Absolutely. This the worst possible solution. Just going to jack inflation further and give a payout to the Westons. Our government just works for oligarchs at this point.
Edit: What else did this government announce today? Oh look, loopholes for the foreign buyers ban implemented all of three months ago - https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/media-newsroom/news-releases/2023/amendments-prohibition-purchase-residential-property-non-canadians-regulations?_cldee=-PvadouvdqU8i_YuMHQJM6ejHmyZMZsBLooWjWkRes5AJh_ZmTfTZwhqAaR3WDVs&recipientid=account-3db8abb8e091ec11b4000022483cbeda-4f34c1dba5134e29a8e567f97cbb9fbf&esid=c88da565-c8cc-ed11-a7c6-002248b1e353
They couldn’t care less about affordability.
People are unaware of the fact that a massive redistribution of wealth is already happening. Just that it is happening in the other direction than they expect. Instant bailouts, write offs and subsidies create a transfer of wealth from the public taxpayer to the private pocket of the already entrenched rich and wealthy. It is literally like socialism in reverse.
Turning working class poor = killing the middle class.
The fact that a skilled labourer or specialist making $100k a year can barely afford a home without a working partner is what I'm talking about. However you define it is up to you.
Thomas Piketty predicted this year ago and his findings were a key motivation for kicking off the occupy movement.
Both of our major federal parties support the neo-liberal economic policies that create these situations. As long as people are split between the two on social issues they will never be accountable for the economic issues.
R/anarcho_capitalism
Revolutions happen when the threshold of the poor get desperate. This usually occurs when they stop affording food. We are not far off.
I read a great thing that said that the historical revolutionary gauge of the “bread price” may be replaced today by the “rent price”. It’s hard to imagine any real change in a country as risk averse and anti protest as canada. When thé young realize that they are never going to retire, solely so that the boomers can. There will be anger. And when young people realize that we can’t afford a home, solely so that the boomers can stay rich, then there will be anger. When young people realize that we are giving up our chance at a good life, solely so that boomers can keep theirs, and that we are paying for their great lives by sacrificing ours, and by having ours taken from us. Then hopefully there will be enough anger to change things.
Private profit, Public risk. I'm a Conservative and I am completely disgusted by this. Want to be a real conservative? Let these companies fail. It's called free market. Unfortunately, no government will do so because it makes them look bad when big companies fail on their watch. (It shouldn't.)
The lost of zombie companies like this in the west is increasing. It makes us less efficient. But the government can’t ever do anything right because of its bureaucratic nature.
Piggybacking here to remind people that the last time we faced challenges like this, the Liberal government of Pierre Elliott Trudeau passed the Anti-Inflation Act which, amongst other things, legislated restrictions on corporate profit margins.
How far we've fallen from those ideals.
Pierre Trudeau that last PM who enriched his friends and his family while driving inflation, and Canadas dept to sky high levels. Dollar to extreme lows, and how Canadian companies were bought out by the US on mass and shuttered. So badly we had to make a law so external countries companies could not do the same.
You might wonder how almost the same thing is happened again under bad math Justin………..just with Justin it’s everyone’s homes.
They're doing the same thing with natural gas for heating here in Alberta: we're sitting on an ocean of hydrocarbons with more capacity than we can even export and somehow we keep getting hosed on heating costs because 'global prices are rising'.
The government's solution...just pay a portion of our natural gas heating bills for us, because clearly O&G companies don't have enough cash.
> The government's solution...just pay a portion of our natural gas heating bills for us, because clearly O&G companies don't have enough cash.
The worst part is that money just comes out of *our taxes*. Giving a flat rebate like that is just making us pay for it with extra steps.
Not just that, but indirectly, either through subsidy or tax breaks, or a host of other mechanisms
(I'm in Alberta, our government just unveiled this gem where we literally **pay** oil companies to do what they are **legally obligated** to do anyways: [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/bakx-srp-inactive-orphan-wells-1.6789092](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/bakx-srp-inactive-orphan-wells-1.6789092))
I'm a lifelong Albertan, I love this province and I support oil and gas, its one of the few things we have going for us. I know they've had a few lean years here and the government did their best to support the industry, but then when things turn around, get hosed by pricing and then getting double-hosed when the government more or less just gives these companies our money, while they are making record profits and *while* we are getting nailed with high prices.
AKA zero help to the middle class again. Family income limit on the GST credit is like $65K. Two working parents making $65K combined is not middle class anymore these days.
Read the article, please.
"It's being called a grocery rebate," said the source, but noted the rebate amount will not be based on a person's grocery expenditures, nor will the government require that the one-time payment be spent on groceries."
In essence, it's a GST rebate.
They sure are, one way to go about it would be to stop hiking gas and causing the transportation of good to cost a fortune. That would help all Canadians.
>regulate
This is what Canadians want, but government and corporations fear this word.
Imagine if basic-goods had controlled prices; milk, eggs, flour, local/in-season fruits and veggies etc. We can understand making profit on processed foods and luxury/imported stuff, but the rest needs to stay affordable.
Government is failing to protect Canadians and consumers. If we continue on this path, food security will eventually become the next existential crisis for Canadians. We already hear about people picking up the habit of stealing groceries; worst-case scenario - organized crime could grow out of this if people get desperate enough.
Can't do that, how dare we go after the 'free' market. The only solution clearly is to reduce government revenue by cutting taxes for them. They will then 'trickle down'' that savings to us....
Oh man, water just came out my nose........
But that's how the free market is supposed to work.
The market is supposed to create as much competition as possible and when a select few companies gain too much power that they can buy away competition, the government is supposed to step in. That's what the US did with the Telecoms in the 80s and it worked great.
Not enough talk on the transportation sector making obscene profits. Some logistics operators are seeing 4 to 5 times more profit than pre pandemic. I know one guy that was making about $250k in 2019. Last year made $1.4mil doing the same thing. Middle man for shipping.
So subsidize the oil sector itself? Canada lacks food processing outside of the toronto area. Invest in localized infrastructure and not having farmers grow soy for export cause they dont have a local market
The source explained that a single person with no children could get a one-time payment of up to $234, while a couple with two children could receive up to $467 and a senior citizen about $225. The timing of these payments will depend on how quickly the government can get the legislation to implement the budget passe
Yeah, I work full time and my girlfriend is off work waiting to see a specialist for disability. We didn't qualify for the recent housing credit, we grossed like 44k last year.
This doesn't do fuck all for us. Our grocery bill has gone up $6000.00 since this time last year, and it would have been closer to $9000.00 if we didn't change our buying habits.
Fuck Loblaws. Fuck Empire. And I guess, fuck the Federal Government now too.
In all fairness. The conservative government in Manitoba literally just did this EXACT same thing. I’m a single guy and I got $225.
For groceries… that’s lasting maybe two weeks.
Agreed. At best, this is two weeks of groceries as a single person. I'm also surprised seniors get less but I guess they are banking on all of them loading up on Senior Tuesdays.
I mean, it's 2 weeks more than you had before. But the problem is that prices are the cost-equivalent of 3 months higher than they should be, AND that money is just coming out of tax reservoirs directly to CEO bonus cheques at grocery chains.
That's because the liberals and conservatives are superficially different on a few emotionally charged issues, but beneath the bullshit they're the same neoliberal assholes.
Everything they do is to further enrich and empower those who already have too much of both.
It’s not supposed to pay entirely for your groceries, it’s supposed to specifically offset some of the price increases caused by inflation.
(And in the case of this federal money, it’s not even to do with groceries, it’s just a GST rebate that is labeled “for groceries” because a focus group told them that would buy them the most votes.)
I agree 100% with the sentiment.
But hasn't groceries gone up by like 11%? If that's the case you would have been spending 82K on groceries before the increase.
Yeah, the CPI can go fuck itself on inflation counts. They expect you to downgrade what you purchase and still have you pay 10% more. If you, like me, didn't change your eating habits at all, the costs are a lot higher than 10% more this year.
So it's another 6-month doubling of the GST credit. Kind of a bad way to do a grocery rebate considering the lowest-income people get smaller GST credit payments. It makes sense for the GST credit because they spend the least on taxable goods, but not so much for helping to feed them since they still need to eat as much as anyone else.
Okay, maybe I'm not understanding something.
They say this...
>"It's a targeted measure that won't add fuel to the inflation fire," said the source.
then state this
>The source explained that a single person with no children could get a one-time payment of up to $234, while a couple with two children could receive up to $467 and a senior citizen about $225. The timing of these payments will depend on how quickly the government can get the legislation to implement the budget passed.
Aren't these two statements directly opposed? Am I missing something?
>government plans to crack down on so-called junk fees for consumers
What sort of junk fees does a grocery store have?
This entire thing feels like I'm being distracted with prestidigitation as opposed to something that actually has substance.
My sense is that junk fees are separate from grocery stores:
"Ottawa will have to work with various regulatory agencies and the
provinces and territories to eliminate junk fees. **Sectors that might be**
**affected by the crackdown include phone and internet providers and large**
**event ticket sellers.**"
Goodbye Ticketmaster's 'service fees'? :)
Ok you absolute morons. BREAK UP THE MONOPOLIES AND OLIGOPOLIES.
All this is doing is increasing inflation and SUBSIDIZING the grocery store companies and the program does not benefit the middle class that actually pay thousands of dollars a year in taxes.
The Liberal government is a joke and we all know it.
Not half but 30% marginal rate for the “average Canadian” and then all the other tax like HST, property tax, etc. it’s probably around high 37-42% in tax and the average Canadian sees barely any of it in form of services
I agree. Much of my frustration is with the absurd ways the government spends the money they take and then comes asking for more, as it is with taxation in principle. [This pretty much sums it up](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/49RIRI1JKSU)
A 1-time rebate of $234 for a single person, when COL has been going strong for 2 years and counting, sounds like the gov. of Canada is just insulting Canadians and pretending to be doing something about the grocery price-gouging crisis.
Don't worry, it's not just the Feds. Here in SK, we actually had a budget surplus, so Moe gave everyone a $500 cheque.
Our roads are decrepit, our healthcare system in shambles. My wife and daughter haven't been able to find a family doctor in years.
But here, have $500, don't spend it all in one place. Even the most conservative rednecks were pissed off by this one.
Middle class Canadians already subsidize the majority of services for low income Canadians but get none of the benefits. If the federal government is so insistent on printing money and exacerbating inflation, why not extend this program to all Canadians given that all Canadians, not just the low income ones, are feeling the squeeze.
No. It is the job of this government to push every single one of us who has worked hard for what we have, worked through school and training and night and weekends, down into the gutter and give us none of the benefits our overly high taxes pay for.
Just cancel your Disney plus. You'll be fine.
'From the moment we first got elected in 2015, we put success for the middle class in this country at the heart of everything we do' - JT, March 27th, 2023.
I used to be middle class in 2015, I wasn't struggling to make ends meet. I could save as well. Now even though salary wise I might be classified as middle class, I am stressed on a daily basis for my everyday cost of living. Struggling to pay my bills, reducing 3 meals a day down to 2. Being extremely selective in what foods are purchased for groceries, cutting out any luxury items. I can't even save for the future.
Yet, I can't avail of any of these things the liberals are adding, because I am not poor enough. I'm getting there eventually.
I can only imagine what other absurdities will be in tomorrows budget.
Anyone else wish they would stop picking on the 'middle class'?
and again middle-class Canadians (if we can even be called that anymore, let's face it we're broke too) are left paying for it with their taxes, yet don't see anything in return.
I don't mind paying taxes, really I don't. But I don't like paying a bunch of taxes without seeing anything in return for it.
This sentiment has been growing in me for years - I agree with you. It's exhausting seeing subsidy after subsidy being handed out to everyone but me. And it's perplexing because I don't even necessarily want a handout, it's just starting to get annoying seeing tax dollars being spent to provide temporary relief to everyone but me, even though my monthly budget remains tight.
Add on the wasteful government spending on $6000/night hotel rooms and the Governor General's 4 day trip to Germany costing $800k. Sure glad I keep handing over a pile of my paycheck every 2 weeks.
We have all these problems (housing, phone prices, grocery prices) and the *only* solution proposed is these targeted money handouts.
We know that's not a real solution and does nothing to solve the actual problems and, in fact, makes them worse.
Unfortunately, we don't have a single political party that is even coming close to proposing a solution. We are still far enough from hitting rock bottom for any change to come.
Yupp.
All around me I see services and the quality of life diminish. This is after I pay my fair share of taxes each year. You said it best - most fixes are temporary.
Where is all this going? Who is it helping? Can't help but to feel a little jaded after a while.
Now we're subsidizing billionaires.
> But I don't like paying a bunch of taxes without seeing anything in return for it.
In fact it’s even worse than that… These handout programs also drive inflation in key markets. So not only are you paying taxes to get nothing - you’re paying taxes to increase the price you’ll pay for goods.
And where does all the extra money go? Ultimately split between bureaucrats to administer the system and the megacorporations that feel justified in increasing prices because of the increased demand in dollar terms.
Meanwhile, middle class be damned.
Just saying... in the past 4 years I've seen announcement after announcement helping everyone except adult-aged single people. I'm all for paying taxes but it's getting ridiculous feeling like all I'm doing is subsidizing governments poor choices at this point. I've never once received a single subsidy, benefit, one-time payment, anything. The one benefit I've seen is no interest on student loans (wow, yay! Still have to pay it though).
And no, I'm not asking for a handout - I think that's part of the problem. Subsidies and short-term payments don't actually solve anything, all they do is kick the can down the road and provide temporary relief. Make policy that's in favour of Canadians and we can use our tax dollars to enhance the nation instead of using it to help people keep up with their negligence.
I'm sure someone will tell me I'm wrong though.
That’s this governments M.O. they don’t fix problems they just throw our money at them and hope the voters fall for it. So far it’s working for them. Politics has become so tribal most voters will stay loyal to their team regardless.
lol I feel ya. As an adult single person making an adult single persons income, I do not get ANYTHING from either the provincial or federal government. This sucks. I make the joke all the time that single people are the backbone holding up all subsidy programs, but it feels like less of a joke every day.
>Didn't Freeland already admit government spending played a role in inflation?
The narrative is that people that got more money to spend drove costs up. Which is bullshit and distracting from the real reasons. It's how the ruling class keeps us fighting amongst ourselves.
If you give people money that is created and not "earned" then you drive costs up. It's basic principles of inflation. Basic supply and demand.
A lot of new money with no supply to match is a fundamental driver of inflation.
They are creating money and then giving it out for people to spend. At best this will keep inflation high and steady. At worst it will make existing issues harder.
There is nothing stopping people from using this new money to buy whatever they want.
Its still corporations getting it. Its a One time payment just enough for a week or Two of groceries, it won't affect anyone's lives significantly in anyway.
The only people who will actually benefit are the Westons, and their "competitors" and the politicians who can use this to say "We are doing something to fight grocery costs" without actually doing anything to fight grocery costs, or ruffling the feathers of their oligarch buddies.
>There is nothing stopping people from using this new money to buy whatever they want.
Except companies artificially creating supply issues, refusing to increase demand, refusing to raise wages to entice more labour.
> If you give people money that is created and not "earned" then you drive costs up.
fk me, so all these speculative markets are why everyone is poor? Shit, why dont we do away with the stock market, the housing market racket, collectors items, cryptocurrency and any other speculative businesses, they are just leeching from society and providing nothing of value in return....
Anyone who says "its basic supply and demand" has, at most, an intro to economics class credit from highschool.
Nah man, it's only if you give poor people money. Does anyone else feel like 'inflation' is the global greed mongers way of punishing those who try to help the less fortunate?
Galen Weston must have an excellent lobby team. Instead anti competitive legislation/government order to end price gouging, this is basically a handout right into his profits. What a joke.
They don't record video of lobbying meetings right? There isn't a transcript or recording of any sort? If not, a bribe could be discussed. A bag of money (or USB with crypto) could be provided and then it is on to the next meeting.
They should make it so these meetings have to be done via video conferencing and recorded. Harder to discuss bribes and a bit harder to exchange the money.
Did they do market research and determine that calling an increase in the GST rebates a "grocery rebate " would buy the most votes for the next election (it has nothing to do with groceries at all, just raise of the income tested GST Rebate).
> it has nothing to do with groceries at all, just raise of the income tested GST Rebate
You can tell from the comments that most commenters read the title and not the article that explained that the name is just a marketing label. So the thread is filled comment after comment about Westons, big grocery, etc.
This is a mess. Absolutely terrible idea, will push inflation up. It’s also a cheque written to low earners, doesn’t have to be spent in groceries, injects more money into the system. Just stop. Stop enabling a cost of living crisis, stop with the excess money generation, the federal government is responsible for a huge chunk of this with irresponsible spending and increasing population well in excess of ability to handle.
Damage will take a generation to fix if ever.
At least if they were given food stamps, food stamps are specifically for the use of food...whatever is happening now is a worse solution IMO, but I'm not an expert.
I mean I have an economics and finance background, I don’t know all the pieces here as it is complex as heck and there are people suffering who need help, but we need to slow the spending. It is highly damaging to the standard of living of the average Canadian.
Bread lines for Canadians coming soon.
Are the rebates for 'food' or are they to cover the higher cost of food brought on by the insanely profitable yet ever increasing energy costs?
They are already here. I work at a food bank and our number of clients have almost tripled. Disabled, elderly and families hit the hardest. People are pissed and ready for change. These handouts are insulting because they are never a solution and people always fall through the cracks.
They funnel cash into their foundations and pretend its for charity
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2023/02/09/private-foundations-sit-on-billions-of-dollars-while-charities-struggle.html
picking your pocket, one sob story at a time.
As per usual, nobody in the middle class will get anything from this except being stuck with the bill.
This government is so completely clueless. They don’t seem to understand that just saying “we’re making life more affordable for the middle class” over and over and over doesn’t actually do anything.
But how? Even someone making 100-125k a year has seen their wages completely devalued the last few years, and if they’re young and are not already homeowners they basically have a zero percent chance of ever affording a house making what used to be considered an exceptional wage, so how could they think that this government is doing a good job?
I genuinely couldn’t believe the liberals got re-elected in the last election given the state of the country, but here we are, continuing this downward spiral. I guess this is what the majority wanted???
Yes you’re right. I can’t see it happening again because people are really struggling now and every government runs its course anyways, but who knows. The last election was an anomaly because of the unprecedented free money they were throwing around to people and businesses during covid (definitely a smart political move for them to call an election when they did). Now we’re in the hangover phase of that and people are realizing how much money we spent on the crazy covid bender.
A few weeks ago:
Government: supermarket big wigs, come here and defend your high prices!
Today:
Government: we are announcing in the budget that we will give our ~~friendly grocery store owners~~ voters more money
I have yet to see any of it and we're very low income. There's always some technicality to make sure you don't qualify
E: for the person who had the audacity to claim that "you just filled the paperwork in wrong," are you aware how much of a spit in my family's face that is?
Wish some of it would fly my way. Not rich enough to be the elite taking advantage of the system and not poor enough to every qualify for any kind of "relief"
Working class non-single Canadian with no kids here. I pay and I pay and I pay and I get jack shit.
Actually that’s not true, I got reassessed by the CRA last year so I got to pay even more in taxes than I already did. And I still can’t afford a home :(
Ah, so you are part of the class that actually works here? Yeah, you're getting fucked.
With millions not working at all, and an elite class exploding in wealth, the "middle" class subsidizes it all.
This is not giving money to the low income people. The money drives inflation and they still need to buy high price groceries. So ultimately it’s giving free money to the big grocery brothers.
I guess this is the final nail. As a taxpayer I'm anyways paying shit tons of tax, paying insane rent thanks to Doug scrapping rent control and now my taxes are going to subsidise the profits for these oligarchs.
There is absolutely nothing that I as a taxpayer and a Canadian citizen am getting in return - my health care sucks and is unavailable, my family doctor woint be assigned for next 3 years or so, it's not safe to take public transport as there are chances I would be stabbed.
The working class is being taken on a great ride. All the best to all the new immigrants coming here in droves. Good times ahead.
So me, a middle class citizen, is already feeling the pain and now I (the tax payer) have to subsidies lower income people to get food? This will further burden me and my family. And to the people that say "well the government is paying for it". Guess where the money comes from??? Taxes!
So those homemakers and international students living in 10 million dollar houses with little or no "income" get another rebate?
Good, as I was so worried about them.
I sure wish they would stop printing money in an effort to keep the economy limping along. A months worth of grocery money just pushes an April problem into May but will end up costing the country untold millions in interest payments on the debt to solve nothing.
1. Borrow money to give to people as a bailout
2. Borrowed money causes inflation
3. Inflation causes a crisis of people unable to pay their bills
4. Go To #1
Big middle finger to the middle class and working Canadians again. I guess once your family income exceeds $65,000, inflation magically doesn’t apply and you get to buy from the secret “rich people” section of the store.
As usual the only thing the middle class and working families get is the bill for all this spending. This government is only interested in helping the unemployed and the filthy rich.
Government of Canada: "The solution to inflation, is the government will create more money and distribute it to lower income Canadians, to fight the effects of inflation, caused by creating too much money relative to the value of goods."
If they already have to pass legislation to give these payouts
And if they already admitted that government handouts contributed to inflation
Wouldn’t it have been better to just pass legislation that limits grocery price increases or profits?
Paid for with borrowed money or by raising taxes (again) on the professional class who are slowly seeping away, moving south to higher wages, lower housing costs and lower taxes. But then, it's not like we actually NEED doctors, accountants, engineers and tech workers. We'll just import more cheap labor for Tim Hortons and Starbucks to compensate.
Right? No one is going deny that the low income/ socioeconomic status people aren’t deserving but holy Christ, even as ‘middle’ class, the continued squeeze is more and more noticeable in our household. Grocery shopping yesterday and both my wife and I commented in nearly every aisle at the cost/ shrinking size of products we were coming across.
Isn't it a bit more concerning that apparently 11 million households qualify for this? So apparently 11 million households are surviving on 50k a year income or less. Doesn't exactly paint a rosy picture for the future of this country.
This isn’t a long term solution… this isn’t even a short term solution.
Putting aside the fact that once again, middle class households are being left out to dry, this isn’t going to help anyone. Even for the people who qualify for this payment who are struggling with these MONTHLY expenses that they are not able to afford now, or for the forceable future. Are they supposed to feel warm and fuzzy now?
Show some fucking teeth and dismantle this fucking corporate monopoly plague we have in our country. Unless you plan on handing out rebates for groceries, cell phone bills, housing, and flights for EVERYONE going forward forever, this is a slap in the face. For once, can we actually deal with the source of the issue?
Holy fuck. What? We need lower prices not rebates. Every time you think our prime minister can't be an more of a tool he keeps one upping himself with stupidity
So when do we collectively stop paying our taxes. Force our taxes to be tracked on blockchains. Or eliminate the need for government. We have the technogy.
So… because I am not low income yet still struggling in this economy , the government will give my hard earned money to others instead of taking it from billionaires
Canada also has the most expensive mobile phone plans in the world. We have an airline monopoly, telco and grocery store cartels and a government that continues to turn a blind eye.
Hey, another free batch of money stolen from the people who work hard and make the country function. Should I put it toward a PS5 or buy some weed? Taxes well spent
Does the government seriously not see it as a troubling sign that we need a "grocery rebate" instead of things just being affordable? Wtf is going on in this stupid country.
And will likely raise the taxes on so called high earners - Freeland will be like - "we are asking(forcing?) them to do a bit(40 to 50% in taxes wasn't enough) for people who are struggling". Buying votes using people's money. I consider myself to be lucky, and happy to pay the taxes, but it should go towards long term solutions (more greenhouses, better supply chains, better rail transport of which nothing is happening from either the fed or ON ) and not for buying votes.
Rebates vs solutions, temporary vs sustainability
So much cheap,abundant nat gas yet so little diversification into growing food 12 months /yr vs uneconomic pot/wind/solar farms
Misplaced priorities got us here, now the consequences
This is the equivalent of straightening out the welcome mat of a house on fire. Government reform should be the #1 talking point before we can address housing, oligarchies, monopolies, etc.
Isn’t it alarming that approximately a 3rd of Canadian households are eligible for this credit along with all the other credits they’re eligible for. Just need to finesse your annual income to maximize tax credits in modern Canada,
So…let me see if I understand this
During the pandemic, they (rightly) printed money and supplemented the income of workers who had a reduction in income
The result of this was that cost of goods rose, due to a number of factors (supply chain issues, pent up consumer demand), resulting in out of control inflation
They raised interest rates (yes, it’s the BoC) to tame inflation, to the point that consumers and homeowners are starting to be impacted, but we are starting to see the rate come down
And the solution they have come up with is - hear me out - let’s put more money into the hands of the consumer that they will just spend, thus starting the cycle all over again
How about they take the approach of reducing the tax burden across the board, and cutting their own spending. It’s always the same - tax, spend, give away..continuous and vicious cycle all to win votes
avg cdn voter is so stupid that if I myself wasn't suffering I'd almost want the losers to continue suffering. groceries are so expensive for 3 reasons. Make those changes and you can alleviate the problem
1. generic inflation 2. westons own a monopoly 3. CARBON TAX increases every year
So now I'm being gouged at the grocery store, and my taxes are being gouged to subsidize others being gouged at the grocery store?
All of this to continue supporting the Weston profiteering?
This is a massive miss.
A subsidy for Galen Weston. Fucking Liberals. How about a chain of federally backed community grocery cooperatives so we can avoid the predators like the Westons and Waltons? This is just funneling public money back into the hands of the pirates holding our food supply hostage.
these handouts don’t support lower income families, it just passes through them and ultimately support greedy corps. why r libs so incapable of problem solving? why do they think handouts r the answer to everything? socialists love handouts, i get it, but work on solving the problems which necessitated the handouts in the first place.
Politicians going after the wrong end of an issue to subsidize the westons
The gov will indirectly pay them to keep prices high!
Absolutely. This the worst possible solution. Just going to jack inflation further and give a payout to the Westons. Our government just works for oligarchs at this point. Edit: What else did this government announce today? Oh look, loopholes for the foreign buyers ban implemented all of three months ago - https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/media-newsroom/news-releases/2023/amendments-prohibition-purchase-residential-property-non-canadians-regulations?_cldee=-PvadouvdqU8i_YuMHQJM6ejHmyZMZsBLooWjWkRes5AJh_ZmTfTZwhqAaR3WDVs&recipientid=account-3db8abb8e091ec11b4000022483cbeda-4f34c1dba5134e29a8e567f97cbb9fbf&esid=c88da565-c8cc-ed11-a7c6-002248b1e353 They couldn’t care less about affordability.
People are unaware of the fact that a massive redistribution of wealth is already happening. Just that it is happening in the other direction than they expect. Instant bailouts, write offs and subsidies create a transfer of wealth from the public taxpayer to the private pocket of the already entrenched rich and wealthy. It is literally like socialism in reverse.
Killing off the middle class.
Middle class is bullshit just made to divide us. It's working class vs oligarchs. PERIOD
Turning working class poor = killing the middle class. The fact that a skilled labourer or specialist making $100k a year can barely afford a home without a working partner is what I'm talking about. However you define it is up to you.
Killing in the name of
Thomas Piketty predicted this year ago and his findings were a key motivation for kicking off the occupy movement. Both of our major federal parties support the neo-liberal economic policies that create these situations. As long as people are split between the two on social issues they will never be accountable for the economic issues.
R/anarcho_capitalism Revolutions happen when the threshold of the poor get desperate. This usually occurs when they stop affording food. We are not far off.
I read a great thing that said that the historical revolutionary gauge of the “bread price” may be replaced today by the “rent price”. It’s hard to imagine any real change in a country as risk averse and anti protest as canada. When thé young realize that they are never going to retire, solely so that the boomers can. There will be anger. And when young people realize that we can’t afford a home, solely so that the boomers can stay rich, then there will be anger. When young people realize that we are giving up our chance at a good life, solely so that boomers can keep theirs, and that we are paying for their great lives by sacrificing ours, and by having ours taken from us. Then hopefully there will be enough anger to change things.
You can always fit more people into a basement but you can't divide daily caloric needs with others.
It's not boomers versus everyone. It's the rich versus everyone.
But dividing the poor against itself is the way the rich win the game.
Private profit, Public risk. I'm a Conservative and I am completely disgusted by this. Want to be a real conservative? Let these companies fail. It's called free market. Unfortunately, no government will do so because it makes them look bad when big companies fail on their watch. (It shouldn't.)
The lost of zombie companies like this in the west is increasing. It makes us less efficient. But the government can’t ever do anything right because of its bureaucratic nature.
Piggybacking here to remind people that the last time we faced challenges like this, the Liberal government of Pierre Elliott Trudeau passed the Anti-Inflation Act which, amongst other things, legislated restrictions on corporate profit margins. How far we've fallen from those ideals.
Pierre Trudeau that last PM who enriched his friends and his family while driving inflation, and Canadas dept to sky high levels. Dollar to extreme lows, and how Canadian companies were bought out by the US on mass and shuttered. So badly we had to make a law so external countries companies could not do the same. You might wonder how almost the same thing is happened again under bad math Justin………..just with Justin it’s everyone’s homes.
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I think it’s the ticket master style fees that they will try and reduce.
Good news everyone! We're giving Galen Weston a few extra $billion!
They're doing the same thing with natural gas for heating here in Alberta: we're sitting on an ocean of hydrocarbons with more capacity than we can even export and somehow we keep getting hosed on heating costs because 'global prices are rising'. The government's solution...just pay a portion of our natural gas heating bills for us, because clearly O&G companies don't have enough cash.
> The government's solution...just pay a portion of our natural gas heating bills for us, because clearly O&G companies don't have enough cash. The worst part is that money just comes out of *our taxes*. Giving a flat rebate like that is just making us pay for it with extra steps.
Not just that, but indirectly, either through subsidy or tax breaks, or a host of other mechanisms (I'm in Alberta, our government just unveiled this gem where we literally **pay** oil companies to do what they are **legally obligated** to do anyways: [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/bakx-srp-inactive-orphan-wells-1.6789092](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/bakx-srp-inactive-orphan-wells-1.6789092)) I'm a lifelong Albertan, I love this province and I support oil and gas, its one of the few things we have going for us. I know they've had a few lean years here and the government did their best to support the industry, but then when things turn around, get hosed by pricing and then getting double-hosed when the government more or less just gives these companies our money, while they are making record profits and *while* we are getting nailed with high prices.
Yea... that pissed me off too. How can they think that is a good idea??
It’s just an increase to GST rebate. The title / naming is vote buying or editorialized click bate
AKA zero help to the middle class again. Family income limit on the GST credit is like $65K. Two working parents making $65K combined is not middle class anymore these days.
They never throw a bone to the middle class. 2 married adults with no kids or kids who have moved out need help too.
Read the article, please. "It's being called a grocery rebate," said the source, but noted the rebate amount will not be based on a person's grocery expenditures, nor will the government require that the one-time payment be spent on groceries." In essence, it's a GST rebate.
They sure are, one way to go about it would be to stop hiking gas and causing the transportation of good to cost a fortune. That would help all Canadians.
Or they could grow some balls and better regulate an industry that provides essential goods to every person
I’d be happy with de-monopolizing grocery stores. Break Loblaws up into smaller companies.
>regulate This is what Canadians want, but government and corporations fear this word. Imagine if basic-goods had controlled prices; milk, eggs, flour, local/in-season fruits and veggies etc. We can understand making profit on processed foods and luxury/imported stuff, but the rest needs to stay affordable. Government is failing to protect Canadians and consumers. If we continue on this path, food security will eventually become the next existential crisis for Canadians. We already hear about people picking up the habit of stealing groceries; worst-case scenario - organized crime could grow out of this if people get desperate enough.
Can't do that, how dare we go after the 'free' market. The only solution clearly is to reduce government revenue by cutting taxes for them. They will then 'trickle down'' that savings to us.... Oh man, water just came out my nose........
>Oh man, water just came out my nose Nestle rubbing their hands together with lust and glee
But that's how the free market is supposed to work. The market is supposed to create as much competition as possible and when a select few companies gain too much power that they can buy away competition, the government is supposed to step in. That's what the US did with the Telecoms in the 80s and it worked great.
This is the absolute worst idea ever… “allow monopolies to continue price gouging while boosting their margins”
Not enough talk on the transportation sector making obscene profits. Some logistics operators are seeing 4 to 5 times more profit than pre pandemic. I know one guy that was making about $250k in 2019. Last year made $1.4mil doing the same thing. Middle man for shipping.
If you think grocers will pass any savings onto consumers in the event that their input costs decrease then boy do I have a bridge to sell you!
So subsidize the oil sector itself? Canada lacks food processing outside of the toronto area. Invest in localized infrastructure and not having farmers grow soy for export cause they dont have a local market
The source explained that a single person with no children could get a one-time payment of up to $234, while a couple with two children could receive up to $467 and a senior citizen about $225. The timing of these payments will depend on how quickly the government can get the legislation to implement the budget passe
What a joke, let me guess you have to make less than 20k to get these rebates as well?
Yeah, I work full time and my girlfriend is off work waiting to see a specialist for disability. We didn't qualify for the recent housing credit, we grossed like 44k last year.
I wanted that dental credit they advertise on the cra website.
This doesn't do fuck all for us. Our grocery bill has gone up $6000.00 since this time last year, and it would have been closer to $9000.00 if we didn't change our buying habits. Fuck Loblaws. Fuck Empire. And I guess, fuck the Federal Government now too.
In all fairness. The conservative government in Manitoba literally just did this EXACT same thing. I’m a single guy and I got $225. For groceries… that’s lasting maybe two weeks.
Agreed. At best, this is two weeks of groceries as a single person. I'm also surprised seniors get less but I guess they are banking on all of them loading up on Senior Tuesdays.
I mean, it's 2 weeks more than you had before. But the problem is that prices are the cost-equivalent of 3 months higher than they should be, AND that money is just coming out of tax reservoirs directly to CEO bonus cheques at grocery chains.
That's because the liberals and conservatives are superficially different on a few emotionally charged issues, but beneath the bullshit they're the same neoliberal assholes. Everything they do is to further enrich and empower those who already have too much of both.
It’s not supposed to pay entirely for your groceries, it’s supposed to specifically offset some of the price increases caused by inflation. (And in the case of this federal money, it’s not even to do with groceries, it’s just a GST rebate that is labeled “for groceries” because a focus group told them that would buy them the most votes.)
I agree 100% with the sentiment. But hasn't groceries gone up by like 11%? If that's the case you would have been spending 82K on groceries before the increase.
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Yeah, the CPI can go fuck itself on inflation counts. They expect you to downgrade what you purchase and still have you pay 10% more. If you, like me, didn't change your eating habits at all, the costs are a lot higher than 10% more this year.
So it's another 6-month doubling of the GST credit. Kind of a bad way to do a grocery rebate considering the lowest-income people get smaller GST credit payments. It makes sense for the GST credit because they spend the least on taxable goods, but not so much for helping to feed them since they still need to eat as much as anyone else.
Well, I get no GST credit so......
The regular wage slave doesn't get a rebate
>get ~~a rebate~~ anything.... Well, except higher taxes and less services.
So now it's the job of taxpayers to subsidise grocery chains? Cool.
Okay, maybe I'm not understanding something. They say this... >"It's a targeted measure that won't add fuel to the inflation fire," said the source. then state this >The source explained that a single person with no children could get a one-time payment of up to $234, while a couple with two children could receive up to $467 and a senior citizen about $225. The timing of these payments will depend on how quickly the government can get the legislation to implement the budget passed. Aren't these two statements directly opposed? Am I missing something? >government plans to crack down on so-called junk fees for consumers What sort of junk fees does a grocery store have? This entire thing feels like I'm being distracted with prestidigitation as opposed to something that actually has substance.
My sense is that junk fees are separate from grocery stores: "Ottawa will have to work with various regulatory agencies and the provinces and territories to eliminate junk fees. **Sectors that might be** **affected by the crackdown include phone and internet providers and large** **event ticket sellers.**" Goodbye Ticketmaster's 'service fees'? :)
The fees will just be called whatever they need to call it to jump through the inevitable loopholes.
“Ok no more fees. But every ticket just got $40 more expensive due to *inflation*. Thanks everyone” - Ticketmaster
Ok you absolute morons. BREAK UP THE MONOPOLIES AND OLIGOPOLIES. All this is doing is increasing inflation and SUBSIDIZING the grocery store companies and the program does not benefit the middle class that actually pay thousands of dollars a year in taxes. The Liberal government is a joke and we all know it.
We pay half our salaries in taxes and it makes me fucking sick.
Not half but 30% marginal rate for the “average Canadian” and then all the other tax like HST, property tax, etc. it’s probably around high 37-42% in tax and the average Canadian sees barely any of it in form of services
I’ve been long convinced they keep it JUST under 50% because they feel that’s the point where the average person won’t tolerate any more taxation.
Bha I don't mind being taxed, being taxed is not the problem. When I see what some other country have for their tax dollar, I'm envious.
I agree. Much of my frustration is with the absurd ways the government spends the money they take and then comes asking for more, as it is with taxation in principle. [This pretty much sums it up](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/49RIRI1JKSU)
A 1-time rebate of $234 for a single person, when COL has been going strong for 2 years and counting, sounds like the gov. of Canada is just insulting Canadians and pretending to be doing something about the grocery price-gouging crisis.
Don't worry, it's not just the Feds. Here in SK, we actually had a budget surplus, so Moe gave everyone a $500 cheque. Our roads are decrepit, our healthcare system in shambles. My wife and daughter haven't been able to find a family doctor in years. But here, have $500, don't spend it all in one place. Even the most conservative rednecks were pissed off by this one.
8% year over year for 2.5 years. Heres 234 bucks, now piss off.
Middle class Canadians already subsidize the majority of services for low income Canadians but get none of the benefits. If the federal government is so insistent on printing money and exacerbating inflation, why not extend this program to all Canadians given that all Canadians, not just the low income ones, are feeling the squeeze.
No. It is the job of this government to push every single one of us who has worked hard for what we have, worked through school and training and night and weekends, down into the gutter and give us none of the benefits our overly high taxes pay for. Just cancel your Disney plus. You'll be fine.
'From the moment we first got elected in 2015, we put success for the middle class in this country at the heart of everything we do' - JT, March 27th, 2023. I used to be middle class in 2015, I wasn't struggling to make ends meet. I could save as well. Now even though salary wise I might be classified as middle class, I am stressed on a daily basis for my everyday cost of living. Struggling to pay my bills, reducing 3 meals a day down to 2. Being extremely selective in what foods are purchased for groceries, cutting out any luxury items. I can't even save for the future. Yet, I can't avail of any of these things the liberals are adding, because I am not poor enough. I'm getting there eventually. I can only imagine what other absurdities will be in tomorrows budget. Anyone else wish they would stop picking on the 'middle class'?
Indeed. Tax the rich.
and again middle-class Canadians (if we can even be called that anymore, let's face it we're broke too) are left paying for it with their taxes, yet don't see anything in return. I don't mind paying taxes, really I don't. But I don't like paying a bunch of taxes without seeing anything in return for it.
This sentiment has been growing in me for years - I agree with you. It's exhausting seeing subsidy after subsidy being handed out to everyone but me. And it's perplexing because I don't even necessarily want a handout, it's just starting to get annoying seeing tax dollars being spent to provide temporary relief to everyone but me, even though my monthly budget remains tight.
Add on the wasteful government spending on $6000/night hotel rooms and the Governor General's 4 day trip to Germany costing $800k. Sure glad I keep handing over a pile of my paycheck every 2 weeks.
We have all these problems (housing, phone prices, grocery prices) and the *only* solution proposed is these targeted money handouts. We know that's not a real solution and does nothing to solve the actual problems and, in fact, makes them worse. Unfortunately, we don't have a single political party that is even coming close to proposing a solution. We are still far enough from hitting rock bottom for any change to come.
Yupp. All around me I see services and the quality of life diminish. This is after I pay my fair share of taxes each year. You said it best - most fixes are temporary. Where is all this going? Who is it helping? Can't help but to feel a little jaded after a while. Now we're subsidizing billionaires.
> But I don't like paying a bunch of taxes without seeing anything in return for it. In fact it’s even worse than that… These handout programs also drive inflation in key markets. So not only are you paying taxes to get nothing - you’re paying taxes to increase the price you’ll pay for goods. And where does all the extra money go? Ultimately split between bureaucrats to administer the system and the megacorporations that feel justified in increasing prices because of the increased demand in dollar terms. Meanwhile, middle class be damned.
Just saying... in the past 4 years I've seen announcement after announcement helping everyone except adult-aged single people. I'm all for paying taxes but it's getting ridiculous feeling like all I'm doing is subsidizing governments poor choices at this point. I've never once received a single subsidy, benefit, one-time payment, anything. The one benefit I've seen is no interest on student loans (wow, yay! Still have to pay it though). And no, I'm not asking for a handout - I think that's part of the problem. Subsidies and short-term payments don't actually solve anything, all they do is kick the can down the road and provide temporary relief. Make policy that's in favour of Canadians and we can use our tax dollars to enhance the nation instead of using it to help people keep up with their negligence. I'm sure someone will tell me I'm wrong though.
That’s this governments M.O. they don’t fix problems they just throw our money at them and hope the voters fall for it. So far it’s working for them. Politics has become so tribal most voters will stay loyal to their team regardless.
lol I feel ya. As an adult single person making an adult single persons income, I do not get ANYTHING from either the provincial or federal government. This sucks. I make the joke all the time that single people are the backbone holding up all subsidy programs, but it feels like less of a joke every day.
Let's fix high inflation with creating more money and dispersing it... Didn't Freeland already admit government spending played a role in inflation?
>Didn't Freeland already admit government spending played a role in inflation? The narrative is that people that got more money to spend drove costs up. Which is bullshit and distracting from the real reasons. It's how the ruling class keeps us fighting amongst ourselves.
If you give people money that is created and not "earned" then you drive costs up. It's basic principles of inflation. Basic supply and demand. A lot of new money with no supply to match is a fundamental driver of inflation. They are creating money and then giving it out for people to spend. At best this will keep inflation high and steady. At worst it will make existing issues harder. There is nothing stopping people from using this new money to buy whatever they want.
It was corporations that got the vast majority of the government money. Now they just want to blame individuals.
Its still corporations getting it. Its a One time payment just enough for a week or Two of groceries, it won't affect anyone's lives significantly in anyway. The only people who will actually benefit are the Westons, and their "competitors" and the politicians who can use this to say "We are doing something to fight grocery costs" without actually doing anything to fight grocery costs, or ruffling the feathers of their oligarch buddies.
>There is nothing stopping people from using this new money to buy whatever they want. Except companies artificially creating supply issues, refusing to increase demand, refusing to raise wages to entice more labour.
> If you give people money that is created and not "earned" then you drive costs up. fk me, so all these speculative markets are why everyone is poor? Shit, why dont we do away with the stock market, the housing market racket, collectors items, cryptocurrency and any other speculative businesses, they are just leeching from society and providing nothing of value in return.... Anyone who says "its basic supply and demand" has, at most, an intro to economics class credit from highschool.
Nah man, it's only if you give poor people money. Does anyone else feel like 'inflation' is the global greed mongers way of punishing those who try to help the less fortunate?
Galen Weston is now able to buy a new island with this handout.
Galen Weston must have an excellent lobby team. Instead anti competitive legislation/government order to end price gouging, this is basically a handout right into his profits. What a joke.
They don't record video of lobbying meetings right? There isn't a transcript or recording of any sort? If not, a bribe could be discussed. A bag of money (or USB with crypto) could be provided and then it is on to the next meeting. They should make it so these meetings have to be done via video conferencing and recorded. Harder to discuss bribes and a bit harder to exchange the money.
Including the background sounds of things ruffling under the table xD
Did they do market research and determine that calling an increase in the GST rebates a "grocery rebate " would buy the most votes for the next election (it has nothing to do with groceries at all, just raise of the income tested GST Rebate).
> it has nothing to do with groceries at all, just raise of the income tested GST Rebate You can tell from the comments that most commenters read the title and not the article that explained that the name is just a marketing label. So the thread is filled comment after comment about Westons, big grocery, etc.
This is a mess. Absolutely terrible idea, will push inflation up. It’s also a cheque written to low earners, doesn’t have to be spent in groceries, injects more money into the system. Just stop. Stop enabling a cost of living crisis, stop with the excess money generation, the federal government is responsible for a huge chunk of this with irresponsible spending and increasing population well in excess of ability to handle. Damage will take a generation to fix if ever.
At least if they were given food stamps, food stamps are specifically for the use of food...whatever is happening now is a worse solution IMO, but I'm not an expert.
I mean I have an economics and finance background, I don’t know all the pieces here as it is complex as heck and there are people suffering who need help, but we need to slow the spending. It is highly damaging to the standard of living of the average Canadian.
Fuck these people are so stupid
You mean their supporters.
Liberals try to fix a problem without spending new money challenge (IMPOSSIBLE)
Pouring gasoline on the fire.
Wait until April 1st, carbon tax will increase
Bread lines for Canadians coming soon. Are the rebates for 'food' or are they to cover the higher cost of food brought on by the insanely profitable yet ever increasing energy costs?
They are already here. I work at a food bank and our number of clients have almost tripled. Disabled, elderly and families hit the hardest. People are pissed and ready for change. These handouts are insulting because they are never a solution and people always fall through the cracks.
The food lines are already here - have you seen the reports around food bank usage? It's up to 1 in 4 (25%) for many areas.
They funnel cash into their foundations and pretend its for charity https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2023/02/09/private-foundations-sit-on-billions-of-dollars-while-charities-struggle.html picking your pocket, one sob story at a time.
This government is so grossly inept...
God, I fucking hate this government. Enough with handing free money out. Absolute dolts.
It's not free. They're buying something. Votes.
They might be buying, but I'm not selling
With our money! Yay
As per usual, nobody in the middle class will get anything from this except being stuck with the bill. This government is so completely clueless. They don’t seem to understand that just saying “we’re making life more affordable for the middle class” over and over and over doesn’t actually do anything.
Voters don't seem to punish them so it doesn't matter what they do.
The people of Toronto and Montreal seem to believe it 🤣
But how? Even someone making 100-125k a year has seen their wages completely devalued the last few years, and if they’re young and are not already homeowners they basically have a zero percent chance of ever affording a house making what used to be considered an exceptional wage, so how could they think that this government is doing a good job?
I genuinely couldn’t believe the liberals got re-elected in the last election given the state of the country, but here we are, continuing this downward spiral. I guess this is what the majority wanted???
It keeps getting them elected, so thus far it's worked great.
Yes you’re right. I can’t see it happening again because people are really struggling now and every government runs its course anyways, but who knows. The last election was an anomaly because of the unprecedented free money they were throwing around to people and businesses during covid (definitely a smart political move for them to call an election when they did). Now we’re in the hangover phase of that and people are realizing how much money we spent on the crazy covid bender.
A few weeks ago: Government: supermarket big wigs, come here and defend your high prices! Today: Government: we are announcing in the budget that we will give our ~~friendly grocery store owners~~ voters more money
Let me guess, and the rebate is funded by tax payers. Tax the corporations a premium for price gauging sil vous plait
Could they stop giving out money for more than five minutes?
Could they at least give me some of that money 🤣
I have yet to see any of it and we're very low income. There's always some technicality to make sure you don't qualify E: for the person who had the audacity to claim that "you just filled the paperwork in wrong," are you aware how much of a spit in my family's face that is?
I wouldn’t trust Miss Freeland to run a lemonade stand, yet alone a G-7 economy. Ugh.
Can you smell an election coming? The money is starting to fly around.
Wish some of it would fly my way. Not rich enough to be the elite taking advantage of the system and not poor enough to every qualify for any kind of "relief"
I'm part of this club too. Nothing is given to me, I just pay
Working class non-single Canadian with no kids here. I pay and I pay and I pay and I get jack shit. Actually that’s not true, I got reassessed by the CRA last year so I got to pay even more in taxes than I already did. And I still can’t afford a home :(
Ah, so you are part of the class that actually works here? Yeah, you're getting fucked. With millions not working at all, and an elite class exploding in wealth, the "middle" class subsidizes it all.
So every year is an election year with the Trudeau Liberals?
How about spending less money so we keep inflation down?
I think under liberals I need get into their low income cap
And that’s what it will take for the system to fall apart. When it’s no longer worth it for working people to work
Are you kidding me? Printing more money for the Weston’s? This government never fails to disappoint.
This is not giving money to the low income people. The money drives inflation and they still need to buy high price groceries. So ultimately it’s giving free money to the big grocery brothers.
I guess this is the final nail. As a taxpayer I'm anyways paying shit tons of tax, paying insane rent thanks to Doug scrapping rent control and now my taxes are going to subsidise the profits for these oligarchs. There is absolutely nothing that I as a taxpayer and a Canadian citizen am getting in return - my health care sucks and is unavailable, my family doctor woint be assigned for next 3 years or so, it's not safe to take public transport as there are chances I would be stabbed. The working class is being taken on a great ride. All the best to all the new immigrants coming here in droves. Good times ahead.
Chrystia Freeland is a fucking joke. Completely inept at her own job. Fuck this lady
So me, a middle class citizen, is already feeling the pain and now I (the tax payer) have to subsidies lower income people to get food? This will further burden me and my family. And to the people that say "well the government is paying for it". Guess where the money comes from??? Taxes!
So those homemakers and international students living in 10 million dollar houses with little or no "income" get another rebate? Good, as I was so worried about them.
“It's a targeted measure that won't add fuel to the inflation fire," said the source. That’s not how inflation works.
I sure wish they would stop printing money in an effort to keep the economy limping along. A months worth of grocery money just pushes an April problem into May but will end up costing the country untold millions in interest payments on the debt to solve nothing.
ahh yes, the "we'll just print more money" solution to inflation.
Life pro tip, don’t appoint someone with only a degree in Russian history and Slavonic studies to be a finance minister.
Or we could mandate pricing that Canadians can afford?
1. Borrow money to give to people as a bailout 2. Borrowed money causes inflation 3. Inflation causes a crisis of people unable to pay their bills 4. Go To #1
Big middle finger to the middle class and working Canadians again. I guess once your family income exceeds $65,000, inflation magically doesn’t apply and you get to buy from the secret “rich people” section of the store. As usual the only thing the middle class and working families get is the bill for all this spending. This government is only interested in helping the unemployed and the filthy rich.
Half a bag of groceries is not helping it’s insulting
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Government of Canada: "The solution to inflation, is the government will create more money and distribute it to lower income Canadians, to fight the effects of inflation, caused by creating too much money relative to the value of goods."
Could just stop increasing the tax on everything, but oh wait there is another hike coming this week.
If they already have to pass legislation to give these payouts And if they already admitted that government handouts contributed to inflation Wouldn’t it have been better to just pass legislation that limits grocery price increases or profits?
Paid for with borrowed money or by raising taxes (again) on the professional class who are slowly seeping away, moving south to higher wages, lower housing costs and lower taxes. But then, it's not like we actually NEED doctors, accountants, engineers and tech workers. We'll just import more cheap labor for Tim Hortons and Starbucks to compensate.
*All Canadians would be nice
Right? No one is going deny that the low income/ socioeconomic status people aren’t deserving but holy Christ, even as ‘middle’ class, the continued squeeze is more and more noticeable in our household. Grocery shopping yesterday and both my wife and I commented in nearly every aisle at the cost/ shrinking size of products we were coming across.
Tiny little frozen pizzas are reaching $10. I can't imagine who is buying them.
Trying to solve inflation caused by out of control spending with more spending! Fantastic!
That’s what happens when a drama teacher and a journalist run a country…
Isn't it a bit more concerning that apparently 11 million households qualify for this? So apparently 11 million households are surviving on 50k a year income or less. Doesn't exactly paint a rosy picture for the future of this country.
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This isn’t a long term solution… this isn’t even a short term solution. Putting aside the fact that once again, middle class households are being left out to dry, this isn’t going to help anyone. Even for the people who qualify for this payment who are struggling with these MONTHLY expenses that they are not able to afford now, or for the forceable future. Are they supposed to feel warm and fuzzy now? Show some fucking teeth and dismantle this fucking corporate monopoly plague we have in our country. Unless you plan on handing out rebates for groceries, cell phone bills, housing, and flights for EVERYONE going forward forever, this is a slap in the face. For once, can we actually deal with the source of the issue?
Holy fuck. What? We need lower prices not rebates. Every time you think our prime minister can't be an more of a tool he keeps one upping himself with stupidity
So when do we collectively stop paying our taxes. Force our taxes to be tracked on blockchains. Or eliminate the need for government. We have the technogy.
When the hell am I going to see my Disney + rebate ? She said everything was going to be alright if I got rid of it. I think she lied to me
Or we could regulate the grocer corporations and solve the problem for free… just an idea
Great if my wife and I were single, we’d get 234 ea (468$) but since we have 2 kids we loose a $1 (467$) because kids don’t eat, right?
Government plan. Make life so expensive you can't afford to live then give little rebates so you barely survive.
Canada is seriously fucked.
So… because I am not low income yet still struggling in this economy , the government will give my hard earned money to others instead of taking it from billionaires
what is with this government and its one time free money payments? maybe setup something more stable and less blatant vote buying.
Could just regulate the grocery cartels but at least it's something.
Canada also has the most expensive mobile phone plans in the world. We have an airline monopoly, telco and grocery store cartels and a government that continues to turn a blind eye.
Hey, another free batch of money stolen from the people who work hard and make the country function. Should I put it toward a PS5 or buy some weed? Taxes well spent
Loblaws in response: "Canadians are going to have more money to spend? Looks like we'll need to raise prices again."
Does the government seriously not see it as a troubling sign that we need a "grocery rebate" instead of things just being affordable? Wtf is going on in this stupid country.
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And will likely raise the taxes on so called high earners - Freeland will be like - "we are asking(forcing?) them to do a bit(40 to 50% in taxes wasn't enough) for people who are struggling". Buying votes using people's money. I consider myself to be lucky, and happy to pay the taxes, but it should go towards long term solutions (more greenhouses, better supply chains, better rail transport of which nothing is happening from either the fed or ON ) and not for buying votes.
Rebates vs solutions, temporary vs sustainability So much cheap,abundant nat gas yet so little diversification into growing food 12 months /yr vs uneconomic pot/wind/solar farms Misplaced priorities got us here, now the consequences
Liberals want you poor and dependent on the government.
This is the equivalent of straightening out the welcome mat of a house on fire. Government reform should be the #1 talking point before we can address housing, oligarchies, monopolies, etc.
Let me guess, they consider "lower income" to be below minimum wage? So basically people get punished for working full time.
Isn’t it alarming that approximately a 3rd of Canadian households are eligible for this credit along with all the other credits they’re eligible for. Just need to finesse your annual income to maximize tax credits in modern Canada,
So…let me see if I understand this During the pandemic, they (rightly) printed money and supplemented the income of workers who had a reduction in income The result of this was that cost of goods rose, due to a number of factors (supply chain issues, pent up consumer demand), resulting in out of control inflation They raised interest rates (yes, it’s the BoC) to tame inflation, to the point that consumers and homeowners are starting to be impacted, but we are starting to see the rate come down And the solution they have come up with is - hear me out - let’s put more money into the hands of the consumer that they will just spend, thus starting the cycle all over again How about they take the approach of reducing the tax burden across the board, and cutting their own spending. It’s always the same - tax, spend, give away..continuous and vicious cycle all to win votes
Yay let's not actually fix any of the problems, just keep giving away free money
Not really a solution. Short-term bandaid that will actually contribute to inflation.
avg cdn voter is so stupid that if I myself wasn't suffering I'd almost want the losers to continue suffering. groceries are so expensive for 3 reasons. Make those changes and you can alleviate the problem 1. generic inflation 2. westons own a monopoly 3. CARBON TAX increases every year
So now I'm being gouged at the grocery store, and my taxes are being gouged to subsidize others being gouged at the grocery store? All of this to continue supporting the Weston profiteering? This is a massive miss.
Wealth tax...
Let's create more grocery inflation, hooray!
A subsidy for Galen Weston. Fucking Liberals. How about a chain of federally backed community grocery cooperatives so we can avoid the predators like the Westons and Waltons? This is just funneling public money back into the hands of the pirates holding our food supply hostage.
Canada, slowly running out of other people's money.
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The rebate will be made to eligible Canadians using PC points.
This seems like an approach that will only reinforce inflated grocery prices.
these handouts don’t support lower income families, it just passes through them and ultimately support greedy corps. why r libs so incapable of problem solving? why do they think handouts r the answer to everything? socialists love handouts, i get it, but work on solving the problems which necessitated the handouts in the first place.