WEYBURN - As is so often the case, the federal and provincial governments are in a position where they could do something to alleviate the insane levels of inflation afflicting Canadians, but they are offering pittances of help.
The province wants to send each resident a $500 “affordability” cheque, a one-time payment that is supposed to come some time this fall, and the federal government said they would refund more of the GST to consumers.
Meantime, with inflation on food over 10 per cent, the House of Commons unanimously voted to investigate food prices, apparently because the grocery chains are reporting record high profits.
The size of the profits does not surprise anyone, with prices for everything being jacked up, as there is even a new term for it: “greed”-flation.
The sort of price gouging going on should be illegal, but it hasn’t stopped any company from charging it, and it goes all the way down the supply chain. Thus, when a supplier puts their price, the transporters have to charge more (as their fuel prices are up) and it goes down the chain to the consumer, the one who pays it all and gets no breaks.
One grocery chain, Loblaws, has said they will freeze the prices of their No Name products until some time in 2023, but there aren’t any offers by them or anyone else to lower any prices any time soon.
The price of gas is another matter, as it was too high before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upset every economy around the world, and it has continued to stay high.
Part of the blame for this is all the taxes heaped on gas by the province and the federal government, and again, neither level is willing to give consumers a break.
In fact, the federal government wants to only increase the taxes, particularly carbon taxes, as they did all through the pandemic, no matter how many people and companies and industries it hurt.
Will the feds find anything from their investigations into food pricing? Not likely, since their “investigations” into price collusion on gas has never yielded anything, while gas stations miraculously all increase prices at the same time at the same levels.
It is a tough time to be a consumer, especially those who are at a low or middle income, and those on fixed incomes, that are the most vulnerable and poor in our society.
Residents can’t expect any help any time soon from their governments or from retailers, so it will come down to those who are able to help, to extend a hand to those who are finding themselves in real trouble.
Give to the food bank, and give to charities like the upcoming Weyburn Communithon, and to any other causes if you are able to do it. We need to help each other if we can, to get through this tough time.
