Interest rates

Tuesday January 24, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday January 24, 2023

Liberal Cabinet Retreat

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made his first stop in Hamilton Monday a chance to grab lunch to go with MP Filomena Tassi at The Burnt Tongue on Locke Street.

October 28, 2022

The prime minister and his cabinet are staying in town this week from Jan. 23 to 25 for their post-holiday retreat.

After ordering a cheeseburger and broccoli cheddar soup, Trudeau took a moment to shake hands with the lunch crowd and pose for some photos.

Leaving the restaurant, he posed for a photo with Ashley Acacio and her three-week-old son Mac in his stroller, even correcting the position of a staffer taking a photo for the pair.

On the way to his vehicle, Trudeau hopped on an HSR bus that stopped to greet riders.

Meanwhile, about 200 demonstrators gathered downtown Monday to protest the retreat, calling for migrant rights. They were joined by anti-war demonstrators and about 25 anti-Trudeau and anti-vaccine mandate protesters.

The protesters marched along Main Street, across Summers Lane and blocked King Street in front of the Sheraton Hamilton Hotel for around 20 minutes.

Trudeau’s itinerary said he is expected to attend the retreat, which will focus on affordability and the economy, at 5:30 p.m. Monday. (Toronto Star) 

December 9, 2022

Meanwhile, it’s at the grocery store. It’s at the gas pumps. It’s at your favourite restaurant.

Nearly everywhere Canadians have gone in the past year, every bill might as well have had an extra charge tacked on to the bottom reading simply: inflation.

A shorthand for what’s essentially the rising cost of living, inflation swept across the globe in 2022 and Canada was not immune from its sting.

Canadians eager to travel in June after years of COVID-19 restrictions were met by a 49.7 per cent year-over-year hike in the cost of accommodations. The rest of that summer saw the average price for regular gasoline soar past $2 per litre in many parts of the country. And in October, Canadians were paying 44.8 per cent more for pasta from the grocery store than the same month a year earlier.

April 25, 2014

Poll after poll showed how stretched Canadian dollars had become amid 40-year highs in inflation, with many forced to make impossible decisions about how to feed their families, pay for medications and keep a roof over their heads.

More than a third (36 per cent) of Canadians say their financial situations are very bad or somewhat bad heading into 2023, according to Ipsos Public Affairs polling conducted exclusively for Global News between Dec. 14 and 16. (Global News) 

In the swearing-in of cabinet following the 2021 federal election, the dropping of the awkwardly named Minister of Middle-Class Prosperity, held by Mona Fortier, signalled the short termed portfolio (2019-2021) was an ill conceived addition to the executive team under Prime Minister Trudeau.

Friday December 9, 2022

December 9, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 9, 2022

Inflation is changing how Canadians do Christmas

A new poll by the Angus Reid Institute says more than half of Canadians – 56 per cent – say they will be spending less on Christmas, including presents and entertaining.

September 29, 2022

“When you look at the Atlantic Canadian data, among the highest numbers in the country in Nova Scotia, 57 per cent, say they’re worse off now,” said Dave Korzinski, the research director with Angus Reid Institute.

“In Newfoundland and Labrador, 54 per cent, in New Brunswick 53 per cent, all of those are higher than the national average of 50 per cent,” Korzinski said.

This is the first time the non-profit’s data has shown that more than 50 per cent of Canadians say they are financially worse off this year than this time last year.

“Seeing food banks across the country who are dealing with essentially budgets that are smaller and demand that is larger, which is a really tough recipe when you’re trying to keep your programs going,” Korzinski said.

“When it’s more expensive for your household, imagine buying it for 1,400 households,” said Alex Boyd,  the executive director Greener Village Food Bank in Fredericton.

May 10, 2022

“So, that’s what we do with milk and eggs, those are very seldom donated items,” Boyd said.

Charitable giving is also already down this holiday season, according to the poll.

“To see 37 per cent of Canadians say they’re cutting back on donations, including more than two-in-five who are older, who are 55+ who tend to be the most generous and the most consistent givers, has been really challenging for a lot of charities,” Korzinski said.

“It’s always a concern that we watch for, especially being an organization that relies heavily on November and December giving to make up for the leaner months earlier in the year,” Boyd said.

Eighty-seven per cent of Canadians say they have cut back on spending in some way recently – up from 80 per cent in August. (CTV) 

 

Thursday September 8, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 8, 2022

Justin Trudeau’s hands-off approach to inflation is becoming untenable

May 10, 2022

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces growing pressure to help Canadian households offset surging inflation as he meets with his cabinet in Vancouver this week to set his government’s fall agenda.

Unlike many of his global peers, Trudeau has avoided taking new measures recently to ease the burden of rising prices, even with inflation at its highest level since the early 1980s.

That may reflect a growing political sensitivity to criticism his government overspent during the pandemic, leaving the country with less fiscal room to tackle big future challenges like climate change. But there is also a wariness that doling out money to ease price pain may only wind up stoking more inflation.

Staying on the sidelines, however, has become increasingly difficult.

April 1, 2022

Trudeau is riding low in opinion polls after nearly seven years in power. And the likely election next month of Pierre Poilievre as new leader of the Conservative Party will add more urgency to the inflation debate. Poilievre has focused relentlessly on the cost of living during his leadership campaign, using the label “Justinflation” as he pins the blame on Trudeau.

Canada’s economy is doing better than most, thanks to high prices for commodities, its abundance of energy and strong population growth. Worker shortages are widespread. That means the nation would probably struggle more than peers to absorb more government spending that adds to demand.

From a short-term fiscal perspective, the government can use revenue windfalls to pay for any new measures it wants to take. The most likely scenario is something along the margins, targeted to those who need it most and in line with the Trudeau government’s net-zero commitments — so no blanket rebates for drivers filling up their cars with gasoline.

So far this year, the government has been pulling in billions more than anticipated.

June 17, 2022

National income — the best indicator for revenue — is on track to come in nearly $100 billion (US$77 billion) higher in 2022 than Freeland forecast in her April budget. That could mean as much as $15 billion in additional revenue.

For the first three months of the current fiscal year — April through June — the federal government ran a surplus, a surprise start given the $53 billion deficit projected for the year. The preliminary deficit for the fiscal year that ended March 31 was below $100 billion, versus $114 billion forecast earlier this year.

But it would be wrong to project those trends forward. (Financial Post) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

 

Thursday March 1, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 1, 2018

Canada budget holds fire amid NAFTA clouds, focuses on women

Canada’s Liberal government tackled long-term growth challenges on Tuesday in a budget aimed at boosting women in the workforce and diversifying trade, while keeping its fiscal powder dry in case of an economic shock like the demise of NAFTA.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s third budget outlined slight deficit improvements without much in the way of new spending, refusing to blink in the face of U.S. corporate tax cuts and trade uncertainty that strike fear into Canadian companies. 

“We will be vigilant in making sure Canada remains the best place to invest, create jobs and do business – and we will do this in a responsible and careful way, letting evidence, and not emotion, guide our decisions,” Morneau said in a prepared budget speech. 

The budget blueprint, which is bound to be implemented given the Liberal’s parliamentary majority, maintained a C$3 billion ($2.4 billion) fiscal cushion each year to guard against any unexpected event that could hurt the government books. 

Even with the cushion, the projected deficit in 2018-2019 declined to C$18.1 billion from C$18.6 billion forecast in October, a restrained target unlikely to have any impact on financial markets or the Bank of Canada’s rate tightening path.

The loss of NAFTA would sideswipe Canada, which sends 75 percent of exports to the United States, and the decision not to slash corporate tax rates in response to the U.S. move puts Canadian companies at a disadvantage.

The unspoken bet is that Canadian exports will benefit from a roaring U.S. economy, even if business investment is lured away by the U.S. tax cuts. Canadian growth is already leading G7 rivals, spurring three rate hikes by the Bank of Canada since July, and the unemployment rate is near a 40-year low.

The budget did not address concerns that voters could come under pressure as rising rates increase the burden of record household debt, which the central bank has flagged as a risk.

Opposition Conservative leader Andrew Scheer blasted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals for maintaining budget deficits far into the future and adding to the national debt.(Source: Reuters) 

 

Thursday January 18, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January 18, 2018

Bank of Canada raises key interest rate to 1.25% despite NAFTA worries

The Bank of Canada raised its key lending rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.25 per cent Wednesday, the third time it has moved its benchmark rate from once-record lows last summer.

The bank’s rate has an impact on rates that Canadians get from retail banks for things like mortgages, savings accounts and GICs. The move means borrowers can expect to pay more, but savers can expect to earn more, too.

After the central bank moved in the morning, the Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank each hiked their prime lending rates by the same amount, 25 points, in the afternoon. The new rates of 3.45 per cent will be in effect as of Thursday, Jan. 18. Canada’s other big banks are expected to follow suit.

The Bank of Canada was widely expected to raise its key rate after economic data in recent months showed gross domestic product growing, the job market healthy and the cost of living ticking higher.

The bank’s benchmark rate is now at its highest level since 2009.

In the MPR, the bank nudged up its expectations for how the economy will perform this year and next. The bank now expects Canada’s economy to expand by 2.2 per cent this year and 1.6 per cent in 2019. Previously the bank was anticipating 2.1 and 1.5 per cent growth. 

But while broadly positive about the economy’s prospects, the bank cited “uncertainty about the future of NAFTA” as a reason for concern moving forward. (Source: CBC)