Canadians are feeling," she said before heading into the second day of the retreat Wednesday. Underlying every discussion right now is the difficulty Canadians are having paying their bills.įreeland said she spent the summer travelling to meet with Canadians for the first time since COVID-19 hit, and the feedback she heard is that while people are confident in the long-term picture, the current cost-of-living turmoil is a real challenge. The Liberal cabinet is in the midst of a three-day retreat in Vancouver this week as ministers prepare for the fall sitting of the House of Commons.
#To be barked by the liberas how to#
0 kommentar(er)
