Inflation : 40 Year High

[Boudrias]

29 minutes ago, ronthecivil said:

IF we keep our interest rates low, while others raise them, our dollar will go down. It will mean our economy will stay strong, our exports will be appreciated, people won't get priced out of their mortgages, and the cost of internal things should stabalise.

 

But things we import, like coffee, ya, they are going to keep on going up. Can't recommend any local alternatives to that, but at least brewing your own at home will let that tin of coffee save you a lot more than getting it made by someone else. 

To heck with the coffee I'm worried about the price of Bud Light!  

[Boudrias]

IMHO many people are over confident in the ability of government to get control of inflation. To a degree governments are in a conflict of interests as they can pay their debt off in devalued dollars. Of course all government costs are also going up as well just as ours are. At some point, if not now, the people and businesses ability to pay more tax will be reached. At some point the government's ability to borrow money to spend now will be brought into question. 

 

People experiencing 5% inflation will lose 50% of their purchasing power in 14 years. I lived through the '70's when interest rates hit 18%. I nearly lost my business as a result. I knew many people who went bankrupt.  

[The Arrogant Worms]

Federal public servants to strike Wednesday if no deal reached, union says

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/psac-strike-bargaining-update-april-17-live-1.6812693

 

 

 

Before the usual suspects comment   Here is a good read.

 

 

Over 150,000 Canadian public sector workers have voted to strike if a new contract with the government is not reached. The PSAC (Public Service Alliance of Canada) members range -150,000 employees in Canadian public sector- from Canada Revenue Agency employees who ensure EI and other government services run smoothly to coast guard workers and even firefighters. Essentially anything the government does that is even slightly positive is done by these folks. 

 

As per any strike in North America it has been met with consternation from the public and the media alike. Already these working class laborers are being labeled as greedy, privileged, and pampered, meanwhile 8 out of 10 member’s of parliament in Canada got a raise this year as inflation reaps havoc on the middle and lower class. Included in that suffering lower and middle class is the same public servants voting to go on strike. 

 

Too much browsing of this subject on twitter and you will come across several tweets stating how these workers are making well into the six digits on average. In reality the average wage of these striking workers is closer to the 45,000-60,000 range, a wage that may have been considered lucrative 40 years ago but nowadays is borderline unlivable in some areas. The efforts to diminish and guilt these workers publicly is really not a surprise, it has been a timeless strategy to hold down the working class and neuter any real workers movements. 

 

When news of a strike hits it is assumed that the only purpose for this strike is for the workers to make more money. I don’t really blame the public for this assumption because it is certainly all the media discusses about it and even the union representatives themselves often use it as a primary talking point. This focusing on money alone is likely because money talks, no regular joe, jane, or jenby will listen to a union representative talk about how they want to change the requirements for breaks from two 15 minute breaks per eight hours to one 15 minute break per four hours. A change that allows people working shifts that are less than five hours to regularly still have a break. There are many micro details being negotiated in this contract along with the more macro details like wages. 

 

What I am trying to get across here is that when unions negotiate, they do it to improve workers conditions and protections overall, and not just through increased wages. Don’t get me wrong though wages are very f**king important. Inflation is crippling working class people everywhere. We are all feeling the pressure, and that includes those voting to strike, so why the f**k do we accept the pocket watching from the media when these same media figures who commentate on laborer’s fighting for their livelihood make six figure salaries plus benefits. 

 

Pocket watching aside, there are many other reasons we should support this strike and not allow the media and politicians to convince us otherwise. The most prominent anti-strike point I see is the fact that an increase in public sector wages results in more taxes for us and a waste of our tax money. So let’s take a step back for a second and think this one out. We pay our taxes so we can have healthcare, roads, public transportation, and some level of social safety nets. For millions of Canadians social safety nets like disability checks, baby bonuses, and various other tax credits are the difference between hungry and full. This is why we pay taxes, to benefit society as a whole, and the people who work these jobs do that exact thing. If you want to get mad about how our tax dollars are spent then look no further then the BILLIONS of dollars being given to oil companies to pay for a technology that does not work whatsoever. 

 

At the very minimum when we spend this tax money to ensure that public servants have a livable wage we are creating a higher standard for all laborers. Do you think wages would rise if nobody pushed for it? f**k no, companies have, and will continue to happily exploit your labor for larger profits as long as they can get away with it. Unions forcing the bar forward for working class people allows for better conditions for everyone. Yes the progress is slow, but it is because unions are the only thing we got, aside from raising minimum wage every 10 years or so the government is certainly not doing enough to push wages forward considering they are the ones trying to suppress wages for members of the PSAC.  

 

Since unions are all we got, why is it that the word itself brings a taste of negativity with it? Well propaganda being fed to us our entire lives certainly contributes to the negative image many instinctually have about unions. You will hear nonsense like unions are homewreckers, described as coming into the work family and splitting them up. What’s so funny about the “family” comparison is that in a family there are parents and children, and typically parents have an ability to control the children because they know better. So these employers are essentially saying they should be able to control the employees fully because they know better, hmm, perhaps more revealing than they intended. 

 

In reality, unions provide the only negotiating power and control over livelihood that the working class has. The employer-employee relationship is one of unequal power, the employee fundamentally has little to no negotiating power. The best an employee without organization can do is threaten to leave, when dealing with the majority of employees this is simply not substantial because there are dozens of people champing at the bit to take your position. Leverage gone. 

 

By unionizing an employee makes their threat of leaving or withholding work grow from one employee to dozens or thousands of employees, suddenly replacing you does not seem as great an option. Rather the employer is forced to negotiate for your labor on a level playing field, somewhat. As has been proven countless times, the employer has plenty of pathways to legislate large unions back to work, for instance workers have been forced back to work numerous times including the Canada Post workers in 2018. Of course you only have to worry about back to work legislation and other anti-union tactics if you can form a union at all.

 

Corporations have spent hundreds of millions of dollars a year to prevent unionization in their workforce. Now why would corporations spend that much money on union busting if it weren’t going to fatten their pockets somehow? Of course union busting fattens their pockets by allowing for further exploitation of their workers due to a lack of negotiation power. Corporations recognize the importance of unions and workers power, and they do whatever they can to crush it.

 

We as a public are often much too complacent in participating in the public shaming of any form of worker organization and power. But this can be changed, we do not have to continue this infighting in the working class. Every laborer in this country has different political, social, and religious beliefs, but the one thing we all share is the fact that we must sell our labor to survive, and right now all of us are barely surviving. The PSAC recognizes this, they feel the rope tightening around the working class's throat, and they are putting their livelihood on the line to increase the standard in which workers should be paid. 

 

Needless to say at this point, we as the working class should support the PSAC in their contract negotiations and strike if it gets to that point. The party that should be receiving the bad press is the federal government. Not only are they refusing to pay the public servants who keep this country running what they deserve - or at the very minimum a pay increase that is in-line with the rise in inflation over the last three years -, but they are also once again showing how facetious their applause and appreciation of laborers during the pandemic really was

. 

The workers who are threatening to strike were instrumental if not solely responsible for getting out the much needed financial aid millions of Canadians received during the pandemic. They are also instrumental in making sure that money received by people who were undeserving gets paid back. These monumental tasks have been added on to an already long list of jobs these public servants fulfill, and in response to this increased workload the government has decided to not even give them wage increases that are in line with inflation. 

 

By voting to strike if a contract is not agreed upon the PSAC is fighting for not only the public servant working class, but also the working class in Canada as a whole. When the government continuously fails to not only properly regulate the private sector to ensure the working class can survive, but also fails to ensure that its own workforce has a living wage it becomes paramount for the working class to organize and fight for their own livelihood. This is something that we must all recognize and act on, because as of now the media, the government, and the corporations are all working to weaken workers rights in Canada. 

 

[Heretic]

Maybe, just maybe, if we eliminated the carbon tax,  inflation would drop and the economy would boom.
 

 

[Sharpshooter]

20 hours ago, The Arrogant Worms said:

Federal public servants to strike Wednesday if no deal reached, union says

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/psac-strike-bargaining-update-april-17-live-1.6812693

 

 

 

Before the usual suspects comment   Here is a good read.

 

 

Over 150,000 Canadian public sector workers have voted to strike if a new contract with the government is not reached. The PSAC (Public Service Alliance of Canada) members range -150,000 employees in Canadian public sector- from Canada Revenue Agency employees who ensure EI and other government services run smoothly to coast guard workers and even firefighters. Essentially anything the government does that is even slightly positive is done by these folks. 

 

As per any strike in North America it has been met with consternation from the public and the media alike. Already these working class laborers are being labeled as greedy, privileged, and pampered, meanwhile 8 out of 10 member’s of parliament in Canada got a raise this year as inflation reaps havoc on the middle and lower class. Included in that suffering lower and middle class is the same public servants voting to go on strike. 

 

Too much browsing of this subject on twitter and you will come across several tweets stating how these workers are making well into the six digits on average. In reality the average wage of these striking workers is closer to the 45,000-60,000 range, a wage that may have been considered lucrative 40 years ago but nowadays is borderline unlivable in some areas. The efforts to diminish and guilt these workers publicly is really not a surprise, it has been a timeless strategy to hold down the working class and neuter any real workers movements. 

 

When news of a strike hits it is assumed that the only purpose for this strike is for the workers to make more money. I don’t really blame the public for this assumption because it is certainly all the media discusses about it and even the union representatives themselves often use it as a primary talking point. This focusing on money alone is likely because money talks, no regular joe, jane, or jenby will listen to a union representative talk about how they want to change the requirements for breaks from two 15 minute breaks per eight hours to one 15 minute break per four hours. A change that allows people working shifts that are less than five hours to regularly still have a break. There are many micro details being negotiated in this contract along with the more macro details like wages. 

 

What I am trying to get across here is that when unions negotiate, they do it to improve workers conditions and protections overall, and not just through increased wages. Don’t get me wrong though wages are very f**king important. Inflation is crippling working class people everywhere. We are all feeling the pressure, and that includes those voting to strike, so why the f**k do we accept the pocket watching from the media when these same media figures who commentate on laborer’s fighting for their livelihood make six figure salaries plus benefits. 

 

Pocket watching aside, there are many other reasons we should support this strike and not allow the media and politicians to convince us otherwise. The most prominent anti-strike point I see is the fact that an increase in public sector wages results in more taxes for us and a waste of our tax money. So let’s take a step back for a second and think this one out. We pay our taxes so we can have healthcare, roads, public transportation, and some level of social safety nets. For millions of Canadians social safety nets like disability checks, baby bonuses, and various other tax credits are the difference between hungry and full. This is why we pay taxes, to benefit society as a whole, and the people who work these jobs do that exact thing. If you want to get mad about how our tax dollars are spent then look no further then the BILLIONS of dollars being given to oil companies to pay for a technology that does not work whatsoever. 

 

At the very minimum when we spend this tax money to ensure that public servants have a livable wage we are creating a higher standard for all laborers. Do you think wages would rise if nobody pushed for it? f**k no, companies have, and will continue to happily exploit your labor for larger profits as long as they can get away with it. Unions forcing the bar forward for working class people allows for better conditions for everyone. Yes the progress is slow, but it is because unions are the only thing we got, aside from raising minimum wage every 10 years or so the government is certainly not doing enough to push wages forward considering they are the ones trying to suppress wages for members of the PSAC.  

 

Since unions are all we got, why is it that the word itself brings a taste of negativity with it? Well propaganda being fed to us our entire lives certainly contributes to the negative image many instinctually have about unions. You will hear nonsense like unions are homewreckers, described as coming into the work family and splitting them up. What’s so funny about the “family” comparison is that in a family there are parents and children, and typically parents have an ability to control the children because they know better. So these employers are essentially saying they should be able to control the employees fully because they know better, hmm, perhaps more revealing than they intended. 

 

In reality, unions provide the only negotiating power and control over livelihood that the working class has. The employer-employee relationship is one of unequal power, the employee fundamentally has little to no negotiating power. The best an employee without organization can do is threaten to leave, when dealing with the majority of employees this is simply not substantial because there are dozens of people champing at the bit to take your position. Leverage gone. 

 

By unionizing an employee makes their threat of leaving or withholding work grow from one employee to dozens or thousands of employees, suddenly replacing you does not seem as great an option. Rather the employer is forced to negotiate for your labor on a level playing field, somewhat. As has been proven countless times, the employer has plenty of pathways to legislate large unions back to work, for instance workers have been forced back to work numerous times including the Canada Post workers in 2018. Of course you only have to worry about back to work legislation and other anti-union tactics if you can form a union at all.

 

Corporations have spent hundreds of millions of dollars a year to prevent unionization in their workforce. Now why would corporations spend that much money on union busting if it weren’t going to fatten their pockets somehow? Of course union busting fattens their pockets by allowing for further exploitation of their workers due to a lack of negotiation power. Corporations recognize the importance of unions and workers power, and they do whatever they can to crush it.

 

We as a public are often much too complacent in participating in the public shaming of any form of worker organization and power. But this can be changed, we do not have to continue this infighting in the working class. Every laborer in this country has different political, social, and religious beliefs, but the one thing we all share is the fact that we must sell our labor to survive, and right now all of us are barely surviving. The PSAC recognizes this, they feel the rope tightening around the working class's throat, and they are putting their livelihood on the line to increase the standard in which workers should be paid. 

 

Needless to say at this point, we as the working class should support the PSAC in their contract negotiations and strike if it gets to that point. The party that should be receiving the bad press is the federal government. Not only are they refusing to pay the public servants who keep this country running what they deserve - or at the very minimum a pay increase that is in-line with the rise in inflation over the last three years -, but they are also once again showing how facetious their applause and appreciation of laborers during the pandemic really was

. 

The workers who are threatening to strike were instrumental if not solely responsible for getting out the much needed financial aid millions of Canadians received during the pandemic. They are also instrumental in making sure that money received by people who were undeserving gets paid back. These monumental tasks have been added on to an already long list of jobs these public servants fulfill, and in response to this increased workload the government has decided to not even give them wage increases that are in line with inflation. 

 

By voting to strike if a contract is not agreed upon the PSAC is fighting for not only the public servant working class, but also the working class in Canada as a whole. When the government continuously fails to not only properly regulate the private sector to ensure the working class can survive, but also fails to ensure that its own workforce has a living wage it becomes paramount for the working class to organize and fight for their own livelihood. This is something that we must all recognize and act on, because as of now the media, the government, and the corporations are all working to weaken workers rights in Canada. 

 

Thankfully I just got my tax refund and a passport. Phew. 

[Warhippy]

10 hours ago, Heretic said:

Maybe, just maybe, if we eliminated the carbon tax,  inflation would drop and the economy would boom.
 

 

BC has had a carbon tax for almost 2 decades and we still don't see the same serious issues everyone speaks of in regards to angst about the price increases per year

 

What we DO see though and what NOBODY can convince me otherwise about, is corporate price gouging and profiteering during times of issue.

 

Look right now at the current investigation in to grocery store pricing.  Someone finally did the math.  The same group is also looking (an honest look) at fuel pricing in canada, the findings thus far show the same thing.

Corporations have a two tier pricing program at the grocery store and a hand shake agreement among fuel companies that literally jack prices whenever however they want.

 

For all the griping and complaining about the government about 4 additional cents per litre at the pump for an average car or an additional $3.84 in new taxes to heat an average home.  NOBODY is seemingly upset that grocery stores have essentially decided that chicken breasts should be $30.  Or PB should be $12 for a family jar.

 

The government has always had its hand in our wallets but the seeming desire or willingness to avoid corporate price gouging to lay blame at their feet for everything is rather crazy imo

[Heretic]

55 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

BC has had a carbon tax for almost 2 decades and we still don't see the same serious issues everyone speaks of in regards to angst about the price increases per year

 

What we DO see though and what NOBODY can convince me otherwise about, is corporate price gouging and profiteering during times of issue.

 

Look right now at the current investigation in to grocery store pricing.  Someone finally did the math.  The same group is also looking (an honest look) at fuel pricing in canada, the findings thus far show the same thing.

Corporations have a two tier pricing program at the grocery store and a hand shake agreement among fuel companies that literally jack prices whenever however they want.

 

For all the griping and complaining about the government about 4 additional cents per litre at the pump for an average car or an additional $3.84 in new taxes to heat an average home.  NOBODY is seemingly upset that grocery stores have essentially decided that chicken breasts should be $30.  Or PB should be $12 for a family jar.

 

The government has always had its hand in our wallets but the seeming desire or willingness to avoid corporate price gouging to lay blame at their feet for everything is rather crazy imo

I can provide some data as far as chicken prices goes.

The cost of feed has more than doubled in a few years, 7 years ago, we paid $15 for 20 kg bag of chick starter, now they are over $30.  

Non GMO - same thing, over $30 a bag.
Layer crumble, $22 a bag.

The average chicken, to maturity, will consume over 3 bags.  

So that doesn't include a farmer's time, maintenance, electricity (my small farm costs me $250 a month in hydro).

Last year, we raised the price of our farm fresh/free run chicken eggs to $6 (our eggs are large to extra large in size).

We lost customers.  I see in the stores now, that free range are now going for over $7 a dozen.
The people that do buy (and we agree) there is no comparison between our eggs and say a Tim Horton's breakfast sandwich.  

 

For anyone that buys their eggs from say Walmart - they are crap - the chickens that produce those eggs are given the bare minimum feed just to keep them alive.

Eating eggs isn't our main product - hatching eggs are.  We sell them between $72 and $84 a dozen (we have 16 different Heritage breeds) and we are sold out for this year (we only sell those from April until July - but we start taking pre-order on Nov 1st the previous year).

We also have Nubian goats and we sell the kids for $600 each - we used to have 2 horses, we sold one about 5 years ago, and we gave away our last one last year as we can't afford the hay.  12 years ago when we started this, hay was $5 a small bale.  Now, they are $12-16 a bale - depending on quality (which has gone down as we have to supplement our goats with COB (Corn Oats and Barley) twice a day). 

Last year I spent $12,000 on hay - yet we only sold 7 goats.  The horse ate about a third, so we will save money there this year, and I found another hay source where he is selling me the bales at $10 each - delivered.

With the Avian flu wiping out many flocks, I can see the cost of eggs hitting maybe even $10 a dozen this year, and yes, meat will be going up as well.

Like you said though, how much of that cost is gouging - I don't know - but for the small farmers - they aren't gouging - they are being gouged...some examples:
Lumber has tripled, other fencing has doubled, egg cartons - used to be 41 cents, now they are over 65 cents each.  

In 2021, whole wheat was $565 for 1000KG, last year it was $735, this year, almost $800.   They blame the war on Ukraine.  Here's the kicker, the farmer isn't getting anymore for selling their wheat, the stores that sell it, are still getting the same amount per bag as they did over 5 years ago (they make $1 for every 20kg bag sold) - so someone is making a ton of money...somewhere in distribution...

So please, visit your local farmer's markets and buy produce and eggs and meat from them - not only will you get a better product, but also help support smaller farmers who are trying to make a living...

I dread to see what the future may bring if too many farmers go out of business - we'll be importing food, a lot of it processed and poor quality. 
That would be a shame for a country as large as ours with ample space to grow our own food... 

[Warhippy]

58 minutes ago, Heretic said:

I can provide some data as far as chicken prices goes.

The cost of feed has more than doubled in a few years, 7 years ago, we paid $15 for 20 kg bag of chick starter, now they are over $30.  

Non GMO - same thing, over $30 a bag.
Layer crumble, $22 a bag.

The average chicken, to maturity, will consume over 3 bags.  

So that doesn't include a farmer's time, maintenance, electricity (my small farm costs me $250 a month in hydro).

Last year, we raised the price of our farm fresh/free run chicken eggs to $6 (our eggs are large to extra large in size).

We lost customers.  I see in the stores now, that free range are now going for over $7 a dozen.
The people that do buy (and we agree) there is no comparison between our eggs and say a Tim Horton's breakfast sandwich.  

 

For anyone that buys their eggs from say Walmart - they are crap - the chickens that produce those eggs are given the bare minimum feed just to keep them alive.

Eating eggs isn't our main product - hatching eggs are.  We sell them between $72 and $84 a dozen (we have 16 different Heritage breeds) and we are sold out for this year (we only sell those from April until July - but we start taking pre-order on Nov 1st the previous year).

We also have Nubian goats and we sell the kids for $600 each - we used to have 2 horses, we sold one about 5 years ago, and we gave away our last one last year as we can't afford the hay.  12 years ago when we started this, hay was $5 a small bale.  Now, they are $12-16 a bale - depending on quality (which has gone down as we have to supplement our goats with COB (Corn Oats and Barley) twice a day). 

Last year I spent $12,000 on hay - yet we only sold 7 goats.  The horse ate about a third, so we will save money there this year, and I found another hay source where he is selling me the bales at $10 each - delivered.

With the Avian flu wiping out many flocks, I can see the cost of eggs hitting maybe even $10 a dozen this year, and yes, meat will be going up as well.

Like you said though, how much of that cost is gouging - I don't know - but for the small farmers - they aren't gouging - they are being gouged...some examples:
Lumber has tripled, other fencing has doubled, egg cartons - used to be 41 cents, now they are over 65 cents each.  

In 2021, whole wheat was $565 for 1000KG, last year it was $735, this year, almost $800.   They blame the war on Ukraine.  Here's the kicker, the farmer isn't getting anymore for selling their wheat, the stores that sell it, are still getting the same amount per bag as they did over 5 years ago (they make $1 for every 20kg bag sold) - so someone is making a ton of money...somewhere in distribution...

So please, visit your local farmer's markets and buy produce and eggs and meat from them - not only will you get a better product, but also help support smaller farmers who are trying to make a living...

I dread to see what the future may bring if too many farmers go out of business - we'll be importing food, a lot of it processed and poor quality. 
That would be a shame for a country as large as ours with ample space to grow our own food... 

NO argument at all my dude.  I know how (or vaguely remember) how hard it was back in the 80s and early 90s to keep an orchard running.  Sadly, while I use small farms for a lot of my meats etc; it's large corporate owned industrial farms that comprise the vast majority of our veg and starches and they are essentially almost all American.  When we factor in the costs of their goods with exchange and then factor in the now 30%+ profits grocery stores are making when they had a consistent 5 decade run of 10% to 12% on average we cna see how we're being bent the hell over.

 

I need to reiterate that the taxation is not helping, and the double dipping of taxation is insanely infuriating.  But it's a drop in the bucket compared to how corporations and essential utilities are killing us.

 

Case in point is gas again.  In the Okanagan it sat at $1.53.9 for all of March, last 6 days of March for no reason it jumped to $1.74.9 ish in Penticton.  Prior to the tax increase.  It is now at or around $1.63.9 but has taken weeks to lower, by a penny a day or so.  But the next increase as it has sat at $1.63.9 for a few days; will be in the 10-20 cent range again with the justification of "higher taxes" used to convince people that somehow it is not them doing it.

 

We can go even further by looking at the delivery fees that have increased for gas and electricity.  We use reasonable amounts of both, but this March my delivery fees were more than the actual cost of the gas I used to heat my house.  Both the fees AND the gas were taxed which is awful; but WTF; how am I paying more for the delivery than I am the product on already existing infrastructure?

 

At days end, we are literally being bent over by corporations who every quarter post record profits but we are lead to believe somehow it is the governments fault for the high prices and inflation.

[The Arrogant Worms]

[ronthecivil]

On 4/18/2023 at 8:50 AM, Heretic said:

I can provide some data as far as chicken prices goes.

The cost of feed has more than doubled in a few years, 7 years ago, we paid $15 for 20 kg bag of chick starter, now they are over $30.  

Non GMO - same thing, over $30 a bag.
Layer crumble, $22 a bag.

The average chicken, to maturity, will consume over 3 bags.  

So that doesn't include a farmer's time, maintenance, electricity (my small farm costs me $250 a month in hydro).

Last year, we raised the price of our farm fresh/free run chicken eggs to $6 (our eggs are large to extra large in size).

We lost customers.  I see in the stores now, that free range are now going for over $7 a dozen.
The people that do buy (and we agree) there is no comparison between our eggs and say a Tim Horton's breakfast sandwich.  

 

For anyone that buys their eggs from say Walmart - they are crap - the chickens that produce those eggs are given the bare minimum feed just to keep them alive.

Eating eggs isn't our main product - hatching eggs are.  We sell them between $72 and $84 a dozen (we have 16 different Heritage breeds) and we are sold out for this year (we only sell those from April until July - but we start taking pre-order on Nov 1st the previous year).

We also have Nubian goats and we sell the kids for $600 each - we used to have 2 horses, we sold one about 5 years ago, and we gave away our last one last year as we can't afford the hay.  12 years ago when we started this, hay was $5 a small bale.  Now, they are $12-16 a bale - depending on quality (which has gone down as we have to supplement our goats with COB (Corn Oats and Barley) twice a day). 

Last year I spent $12,000 on hay - yet we only sold 7 goats.  The horse ate about a third, so we will save money there this year, and I found another hay source where he is selling me the bales at $10 each - delivered.

With the Avian flu wiping out many flocks, I can see the cost of eggs hitting maybe even $10 a dozen this year, and yes, meat will be going up as well.

Like you said though, how much of that cost is gouging - I don't know - but for the small farmers - they aren't gouging - they are being gouged...some examples:
Lumber has tripled, other fencing has doubled, egg cartons - used to be 41 cents, now they are over 65 cents each.  

In 2021, whole wheat was $565 for 1000KG, last year it was $735, this year, almost $800.   They blame the war on Ukraine.  Here's the kicker, the farmer isn't getting anymore for selling their wheat, the stores that sell it, are still getting the same amount per bag as they did over 5 years ago (they make $1 for every 20kg bag sold) - so someone is making a ton of money...somewhere in distribution...

So please, visit your local farmer's markets and buy produce and eggs and meat from them - not only will you get a better product, but also help support smaller farmers who are trying to make a living...

I dread to see what the future may bring if too many farmers go out of business - we'll be importing food, a lot of it processed and poor quality. 
That would be a shame for a country as large as ours with ample space to grow our own food... 

Well on the plus side for you, the more that oil is phased out, the more expensive it is for your competitors from afar to get their products up here. Sure it hits you too, but it will hit the people in other countries too, and really impact the cost of shipping. 

 

I think it's the same in construction. The people I talk to say the cost of getting say paving stones has skyrocketed, and they themselves complain that they themselves are being gouged, and thus they have to pass it down the line, just like you are.

 

The soon to be dropping into next to nothing value of the Canadian dollar is going to help you, providing of course, you source your raw materials and such in Canada!

 

Once they open I frequent the farmers market for quality reasons alone.

[ronthecivil]

On 4/13/2023 at 5:24 PM, Boudrias said:

To heck with the coffee I'm worried about the price of Bud Light!  

All the mainstream beer is made either with the water in Creston (Labatt's parents and all the ones that go with it, like Budweiser) that was in (and still is, at least in BC) in original Kokanee, and the other (Molson's parents, and all it's brothers) are made in Chilliwack with water similar to the Nestle factory, so all our bad beer is at least made with good water so it's not THAT bad to drink local.

 

So a low Canadian dollar shouldn't affect that. Now, governments that like to spend more than they can take it, when times get tough, love jumping up the "sin" tax because it's an easy target.

[J.I.A.H.N]

On 4/18/2023 at 7:17 AM, Warhippy said:

BC has had a carbon tax for almost 2 decades and we still don't see the same serious issues everyone speaks of in regards to angst about the price increases per year

 

What we DO see though and what NOBODY can convince me otherwise about, is corporate price gouging and profiteering during times of issue.

 

Look right now at the current investigation in to grocery store pricing.  Someone finally did the math.  The same group is also looking (an honest look) at fuel pricing in canada, the findings thus far show the same thing.

Corporations have a two tier pricing program at the grocery store and a hand shake agreement among fuel companies that literally jack prices whenever however they want.

 

For all the griping and complaining about the government about 4 additional cents per litre at the pump for an average car or an additional $3.84 in new taxes to heat an average home.  NOBODY is seemingly upset that grocery stores have essentially decided that chicken breasts should be $30.  Or PB should be $12 for a family jar.

 

The government has always had its hand in our wallets but the seeming desire or willingness to avoid corporate price gouging to lay blame at their feet for everything is rather crazy imo

So, not sure if you caught this.....not sure where I seen it....60 minutes, W5, .....not sure, but one of the Grocery Corps was saying that the profit went from 2% to 4%, but then further into the interview, they said that they had separated the Grocery operation from the Property department, creating a new Corporation for property.............

 

You got to think that in the end, as long as the money is filter back to the parent company, they don't care how, and since they own both companies, they can keep the grocery profits down to 4% by raising rent on their own stores............no one will ever check those prices.........

 

It is just a friggin racket............dishonest Fockers! the lot of them.

[J.I.A.H.N]

As a pensioner, I am not in panic mode, but I am certainly watching things. It seems like everything is going up, except my pension. Minimum wage went up, house mortgages up, gas prices up, wages in general going up in inflationary amounts.

 

It just seems everywhere I turn, everyone is playing catch up, and trying to get to their pre-covid financial picture in one big gulp. IMO, this includes the Governments, who over spent during the pandemic.

 

IMO, alot of greed, and no safety releases............

 

But it is our own fault! No one I knows really knows about the Conservatives destruction of our National Energy program, no one speaks up against the raising of interest rates, or why we have no refineries in BC...........the issues are endless, and people are only worried about themselves............

 

Corporations govern Government by fear and lobbying, environmentalist complain while driving nice cars, and synthetic underwear (joke..not really), freedom fighters not knowing the freedoms they are using to fight with, anti-vaxers not understanding over crowded hospitals cause deaths, Managers not understand demographics will force understaffed work stations in the present/future. Everyone just out for themselves, and the now, not even thinking about tomorrow. It is a fracking mess!

 

Where do you start?

 

 

Edited April 19, 2023 by J.I.A.H.N

[Nucksfollower1983]

5 hours ago, J.I.A.H.N said:

As a pensioner, I am not in panic mode, but I am certainly watching things. It seems like everything is going up, except my pension. Minimum wage went up, house mortgages up, gas prices up, wages in general going up in inflationary amounts.

 

It just seems everywhere I turn, everyone is playing catch up, and trying to get to their pre-covid financial picture in one big gulp. IMO, this includes the Governments, who over spent during the pandemic.

 

IMO, alot of greed, and no safety releases............

 

But it is our own fault! No one I knows really knows about the Conservatives destruction of our National Energy program, no one speaks up against the raising of interest rates, or why we have no refineries in BC...........the issues are endless, and people are only worried about themselves............

 

Corporations govern Government by fear and lobbying, environmentalist complain while driving nice cars, and synthetic underwear (joke..not really), freedom fighters not knowing the freedoms they are using to fight with, anti-vaxers not understanding over crowded hospitals cause deaths, Managers not understand demographics will force understaffed work stations in the present/future. Everyone just out for themselves, and the now, not even thinking about tomorrow. It is a fracking mess!

 

Where do you start?

 

 

Honestly, its probably too late. A new era of greed seems to have taken hold. Hate to say it but things will only get worse, even if inflation is brought back to BoC targets corporations wont give up their record profits and governments wont cut spending. Call me paranoid if you want but it almost feels like we are headed towards a hunger games style society, all the wealth in the hands of a few while the rest are treated as slaves. 

[Boudrias]

16 hours ago, ronthecivil said:

All the mainstream beer is made either with the water in Creston (Labatt's parents and all the ones that go with it, like Budweiser) that was in (and still is, at least in BC) in original Kokanee, and the other (Molson's parents, and all it's brothers) are made in Chilliwack with water similar to the Nestle factory, so all our bad beer is at least made with good water so it's not THAT bad to drink local.

 

So a low Canadian dollar shouldn't affect that. Now, governments that like to spend more than they can take it, when times get tough, love jumping up the "sin" tax because it's an easy target.

I am very familiar with Columbia Brewing in Creston. Bud Light and Kokanee now sell well above $2 a can. I was buying Bud Light in Maui for less than $1. When you sit on the USA border the temptation is to drop down for beer and gas + whatever else that is cheaper. 

 

As an aside. Creston produces both Bud Light and Bud. However the only production from the Creston Brewery that gets exported south is Kokanee. Why Anheuser Busch does not bring beer out of Creston is a mystery to me. Production cost in CDN $ which is much cheaper than USD $. Meanwhile investment in the Creston brewery is ongoing. 

[Warhippy]

When I speak of usurious corporate price gouging being the real reason inflation is so high. This is a great example.

 

I spoke of how in penticton gas literally takes weeks to drop pennies but overnight it jumps by 20 to 30%.

 

As of last night, gas was $1.63.9 in Penticton. Penticton. This morning. It is now $1.79.9.

 

Where is the justification for a near $0.20 increase? Overnight? Taxes did not change. Again, there are no major shutdowns. There's no long weekend coming up. This is a near 20% increase and that will affect literally everyone in the area.

 

I know there are people here who still think that the free market is great, but we really did miss the boat back in 1982 by voting against the national energy plan.

 

 

[ronthecivil]

2 hours ago, Warhippy said:

When I speak of usurious corporate price gouging being the real reason inflation is so high. This is a great example.

 

I spoke of how in penticton gas literally takes weeks to drop pennies but overnight it jumps by 20 to 30%.

 

As of last night, gas was $1.63.9 in Penticton. Penticton. This morning. It is now $1.79.9.

 

Where is the justification for a near $0.20 increase? Overnight? Taxes did not change. Again, there are no major shutdowns. There's no long weekend coming up. This is a near 20% increase and that will affect literally everyone in the area.

 

I know there are people here who still think that the free market is great, but we really did miss the boat back in 1982 by voting against the national energy plan.

 

 

It's not too late to just by shares in the companies if you think they make that much money. As it turns out, right now, they are! But that's not always the case.

 

Would you want the government to own the oil industry when oil prices were negative? Because at that time, if they wanted, it would have been cheep to privatize on of them. But there was no interest in that at the time, many would have been happy to see a lot of them go bankrupt....

[Warhippy]

1 hour ago, ronthecivil said:

It's not too late to just by shares in the companies if you think they make that much money. As it turns out, right now, they are! But that's not always the case.

 

Would you want the government to own the oil industry when oil prices were negative? Because at that time, if they wanted, it would have been cheep to privatize on of them. But there was no interest in that at the time, many would have been happy to see a lot of them go bankrupt....

I own shares in energy companies, oil and gas specifically in various forms.

 

But part of our issue is our oil has one buyer, one refiner.  The US.

 

How insane is it that we allow our most vital resource to be bought for so little and sold back to us for so much?

 

Having an absolute floor for oiler prices and an absolute ceiling in Canada for Canadian oil and fuel would save us so much issue.  That was part of the idea wasn't it?  To ensure canadians were in charge of their own energy destiny and not beholden to a corporation or foreign power?

 

Look at us now.  

[ronthecivil]

19 hours ago, Warhippy said:

I own shares in energy companies, oil and gas specifically in various forms.

 

But part of our issue is our oil has one buyer, one refiner.  The US.

 

How insane is it that we allow our most vital resource to be bought for so little and sold back to us for so much?

 

Having an absolute floor for oiler prices and an absolute ceiling in Canada for Canadian oil and fuel would save us so much issue.  That was part of the idea wasn't it?  To ensure canadians were in charge of their own energy destiny and not beholden to a corporation or foreign power?

 

Look at us now.  

Well, for better or worse, the pipeline to allow us to export world wide will be complete soon. 

 

For better or worse, we will have international natural gas soon. But that will likely affect prices here in a way that won't be liked, since we will switch from no external competition to world wide.

 

But you see were damned if we do an damned if we don't. The feds took control of the pipeline, and financially, it hasn't been a joy. 

 

Other than the pipeline, when it comes to oil and gas, the government is pulling in lots of tax, from the initial royalties, through the supply chain, and at the pump.

[King Heffy]

19 hours ago, Warhippy said:

I own shares in energy companies, oil and gas specifically in various forms.

 

But part of our issue is our oil has one buyer, one refiner.  The US.

 

How insane is it that we allow our most vital resource to be bought for so little and sold back to us for so much?

 

Having an absolute floor for oiler prices and an absolute ceiling in Canada for Canadian oil and fuel would save us so much issue.  That was part of the idea wasn't it?  To ensure canadians were in charge of their own energy destiny and not beholden to a corporation or foreign power?

 

Look at us now.  

The NEP would have been looked back on as one of the best pieces of legislation alongside Medicare and CPP if it had survived.