What Ottawa's economic update means for your wallet
5/2/202652 min
This week, the Carney government released its first spring economic update — which painted a better-than-expected picture of Canada's finances despite a long U.S. trade war and instability in the Middle East.
The question on many Canadians' minds is: How does this update help them? Host Catherine Cullen visits an Ottawa grocery store to hear from owner Eli Njaim and his customers about the rising cost of food. Then, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne explains what the government's latest spending plan does to alleviate the affordability crisis.
Also in the update is a new "national savings and investment account” that will help grow wealth for future generations of Canadians. The Conservatives are calling it a “Sovereign Debt Fund.” Bloomberg News’ Laura Dhillon Kane and Mark Rendell of The Globe and Mail break down what the new fund is — and if it will work.
And, bestselling historian and fascism expert Timothy Snyder joins The House to discuss how Canada is navigating the Trump presidency, the risks of American influence in Alberta’s sovereigntist circles, and the health of Canadian democracy.
This episode features the voices of:
- Eli Njaim, owner of Mid-East Food Centre
- François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance
- Laura Dhillon Kane, Ottawa bureau chief for Bloomberg News
- Mark Rendell, economics reporter for the Globe and Mail
- Timothy Snyder, historian and bestselling author
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
Prime Minister Mark Carney has finally secured a majority for this liberal government. What are his plans, and how does it all affect you? The Power and Politics podcast answers these questions and more six days a week. We have you covered from all angles. Our reporter roundtable joins us every Friday, and you can get caught up with the weekly wrap every Saturday. Follow and listen to Power and Politics wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 10:26
[upbeat music] This is a CBC podcast.
Eli Njaim· Guest0:29
Like these, last year we were selling them at $4.99, the watermelons. Now they're $8.99.
Catherine Cullen· Host0:36
We all feel it. The price of food keeps going up. Grocery store owner Eli Njaim wrestles with it, too.
Eli Njaim· Guest0:42
The, uh, romaine lettuce, three pieces, we'd sell that at $2.99 in the past, and it's at $6.99 now. Romaine, uh, lettuce, loose, again, we used to sell them at $1.49. Now they're at $3. This is 'cause prices have increased. The peppers are another crazy ... We're paying $90 for a three kilo box. And trying to make money on a pepper.
Catherine Cullen· Host1:05
Well, Eli is trying to make at least some money on peppers and lettuce in order to balance his books. This week, the federal government opened up its books to show how it's spending our tax dollars. I'm Catherine Cullen. This week on The House, we've got the finance minister. We're gonna ask whether he's doing enough to help people get by, and what he thinks of that idea of publicly run grocery stores. We've also got two of this country's leading business