National

B.C. Premier Eby writes to Bank of Canada governor, urging him to halt rate hikes

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 31 Aug, 2023 11:28 AM

British Columbia Premier David Eby is calling on the Bank of Canada to halt further interest rate hikes.

In a letter Thursday to Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem, Eby urged him to consider the "human impact" of rate hikes.

The Bank of Canada is set to make an interest rate decision next Wednesday.

"While the role of the Bank of Canada is to make decisions about monetary policy, my role as premier is to stand up for people in B.C. and ensure their voices are heard as decisions are made that impact them," said Eby's letter.

"People in B.C. are already hurting," he said. "In your role as governor, I urge you to consider the full human impact of rate increases and not further increase rates at this time."

The letter said the Bank of Canada had raised rates 10 times since March last year, with the current interest rate at five per cent, the highest in 22 years.

Eby also wrote Thursday to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling for a targeted approach to fighting inflation, focusing on housing and infrastructure improvements.

The letter to Trudeau said a focus on such key sectors will have long-term anti-inflationary benefits while growing the economy and improving productivity.

"There are other ways for us to achieve cost stability, but they do require diligence and co-ordination," said the premier's letter to Trudeau. "The time is overdue for such an effort," said Eby. "Ahead of September's rate decisions, I suggest a robust and targeted approach focused on the largest contributors to inflation."

Eby's letter to Macklem said "unnecessary" further interest rate increases pose a danger not just to homeowners looking to renew mortgages but to renters, students, seniors, families and small business people looking to pay bills, just as they start to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Avalanche kills two in B.C.'s backcountry

Search and rescue crews were notified when the victims were reported overdue and their bodies were later recovered from the scene of the avalanche. Avalanche Canada says the area of the slide was highly wind-affected, leaving some parts of the slope thin and rocky, while other sections had up to 130 centimetres of snow.

Avalanche kills two in B.C.'s backcountry

Pandemic support lowered B.C.'s child poverty rate

It's the largest one-year drop in the rate since 2000, but one in eight children were still living in poverty, and the report says rates were "dramatically higher" among children living on First Nation reserves and those who recently immigrated.

Pandemic support lowered B.C.'s child poverty rate

MPs want more earthquake donations matched

The federal government has offered to match up to $10 million in donations to the Canadian Red Cross for their partners on the ground to help people who are suddenly homeless. Conservative, Bloc Québécois and New Democrat MPs want to see that expanded to include other groups, an idea that is supported by at least one Liberal MP, Sameer Zuberi.

MPs want more earthquake donations matched

Canadian's body found in Turkey earthquake rubble

Saad Zora says his twin sister Samar was found earlier today by searchers as an excavator dug through pieces of a five-storey building in the city of Antakya. He said, "Samar was found," and added, "she didn't make it."

Canadian's body found in Turkey earthquake rubble

Across the continent, eyes on the sky — and Norad

Three separate objects were blown out of the sky in as many days over the weekend, a flurry of close encounters that followed what U.S. officials say was a Chinese surveillance balloon that floated across the continent two weeks ago.

Across the continent, eyes on the sky — and Norad

Big grocery store CEOs called to testify in Ottawa

The proposal to hear from the grocery leaders came from NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, and it received unanimous support from Liberal, Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs. Executives from all three companies, as well as Save-On-Foods, have testified at past committee meetings focused on the rising cost of food — but not their CEOs.