NDP statement on renewed mandate of the Bank of Canada

NDP Critic for Finance, Daniel Blaikie, issued the following statement:

“The Liberals’ announcement today on the renewal of the monetary policy framework won’t provide relief for Canadians struggling to get by.

As the cost of living goes up, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals cut help for people struggling to make ends meet. For months, New Democrats have been calling on the Liberals to reverse their clawbacks of the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) for struggling families and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for seniors on the brink of getting evicted from their homes because they can’t afford their rent. And while the wealthiest get a free ride, Liberals cut help for 900 000 people impacted by the pandemic.

The Liberal government is building a recovery on the backs of Canadian families, seniors, people living with disabilities and young people instead of making the ultra-rich pay their fair share. Just last week, the Parliamentary Budget Officer revealed that the top one per cent are only getting richer while the rest of us struggle to pay for rent, food and electricity, cellphone and internet bills. It doesn’t have to be this way.

To counter inflation in the housing market, the Liberals could act with urgency to ban blind bidding, introduce a house flipping tax and a foreign homeowner’s vacant tax. Increases to income-test benefits like the GIS and CCB would also help Canada’s most financially vulnerable in a time of rising prices at the grocery store.

We reiterate our call on the Liberal government to act to help people in tomorrow’s Fiscal Update. We urge the government to make it easier for people to find an affordable home, to make cell phone and internet bills less expensive, to support Canadians dealing with the impacts of the pandemic and to support people to retrofit their homes and reduce the cost of heating their homes."