Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the federal government is doing 鈥渆verything it can鈥� to help Canadians get through the 鈥渄ifficult鈥� current economic period after Canada鈥檚 inflation rate increased to four per cent last month, once again sparking debate over the issue in the House of Commons Tuesday.
Meanwhile, opposition parties have been pointing fingers at the Liberals for August鈥檚 inflation numbers, with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre laying the blame for the increase at the feet of the government and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh calling the Liberal plan to address rising grocery prices 鈥渇rankly ridiculous.鈥�
鈥淣ot only is inflation up, it is rising, and rising faster,鈥� Poilievre said Tuesday. 鈥淚nflation in Canada, after eight years of Justin Trudeau, is not only high, but it is broad.鈥�
鈥淚t is across all different products and services,鈥� he added. 鈥淲hether you include or exclude food and gas, inflation is now double its target.鈥�
Poilievre also criticized Freeland for asking 鈥渆veryone to give her a pat on the back鈥� in July when inflation numbers started to dip and called the now increasing numbers 鈥渆ntirely made in Canada鈥� due to Liberal government spending.
August鈥檚 inflation numbers are the second consecutive monthly increase. The jumps come after Freeland called the inflation rate dropping to 2.8 per cent in June a 鈥渕ilestone moment鈥� that Canadians should find some relief in.
Inflation and the cost of living also remained a focus of debate in the House of Commons on the second day of the fall sitting of Parliament Tuesday, with the prime minister going back and forth with Singh and Poilievre as the politicians debated who鈥檚 to blame.
Both Trudeau and Freeland pointed to recently announced measures to help tackle the affordability crisis, including removing the GST on the construction of new rental apartments in a bid to build faster and reduce housing costs and calling on the heads of the country鈥檚 largest grocery stores to come up with a plan to 鈥渟tabilize鈥� prices.
鈥淲e will continue to be here for Canadians, all while managing our finances responsibly,鈥� Trudeau said in French.
鈥淭he Leader of the Opposition continues to talk down Canadians and talk down the Canadian economy and say that everything is broken,鈥� he added. 鈥淲e're getting to work (on) helping Canadians through this difficult time.鈥�
Meanwhile, Singh 鈥� who has been calling on the CEOs of Canada鈥檚 largest grocery chains to reduce their profit margins since last winter 鈥� said the Liberals鈥� plan to 鈥渟tabilize鈥� grocery prices is 鈥渞idiculous鈥� and 鈥渁 failure of leadership.鈥�
鈥淐anadians have been struggling with food prices for almost two years now and here's the classic Liberal response,鈥� Singh said during question period Tuesday. 鈥淭hey asked the CEOs of the big grocery stores to come to Ottawa to nicely ask them to stabilize the prices, not to bring them down, to stabilize them.鈥�
With files from 麻豆影视鈥� Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello
