Prime Minister Andrew Furey smiled as he spoke to reporters on Wednesday, the last day of the spring session of the House of Assembly. (Curtis Hicks / CBC)
This is a column on politics, prime ministers and the price of vineyards, among other things. We’ll get to the hotdogs in due course; first, though, let’s look at some political hotdogging.
There was a bounce in Andrew Furey’s footsteps and a smile on his face on Wednesday afternoon, just as the House of Assembly was ending its spring session.
Joking with reporters moments before a scrum outside the legislature, Furey noted that he had a little ear in his head. The melody? Beast of Burden, by the Rolling Stones.
This is the 1978 song in which Mick Jagger asks his mistress if he is tough enough, tough enough, and rich enough.
The money was also in Furey’s mind, who will end his second year as prime minister in August.
Furey seemed to be making a round of political victory as he talked about the successes of recent months: a charter flight that brought Ukrainian refugees into the province; the approval of the Bay du Nord offshore oil mega-project and then the reactivation of the West White Rose project; introduction of a $ 15 a day nursery; new measures to help people cope with rising cost of living.
It was this last issue: the fact that everything seemed to cost a lot more than it cost recently and this week’s announcement of some relief measures for the Confederate building, which seemed to encourage Furey more.
In fact, the Prime Minister came to boast about it in the legislature.
Opposition leader David Brasil quoted Furey with questions, seeking a “tangible plan to address the immediate needs” of the province, which he noted has “the highest cost of living, Canada’s highest fuels, and the departure of more people than in Canada “. any other province ”.
David Brasil, the interim opposition leader, accuses the ruling Liberals of not doing enough to cope with rising costs. (House of Assembly)
Furey stepped back and described a call Tuesday night with the other three Atlantic prime ministers.
“They were blown away by what we really did … The other prime ministers in the Atlantic region have done much less for their people,” Furey said.
“Nova Scotia has only made $ 15 million, Mr. President. We’ve made $ 244 million to give back to the people of the province.”
Ai. Furey even doubled out of the legislature, swinging in Nova Scotia in particular. (Let’s not forget that Prime Minister Tim Houston is a progressive Conservative, and let’s not forget that Andrew Furey, the second generation of a powerful Liberal family, hardly criticizes other Liberal governments, especially the one now in power in Ottawa.)
“People need to understand and know that we’ve done … more than 10 times what Nova Scotia has done for its people. And we certainly have the worst tax situation,” Furey told reporters in a scrum .
As if handing out a notebook before the summer break, Furey commented, “I think we’ve done an amazing job.”
All this and the price of the vines
The measures Furey announced earlier this week include a temporary seven-cent reduction in the gas tax, which went into effect on Thursday, a decline that went against the trend of a sharp rise triggered by the February when Russia invaded Ukraine. This tax cut, however, expires in January.
They also include a measure to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour for the next 16 months. This is a goal that is literally in the name of the Fight for $ 15 and justice campaign of recent years. The government is spending several million dollars to subsidize this increase for employers with 20 or fewer employees.
Undoubtedly, things have been difficult for consumers, and it goes far beyond the gas pump.
At grocery stores, every trip feels like a shocking case of stickers, from fresh produce (rarely cheap at best) to cheeses and products you’ve always thought were cheap.
With … sausages.
One of my colleagues noticed a few weeks ago that the witners were selling the package for almost seven dollars at one point. Cartoons would never be anyone’s best protein option (Hint or Protein, my colleague tells them), but on a tight budget, many families depend on them to spend the day.
At a Sobeys store this week, I noticed that the popular Maple Leaf Top Dogs were selling for $ 4.49 each if you bought two 375-gram packs, below the list price of $ 6.99. Sobeys sold a pound of its generic house brand for $ 5.99 a pack, below the usual $ 7.79.
This week, at a Sobeys supermarket in St. John’s, unnamed Fridays have been reduced from a normal $ 7.79 per package price to a $ 5.99 sale price. (John Gushue / CBC)
I was intrigued enough to look at a Statistics Canada database that tracks changes in the price of common foods.
Over the past decade (February 2012 through February), the national average price of a pound of sausage (450 grams) has risen from $ 3.47 to $ 5.48. Wieners hit the $ 5 mark last year, towards the end of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, this is a 58 percent increase.
It’s not just about vineyards, of course. From ramen noodles to bread, from butter to bread, everything seems to be more expensive these days. Fuel costs are affecting the results of families in need.
This is pushing people towards food banks, the supposed curit of the social service system that has become a permanent impetus for the people they face.
In a recent interview with CBC News, Carol O’Brien, who helps run the food bank in St. Mary’s Parish. Kevin in the Goulds area of St. John’s said many more people now, especially the one he described as working poor, are calling now. at his door.
“People come every day. We are getting phone calls [from] people who need a lot of food to put some groceries in their closets, “he said.” Something has to give. They only have a certain amount of money to get to the end of the month. “
Furey told reporters the government is listening to voters. “We fully appreciate and understand the stress and tension this is causing families in our province,” said Furey, who noted that much of what has driven inflation is going so far.
“We will continue to address the global issues, the geopolitical issues that are largely responsible for the cost of living,” he said. “There are only so many levers we can throw. We only have so much money [to spend]or we run the risk of endangering the province in the future. “
Read more about CBC Newfoundland and Labrador