Canadians are worried about runaway inflation, rising interest rates and their personal finances. Many are burdened with a lot of debt. And a growing number of Canadians are living paycheque to paycheque and just scraping by.
A study published last month by MNP, Canada’s largest consumer insolvency firm, showed that more than 50 per cent of Canadians say they are only $200 away from being unable to meet their financial obligations.
What’s more, according to MNP, two-thirds of Canadians are concerned about their ability to pay their debts due to rising interest rates, and approximately three in five Canadians say they’ll be in financial difficulty if interest rates go much higher. That sort of stress and economic worry is putting a huge strain on a lot of Canadian families.
And here is one of the most shocking statistics regarding the financial well-being of Canadians: 44 per cent of all individuals between the ages of 55 and 64 have less than $5,000 socked away in retirement savings, according to a survey from the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan and Abacus Data released in June. Most of these people, if they retired tomorrow, would not be able to live on those paltry savings for more than a few months.
Governments at all levels in Canada and the United States have spent recklessly for the past three years, igniting and fuelling the wildfire of inflation that has swept through North America, jacking up the price of basic goods. According to MNP, the average Canadian is spending $230 more per week on essential items like food and heat than they were last year.
This bleak situation was backed up by another poll from earlier this year. The annual Economic Outlook study conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights found that the Canadian public was extremely pessimistic about the state of the economy and their own personal finances, with 38 per cent of Canadians saying they are “losing ground” financially, and nearly half of all Canadians voicing frustration over the rising cost of food.
That’s a poor picture of financial health for an advanced country like Canada. It shouldn’t be this way. And what’s most frustrating of all is that it doesn’t need to be this way. This is a problem that can be fixed using simple, proven economic fundamentals.
National Post readers from all parts of the country, from all different walks of life and backgrounds, have shared with me similar feelings of frustration and impatience regarding our economic decline. And who can blame them?
Government spending is out of control. Government red tape and bureaucracy keeps growing. Our national debt is soaring. We’re importing more than we export and watching businesses close up shop or leave. And small businesses — the drivers of job creation and new product development — are bearing the brunt of our economic stagnation. It’s a recipe for economic disaster.
I believe a national movement of concerned citizens could help turn the tide. Canadians are looking for somewhere to turn, something to latch onto. If enough Canadians banded together to create a national movement that advocated common-sense economic solutions, it may have a chance of bringing about change.
The movement would have nothing to do with politics or party platforms. Instead, it would just be laser-focused on fixing our economy and restoring fundamental economic principles that govern the lives of everyday Canadians — principles such as “don’t spend more than you make,” “pay down debt,” “keep your costs low,” “keep the rules simple” and “give people who want to work hard and succeed the opportunity to earn a good living or own and operate their own business.”
There was a time when that sort of thinking was par for the course. But for some reason we’ve let it slip away.
There are many others, including former business executives and political leaders, who are alarmed about the state of our country and worried for our future, and would be willing to get behind a non-partisan coalition that was committed to restoring Canada’s economic health and prosperity.
There’s a lot of work to be done. But if the coalition succeeds in turning things around, future generations will thank us.