Breakfast is by far my favourite meal of the day. My go-to menu item is eggs and bacon, or an omelette with a side salad. I love a classic breakfast! I used to be able to eat at a local pub or breakfast spot for as little as $6.00.
That’s not true anymore — and for good reason. The cost of groceries has skyrocketed!
The price of bacon has increased by 20 per cent; the price of eggs by 7.4 per cent; and the price of butter by 5.5 per cent.
This isn’t just bad news for me. It’s bad news for everyone.
But you didn’t need me to tell you that. If you’ve shopped at a local grocery store, eaten at a restaurant, paid a home heating bill, or filled your tank with gas, you already know that life is getting more and more expensive.
So, why is that?
The name of the bad news is inflation and it’s driven by awful government policy.
Due to inflation, the cost of living is rising and it’s causing the chasm between the rich and the poor to widen. Prime Minister Trudeau promised to grow “the middle class,” but in reality, his policies are making it more and more difficult for Canadians to make ends meet, let alone make financial gains.
A recent poll found the number one concern for 78 per cent of Canadians is the rising cost of living.
Those who are hurt the most by the government’s decision to spend money it doesn’t have, are Canadians who live paycheque to paycheque.
Food banks are finding it difficult to keep up with the level of need they’re seeing. One of the biggest changes over the last year has been the rise in use by those who are employed and normally able to get by.
The prime minister says he doesn’t think much about monetary policy. It shows.
He handed himself a blank check in spring 2020 and has been printing and spending money ever since.
The level of debt amassed by Mr. Trudeau not only surpasses that of any one prime minister in our nation’s history, but actually exceeds all previous prime ministers combined!
Instead of reining in spending and living within their means, the Liberals have been printing money non-stop to pay their bills.
Mr. Trudeau has handed out exorbitant amounts of money in the name of “emergency income,” but the books show the personal disposable income of Canadians has actually increased during the pandemic. Earned income has dropped significantly, but enormous government handouts have more than covered the loss.
As a result, there is tons of extra money flooding the economy, but the same or fewer number of goods.
The outcome is higher prices because an endless supply of printed money combined with limited goods drives up their price tag. The sad thing is, it’s the wealthy that benefit when prices increase, because it adds to their profit line.
Meanwhile, low-income wage earners must make their dollars stretch further to pay for the increased cost of groceries, clothes, and gas.
All the while the government is bloating in size not only by spending all this extra money, but by raking it back through taxes.
Once government supports are factored in, Canadians are bringing home more money than before the pandemic.
However, because the cost of living is growing astronomically, your money doesn’t stretch as far as your smaller paycheque once did.
One dollar used to be worth one dollar. Now, due to Mr. Trudeau’s decision to print money, your dollar is only worth 95 cents.
If the government were to increase taxes by five percent, there would be massive outrage.
But the government isn’t imposing a five per cent tax. It simply comes with a new name: inflation. Hence, the term “inflation tax” is often used to describe what’s happening.
A single mom on a $45,000 salary is finding it more difficult to fill up her pantry and buy clothes for her kids.
Seniors on a fixed income have the burden of making their dollars cover the increasing cost of necessities. Those who live with a disability are having to spend more of their small stipend on groceries and shelter.
It didn’t have to be this way.
As Conservative Finance Critic, Pierre Poilievre, has pointed out, “countries that are not printing money to pay their bills have maintained a low cost of living and an affordable life for their citizens, and those countries that are flooding their economies with cheap cash are driving up the cost of living for their people.”
Reining in fiscal spending would necessitate limited government. This, of course, is a horrible restraint for any political party that only attains or maintains power when people are reliant on government programs and handouts.
The government is choosing to be fiscally irresponsible for the sake of political advantage and it’s putting our economic future in jeopardy.
In this cunning sleight of hand, Mr. Trudeau presents himself as Canadians’ caretaker.
In doing so, he is stealing money from the next generation to stuff the pockets of Canadians today. Meanwhile, our savings are depreciating in value.
So, what’s the solution?
To start, the government needs to stop printing money — now!