Workers didn’t cause inflation and they shouldn’t have to pay for it.

NDP Critic for Finance Daniel Blaikie made the following statement:

“Today, the Bank of Canada announced that they are raising interest rates again. This will have a tremendous impact on Canadians who have been struggling for months with the rising cost of housing, groceries, gas and heating fuel for their homes. Now, they’ll be forced to pay even more interest on their loans or mortgages.

For the millions of people living paycheque to paycheque, this is devastating. As outlined by the Auditor General yesterday, the Liberals don’t have a plan to help families get by. Some of the most vulnerable people are not getting the support they need to help them make ends meet.

Unfortunately, again and again we see that, under the Liberals, the ultra-rich are thriving but Canadian families feel abandoned. CEOs and big companies are making record profits off the backs of Canadians trying to keep their heads above water. This is wrong. When times are hard the Liberals and Conservatives consistently expect Canadian families to pay more and shoulder the burden. It doesn’t have to be that way— New Democrats will continue to push the Liberals to make life more affordable for people.

While the Bank is independent, the Liberals can take action. The U.K. recently announced a windfall tax on corporations making record profits off global crises while people pay the price. In the U.K. the windfall tax revenue is being redistributed to help people. Even Prime Minister Boris Johnson is taking action to help people while the Liberal government here in Canada is adamant about protecting corporate profits. New Democrats have repeatedly called on the Liberal government to expand their excess profit tax on financial institutions to include big oil and gas companies and big box stores making record profits. We’ll keep pushing the government to double the GST tax credit and increase the Canada Child Benefit by $500 to help Canadians cover their expenses.”