The Conservatives are blaming Liberal spending and taxation policies for the country’s persistently high inflation rate, which shows no signs of letting up.Statistics Canada reported on Tuesday that the consumer price index for May rose to 2.9% after showing signs it might finally be slowing down. That was up from 2.7% in April, prompting the Bank of Canada to implement a quarter-point interest rate cut.As in prior months, prices from services led the way at 4.6% compared to 4.2% the prior month. Those were led by cellular services, travel tours, rent and air transportation. Prices for goods grew 1%, the same rate as in April.Despite promising more competition in the grocery sector, prices for food purchased from stores rose 1.5% on a year-over-year basis in May following a 1.4% increase in April. Although slight, this was the first acceleration since June 2023. Prices for groceries remain elevated and have increased by 22.5% compared with May 2020, StatsCan said..It was that latter number that had the Conservatives fuming, suggesting that translates into more than $700 per year for an average Canadian household.“The Liberals celebrated multiple times that inflation was under control. Last year, Trudeau’s Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, even declared victory, saying that the Liberal plan to tackle inflation ‘is working’. But Trudeau’s economic plan is not working,” it said in a statement.It blamed the inflation spike as “the direct consequence of Trudeau’s reckless inflationary spending.”This means the average family is now having to pay nearly $4,000 in new inflationary spending, which StatsCan also revealed that spending grew almost three times faster than revenue in the first quarter of 2024.“In April, Conservatives warned that Liberal spending was keeping interest rates up higher for longer, pushing millions of mortgage holders to the edge. Despite this, Trudeau added $61 billion in new inflationary spending in his most recent budget anyway,” it said.“Justin Trudeau is not worth the cost.” Although it was up half a percentage point, Saskatchewan had the second-lowest rate at 1.5% compared to 3% in Alberta. Only Manitoba was lower, at 1.3%. British Columbia was right on average at 2.9%.
