Free contraception expands
Lottery win lands in court
Police not being called in
Watching for meddling
$300K taken in fraud case
Hoping for clarification
Biden touts the economy
Prosecutor pushed back
'Year of the Family'
Lumber markets 'spooked'
MEC goes up for sale
Airline pulls out of Canada
Warriors streak reaches 3
Vipers affected by changes
Rockets fall to Giants
Swift gave $100K bonuses
Another Diddy lawsuit
Underwood at Trump event
The (recent) inflation numbers delivered by (federal Finance Minister) Chrystia Freeland in no way, shape or form represent the actual inflation Canadians are experiencing.
Inflation is calculated using what’s called the consumer basket of goods. (That “basket”) is comprised of things Canadians consume regularly, such as rent, groceries and energy and can give a reasonable picture of inflation levels if used properly.
What’s actually happening is the weights assigned to each category are being manipulated to paint the inflationary picture the government wants to present.
For example, rent accounts for 7.03% of the basket of goods, despite the fact Canadians spend 30% to 50% of their income on rent. Keep in mind, rent has increased 9% this year alone.
Goods account for about 17%, which I think is reasonably accurate surprisingly enough, and food has increased 2.9% year over year. When you start to add up these inflationary forces and the actual weight they have on the Canadian chequebook, it paints a much different picture. In my estimation, Canadians are experiencing about 5% to 7% inflation.
Statistics Canada states energy accounted for 33% of inflation experienced since 2021. Keep that in mind when (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau raises those carbon taxes.
Matt Irnie, Kelowna
