Inflated Importance
We're turning our focus to the devastation inflation that we've all be facing throughout this year. We're taking a look at a new study from the University of Calgary that outlines why inflation hits low-income households especially hard, record profits that companies like Loblaws are making during this time, and some incredibly cringe advice that the media is giving to consumers.
We also have some on the ground reporting from the Pope's visit to Edmonton. We discuss the clearing of homeless encampments from the area surrounding the Sacred Heart church, the problematic messaging embedded into the Pope's activities here, and whether or not meaningful change can ever even be achieved through symbolic gestures.
Edmonton Police Remove Homeless Encampments for Pope’s Visit
🎵 Intro Music – “Not Alone” by Melafrique
Oumar Salifou (Host)
Okay. Well, we’re just talking about how difficult it is to start episodes. But, I’m joined here today with Nicholas. Thank you for listening to today’s episode and tuning in. And it’s been a little while since our last episode, but we checked in with me last time. I had just quit my job. And yeah, now I’m kind of starting new things. But Nicholas, how have you been doing lately?
Nicholas (Producer)
Well, starting new things? What does that mean? I feel like we left the last episode on a bit of a cliffhanger there, so maybe you owe everyone here a little bit of an update.
Oumar
Yeah. Okay, that’s fair. I’d say it’s mostly been either finishing or starting new freelance projects around the work that I’ve done, whether it’s writing or podcasting. But I’d say I’m definitely excited by some of the new people I’ve been able to work with and also potential new job offers. But I don’t want to jinx myself. I don’t want to throw anything off. So I’ll probably keep it at that for sure.
Nicholas
Okay. Yeah, that’s fair. I don’t want to jinx anything for you too, but I definitely hope there’s some good opportunities coming your way.
Oumar
Yeah, we were planning on doing this episode today with an interview with Prairie Sage Protectors. They describe themselves as “new and experienced organizers who saw a need for a more unified and radical response across the prairies to the ongoing and escalating oppression of the state and its agents.” And a lot of it, I think, was spurred around 2020 and what was going on.
And we did an episode around Camp Pekiwewin and what was going on there. So I think it's another group in Edmonton that’s trying to take matters into their own hands and trying to enact direct community change through resources. So do you want to maybe talk about ways that listeners can support them and how to find more information maybe?
Nicholas
Yeah, totally. So they have like an ongoing GoFundMe and we’re supportive of them here on the show, so definitely go and contribute to that. It looks like they’re a lot under what they had set as the fundraising goal. I’m not sure how much that was actually meant to be a budget, or if they just kind of put a high cap there in order to make it clear that they’re going to be open to donations on an ongoing basis.
But they’re like regularly running food and clothing drives and just providing different kinds of opportunities to help out in the community, so follow them on socials as well. And on their socials, here’s a banger from Canada Day. They tweeted out: “The most Edmonton thing you can do: evict unhoused disabled Treaty 6 Ndns off ancestral ceremonial lands in 2020 , fence it off for 2 years, charge anyone for trespassing and allow Settlers to park over our ancestors so they can celebrate our genocide #CancelCanadaDay”
And the photo here is a bunch of pickup trucks parked, I guess, at the camp Pekiwewin site. I’m guessing to attend festivities or whatever at the legislature or to watch fireworks. So yeah, pretty insulting, And I think they really nailed it there.
Oumar
Yeah, I was in the area. And if you notice, there’s a baseball diamond across the field from where the campsite was. And whenever there’s games, they use that as a parking lot as well.
Nicholas
Oh, really?
Oumar
Yeah. You know, everyone can take advantage of the land. Except for people who arguably have the most right to actually take advantage of it.
Nicholas
We still have baseball games here?
Oumar
Technically, we do. Yeah, exactly. You’re not the only one, I think, who’d be confused by that.
Nicholas
I know there’s a baseball diamond there. I didn’t think it was being used for anything.
Oumar
Mm-hmm. Yeah. College kids in the States come to Edmonton of all places, to play summer college baseball. Well, it’s not college baseball technically, but they’re all college kids, right?
Nicholas
Right. Well, and that I guess that would explain why — that would be such a draw that, of course, they would need that space for parking. So yeah, that checks out.
Oumar
Exactly.
Nicholas
Yeah. So anyways, hopefully we’ll be able to get them on the show. But I guess that’s also the nature of this work. Obviously, people whose voices and perspectives we’re trying to amplify are typically not the people who have like a PR team or who have like representatives always just going out and doing interviews. So yeah, sometimes it makes it a little bit challenging to do interviews, but we’re also not trying to necessarily just book interviews with the kind of people who are very ready with their talking points to get out there.
I guess like people who may be working more in politics or connected to some of these more powerful institutions. So yeah, look out for that in the future, but please try and support them in the meantime if you can.
And yeah, I guess following up from last month’s episode where we touched on a few more topics related to labour, we’re going to be diving a little bit more into the current inflation situation. Obviously, inflation has been wild this year, and the June numbers were just higher than ever. So that’s definitely something we want to dig into more — how that’s affecting people, and how the media’s covering it, and how corporations are continuing to take advantage of the situation to the tune of more profits than ever.
Nicholas
But we just wanted to start off the episode with something pretty significant that happened in Edmonton this past week, and that’s kind of tying a little bit back to the topic of encampments that we were just on.
Oumar
Mm-hmm. Yeah. So the Pope was in Edmonton this week to deliver what was called by him, I think it was like a penance or apology tour. And where the Pope was supposed to visit, it’s this church called Sacred Heart. And then there was also a service as a Commonwealth [Stadium]. But around the Sacred Heart community is definitely at the heart of a lot of Edmonton’s homeless crisis, a lot of the drug poisoning crisis. And I think we all know that Indigenous people are very much so overrepresented in the homeless population.
So before the Pope came to Edmonton and held the mass at the church, this tweet essentially is testifying what a lot of people essentially witnessed. And here I’m just quoting from it. It says: “In prep for [the Pope coming to Edmonton], EPS cleared all encampments within a five block radius. The folks who got displaced are residential school Survivors. Here’s my message to him. Apology without reparations rings hollow survivors still live here.”
And people went as far as going to the church and actually laying out an orange banner at the front of the church saying “Survivors still live here.” I feel like it kind of ties back with what you’re saying. These are very Edmonton things to do. It’s just like, bulldozing over the reality that people are still facing in order to get into this symbolic ritual that we’re going to talk about later — whether or not this actually has any impact on basically anyone.
And I was actually there on the ground for a little bit. Nicholas, you’ll talk a little bit more, too, about how you were able to kind of see things first hand. But my experience is relatively limited. I was recording a service at Sacred Heart before the Pope was there. So kind of a rehearsal, but also capturing what typically happens at that church. So you were at Commonwealth, right Nicholas? So do you want to maybe say what that experience was like and what you noticed?
Nicholas
Yeah, totally. We’ve got some exclusive Is This For Real? on the ground reporting here. It’s kind of a coincidence that we were just both doing stuff related to this Pope visit.
Sorry, but I guess before we actually go into that, I do just want to mention — the whole idea of papering over the so-called “bad,” bad-looking parts or sides of Edmonton’s core, that’s something we talked about related to the Oilers in past episodes and how, during the playoffs, but obviously just throughout the whole development of the Ice District, it’s all been about how can we basically push people out of this area in order to make that space appear more sanitary or more welcoming for a certain clientele that has money?
And it was the same kind of idea and pushing people out of Camp Pekiwewin when the Rossdale residents — I think they were just kind of like complaining about there being this unsightly gathering, ironically in “their” so-called neighborhood. So yeah, there’s really this kind of tendency to try and hide the places that don’t look good.
And it’s especially ironic here because the Pope is supposedly coming here to apologize for residential schools and the trauma and the legacy that that carries forward to this day. And it’s impossible to separate that legacy. Like that legacy is so tied to today’s homelessness crisis, right?
And here’s an opportunity to get more eyes on the issue, to get more people talking about it and to really make that issue visible and tie those things together. Yet that instinct to cover up those blemishes only serves to actually downplay that legacy and downplay that issue and make it seem like the Pope is coming here to apologize for something that’s in the past, that we moved on from already, that doesn’t really have much bearing on the present, and that almost doesn’t really need to be addressed in as significant a way as it truly does.
Oumar
So one of the events that happened when the Pope came to visit and was at Maskwacis, on Indigenous territory. There was someone who went up and started singing and immediately what the media reaction was to this very powerful, very emotional moment, was to label these words that were said as O Canada. And then really use this moment to relish in the Canadian-ness of it, and and how it really shows this deep seeded connection between Indigenous people and Canada, and how we can really relish in our cultural and our national symbols — only for the real news to come out that the intention of this Cree singer was never to sing O Canada. The national anthem may be similar to the actual song that this person was trying to sing, but it had no relation.
But we quickly jumped on to that as some way to pump the typical Canadian national lingo that, in my opinion, is incredibly surface level. And at its core, I think carries a lot of either meaningless messages, or very colonial messages that needed to be pumped into what this person was doing.
Nicholas
Yeah. And that’s another really good example of the way that we try to avoid confronting hard truths or confronting anything that’s going to make us uncomfortable. This is after they gave Pope Francis the traditional headdress, which is obviously kind of a problematic and disturbing symbol. Like, what is that supposed to mean? I thought this whole thing was about breaking down that colonial influence and challenging institutional power.
But apparently she was basically telling him to take it off. And the way that it was covered, the way the media jumped to covering it… because what she was singing was in the tune of O Canada, the way the media covered it was just as a moving rendition of O Canada.
And yeah Oumar, as you mentioned, I was at the mass in Edmonton at the Commonwealth Stadium, I was playing cello there. And something similar happened. I’m actually not still not even really sure because this isn’t something where like, a new truth came out afterwards, and this actually wasn’t actually part of the actual live stream. I just said actually like three times there.
But yeah, this wasn’t part of the livestream because prior to the start of the livestream, they had basically a pre-show where there was other stuff going on. Chief Phil Fontaine made a speech that was actually pretty good, but that wasn’t included in the livestream. And there were these throat singers who were going to come up and give a performance. And before their throat singing performance, they sang O Canada, but it was never announced that it was going to be O Canada.
Personally I agree, I don’t think it would make sense for them to be singing O Canada. I think that also would be deeply problematic considering the Canadian government was, of course, very complicit and culpable in the residential school systems, and is obviously responsible for the oppression of Indigenous peoples in the first place and continuing to this day. So the singing of O Canada, especially during a — well, the singing of O Canada kind of any time, but especially during an event that’s meant to symbolize the penance or atonement for that legacy and that dark history would be incredibly counterintuitive.
So anyways, they start singing this tune that kind of sounds like O Canada, but it is kind of more in like a wailing style. And everyone in the stadium, as soon as they start to feel like, “oh this is to the tune of O Canada,” everyone stands up. And yeah, I think I’m still not really sure. I mean, I hope it was meant to be a similar kind of subversion of O Canada, whether that’s as a form of resistance, or assertion, or otherwise some kind of challenge to the framework that they were being made to act within. I hope that’s what it was, but that’s definitely not how the crowd interpreted it. So yeah, something kind of similar that I saw happen at the mass there.
Oumar
Yeah, it's very difficult. And one thing I think that I didn’t think about before was all the power dynamics that are at play there, and the difficult position that a lot of people find themselves in, in front of what we’re often told is the centre of power, these large institutions and the leaders at the top of that.
So I think when someone like that comes to town, people view that within a different light. Like we’re somehow privileged, or we're fortunate to have someone extend themselves this far, someone this powerful. So I think people almost internalize and react in that way, when the reality is that this is a penance trip. The dynamics should be almost flipped. But I think even in that situation, it’s not adequate for the victims and people who’ve had their whole culture go under genocide essentially.
Nicholas
Yes, exactly. Why are the victims of the crime that the Pope has supposedly come to atone for… Why are the victims kind of expected to feel honoured to be in that space or in that presence? Why are they, in fact, honouring the Pope with a headdress? As if he is the colonial ruler come to ask for a tribute from his foreign lands. It’s definitely the same kind of vibes as Prince William going around the world, and people in poor nations are supposed to feel so honoured to be in his presence.
And when people were asking me what it was like to be at the mass there, something I’ve been saying is that it almost felt like I was living in medieval times. And I mean that in, I guess a few different ways. Basically, when the Pope came in his Popemobile, there was like a big crowd of people on the floor level of the stadium — everyone got up and everyone’s kind of moving around the stadium. Obviously, it’s fenced so no one can actually get to the Pope. But everyone’s trying to get to the closest spot in that area to the Pope. And as the Pope is driving around the stadium, making a full circle, the whole crowd there is making a full circle as well to just stay as close as they can to him.
So there’s those kind of vibes. When you see those kind of medieval times or medieval fiction depicted here in media, this is the kind of reverence that people have for the monarch. And that’s the kind of respect that this ruler commands among the peasants or whatever, among the common folk.
And in the backdrop of all this too, they brought out these Dene drummers to be drumming the whole time as Pope Francis is making his way around the stadium. And he’s like blessing babies along the way, so I want to say this was like 10 minutes or something where he’s like slowly making his way around the stadium to the front. And the whole time there’s these Dene drummers here.
So there’s those kind of power dynamics too, where it’s like, “the focus is on Pope Francis. We’re clearly here to honour him. We’re here to pay our respects to him. And members of the subjugated class are given the role of entertainment or meant to kind of announce his greatness’, or his holiness’ entrance or his arrival. So yeah, upon reflection I feel like that is also kind of problematic.
But Oumar, something I think we were talking about before too is that we can keep nitpicking how symbolism came across, or whether this was presented or curated in an appropriate manner, or in a way in which the right message would come across effectively. But I think something we’ve also been asking is “what use even is there to symbolic gestures? What change can even come about from a symbolic apology?”
Oumar
I think that’s incredibly important to ask, Nicholas. And I feel like, without asking that question, the entire trip… I feel like this entire experience was for nothing. Because what people were saying is that this is supposed to be centred around the lives of Survivors. And Survivors have families. There’s a larger community. And we all know that, I at least I hope we know of the struggles that, , Indigenous people are facing. And some of the statistics are pretty baffling, especially the ones around incarceration and health. Those ones really jump out at me, how remarkably different your life is if you’re Indigenous compared to if you’re an immigrant, if you’re white.
So this entire event and its symbolic meaning feels very meaningless and feels very useless in the face of the action needed and the concrete, the material action needed to actually live up to whatever this symbolic action was supposed to be. Because if it’s just a “book closed, we’ve done what we needed to do” situation, then it’s almost that it happened in some ways. I guess we’ll see how it goes down, but it's very conflicting to watch the symbolism being put on a pedestal in many ways.
Nicholas
Yeah. And I mean, people know that this is getting a lot of visibility. Like we said earlier, it is an opportunity for visibility and discussion. And I think there’s a lot of cause in this moment for, “the Pope should take this opportunity to denounce the doctrine of discovery.” Or like “it was problematic to give him this headdress.” And I think a question that would come out of that is like, “would that meaningfully advance the agenda of decolonization?”
Like, “okay great, we didn’t give him a headdress. Now is that advancing that decolonization process?” Yeah, I don't know. I think we want to have faith that change can come about following symbolic gestures. But I think that’s kind of the hopefulness in us as humans. But I think that’s always repeatedly proven wrong.
And I think a really good example of this is just in the Canadian government which, as we mentioned before, is almost like mainly responsible for the legacy of colonization that carries forward to this day. They’ve given official apologies for the residential school systems. So what came about from that? Justin Trudeau was here to welcome the Pope, but he kind of just acts almost as if, as the Canadian government, we’ve moved past that. There’s been the apology. And so that’s it. Now we’re on the same side, right? We've been proven wrong already. So what do we think will happen after the Pope’s apology?
Oumar
Mm-hmm. Definitely, that context is important. That context matters, and I think it informs not only our expectations, but also maybe the action or the direction that energy should be pointed towards. Because yeah, getting wrapped up in what happened with the Pope and all the implications definitely can feel like it’s almost leading to nowhere given what we’ve seen before. Definitely.
Inflation Hits Low-Income Households Especially Hard
Nicholas
So we wanted to turn our attention to the inflation situation, or I guess the inflation crisis at this point. You know, we’re all feeling it. Different people to different degrees. And that’s what this new study here is laying out. The article covering this is in the Globe and Mail and the study is from the University of Calgary. And the headline here is Provinces leaving behind low income families as inflation surges: study.
Oumar, how have you been doing amidst the inflation here?
Oumar
(Laughs). Well, not that great honestly. I think my first reaction is to laugh, because one of my biggest coping mechanisms is just using the — you can find humour in a lot of things, but it’s been incredibly difficult financially. I feel like the more progress I make, the more I find I somehow fall behind, because expenses are just such a big part of the amount of money I make. So it really, I think, has put into perspective just the reality in this economy where the more you make, the easier it is to live empirically because you don’t have as much of a risk of just running out of money. Or you don’t have to worry or have the anxiety that comes with being unsure where your ability to survive will come from. Because I think that ability is fundamentally tethered to your employability and your ability to make money in whatever way possible.
So yeah, it’s not been the best year for me. But I think I’m coming out of the other side of it almost with a newfound pragmatism, because I feel like I’ve understood that there’s no other route to survival outside of making money. Maybe I can marry rich, or get a sponsor. But yeah, these are the options for most people, and I’m definitely in that boat.
Nicholas
Yeah. I mean, I want that for you. (Laughs) To marry rich.
Oumar
(Laughs) I want that for me too!
Nicholas
Yeah. I mean something that I’ve been struck by, especially throughout the rapidly rising gas prices, is how people just have no choice. Like you think about how the gas price has more than tripled since the lowest point during the start of the pandemic there, and how quickly everyone just kind of has to get used to what the new price is. Right? You complain about it at the moment that it goes up, and pretty soon you’re like, “well, that’s just that’s just what it is and everyone just has to deal with it.”
So anyways, the gist of this article and this study from the University of Calgary is basically that inflation impacts low income people especially hard, and that homelessness rates — we were just talking about homelessness earlier in the episode — homelessness rates are just inevitably going to increase because of this if more isn’t done to curb inflation.
So these are stats I’m sure everyone’s everyone’s heard at this point. But “a recent Statistics Canada report showed the consumer price index reached 8.1% year over year in June after a 7.7% gain in May, the largest yearly change since 1983.” And apparently this suggests that inflation isn’t going to cool down for at least another two years because we’re still coming out of COVID. The Bank of Canada has been increasing interest rates, and obviously there’s an ongoing World War III in case anyone didn’t notice.
So yeah, the article goes on to say “the index, the consumer price index can be helpful to understand the strain on middle income households, but it’s a terrible measurement to understand the impact to lower income households, which spend a significantly larger portion of their budget on shelter and food.” And Oumar, that’s exactly what you were talking about here, where it’s lower income households where the inflation is making the difference between breaking even and not being able to survive, or having to go without something that you need. And for middle income or higher income people who might have more of a safety net or who might already be in a situation where they are growing their savings or putting aside money, it’s not really impacting them the same way.
Oumar
No, it's a very fundamental change. And I feel like, because there is so little solidarity, broadly speaking, between different parts of the working class, it makes communicating this difference and maybe understanding it a little bit more difficult. But I think for those who experience it and maybe fluctuate in their life between different phases, it’s so easy to understand how much this impact is so much deeper when 80% of your budget goes towards paying rent and food, and then that extra 20% is already so minimal. Yeah, it's very different versus someone who, like you said Nicholas, is paying like 20% of their income towards those necessities or maybe a little bit more. It makes a huge difference.
And in Alberta, like this article’s saying, we have the lowest percentage of social assistance income indexed to inflation. But still, this idea that social assistance should be indexed to inflation still falls under. The problem with the fact that inflation isn’t necessarily the only marker that we can use to dictate whether or not people should be receiving more than they currently are. Because if we’re only using inflation, I think we’re definitely missing a lot of other indicators that people’s lives are unaffordable, or that they can’t plan for how things are going to be more expensive in the future if they don’t have access to more money, basically.
Nicholas
Yeah. I mean, not to mention that even indexing to inflation, let’s say on a month to month basis, ignores the fact that as inflation rises month to month, people still have to pay those costs. And then if the social assistance isn’t indexed until the month afterwards, it’s just like inherently lagging and not even meeting the bar. So already indexing social assistance programs to inflation is a very low bar, yet only 32% of social assistance in Alberta for lone parents is indexed to inflation. And for single adults without kids, it’s only 3%.
So we’re not even meeting that really low bar in Alberta. And by the way, Alberta is the lowest out of all the provinces here for indexing social assistance income to inflation.
Oumar
Between index and wage conversations and poverty conversations, I think all of this leads somewhere. Or at least it has an impact and a consequence, and the impact and the consequence is poverty. And I think that is not only shown in how many homeless people there are and how much that has grown since the pandemic. It basically doubled in Edmonton. But also things like food banks. So the demand of the Edmonton Food Bank, for example, doubled since 2020 as well, and rising costs for food also make it difficult. So services that I think are accessible and open and serving working class families, I think across the board, feel that strain when people aren’t able to support themselves.
And I think it also cascades into so many other things. The lack of control in your own life can, I think, lead to a lot of personal turmoil and doubt and questioning, because I think ultimately there is a certain satisfaction — or at least like it’s important for people to know that they can rely on themselves. But when that’s taken away, or when people still continue to work and they still aren’t able to get where they need to be, I think there's a crisis. There’s a crisis that needs solving, essentially. Definitely.
Nicholas
Yep. And then this article just ends here with basically saying that “for every 1% increase in rent relative to income, there will be a 2% increase in the prevalence of homelessness.” That seems really, really sensitive actually. And I think a stat like that just highlights how easy it can be to become homeless. And as you just mentioned, there is double the demand at the Edmonton Food Bank right now compared to at the start of the pandemic. And we already know that homelessness has become just so much more prevalent throughout the pandemic, and tying that to lack of support from the city and the province. So yeah, this should be a pretty big call for help here.
Loblaws Makes Record $387M Profit in Q2 as Inflation Soars
Oumar
Absolutely. And I feel like framing it within “these are intentional actions in a war against poor people,” I think really is a good way to frame it. And I feel like there are a lot of people who are participating in this. We talked about the government with social assistance, but there are also a lot of companies that are profiting from inflation, that are making a lot of money using government subsidies, whether it’s from oil and gas that we’ve seen recently as the provincial government Alberta has done, but most notably with groceries in Canada.
So Loblaws has seen sales growth that has been staggering, in the millions and millions of dollars since the pandemic has started. And that has kind of cooled off a little bit recently, but it’s still been in stark contrast to how they’ve treated their workers, which has included cutting back on the COVID wage benefit. So $2 extra, that these workers got on top of the already dangerous work that they are doing, has been clawed back. So when you combine that with all these rising costs of living, it feels like there’s nowhere for people to turn, Nicholas.
And it’s ridiculous when Loblaws is making $387 million more money, it just doesn’t make any sense. And that’s just quarter 2 profit jumps. So that’s not even accounting for an entire year of profit.
Nicholas
Yeah, that’s just their — Loblaws’ Q2 profit was $387 million. And I just need to add, that’s without the bread price fixing scheme, which they “discovered” back whenever that was. Yeah. I think just, throughout the last few months, we’ve been pretty inundated with this stark contrast between companies making record profits and people losing their jobs or being subject to inflation. And then people getting used to the inflation because, as we just said, you don’t have a choice. And then the fact that people have gotten used to inflation, companies then piggyback off of that to raise their prices even more because they know people are just kind of stuck having to pay more. And then that drives inflation further.
And I mean, companies have just been explicitly bragging to their shareholders about this. So it’s not even it’s not even like it’s a secret.
Oumar
No, not at all. And this was even more stark at the peak of the pandemic when companies like Amazon, for example, were making record profits. But now that things have really quieted down pandemic-wise — not saying that COVID is over — but I think it makes it easier to lose sight of how much better companies are doing compared to workers, and how much that discrepancy and that huge gap isn’t being addressed meaningfully for people.
And the status quo is just prevailing in so many meaningful ways. And one way that I think this is happening is through media coverage that’s really favourable to businesses, but I think that also puts personal responsibilities onto consumers, as if you can budget your way out of record high inflation, or you can budget your way out of poverty wages by strategically making purchases when they’re necessary or not necessary.
If the media was critical of who they should be critical of, or at least the people who have influence to change the situation, there would be much heavier criticism of Loblaws and and less advice columns on how to save money or how to budget on pennies, basically.
Media Responds to Record Inflation by Blaming Consumers
Nicholas
Yeah. Coming close to the end of the episode here are a couple fun examples from the last few days that we gathered from Global News. Maybe some of you saw that Bloomberg graphic that was going around for a while. It’s like, “how deal with inflation” and it was like, “try eating lentils instead of beef, don’t buy in bulk.” And then the third point was just, “no one said this would be easy,” and that was it. Oh yeah, and the article headline there was like “inflation is going to hit you especially hard if you make less than $300K a year.” And then those were the coping mechanisms — try lentils instead of meat, don’t buy in bulk, and no one said this would be easy.
So anyways, we’re basically getting into that level here of cringe. I guess this is basically bringing a bit of our Cringe Corner into the episode. But here's one that just says — it’s called, “Rising inflation eating into young Canadians’ disposable income: ‘It’s insane’.” “It’s insane” was in quotes. So already right off the bat here the headline is framing it as like, “oh boo-hoo, your disposable income is being eaten into. Young Canadians, you have it so easy. Who cares if your disposable income is being eaten into, you shouldn’t be living so lavishly anyway.” So you can tell what the framing is right off the bat.
And then let's see who they talk to in this article. So “Deborah, who lives in Toronto and has been working as a front-end developer for the last two years…” Okay. So not exactly, I would say, representative of the working class. Actually, let’s see what the front-end developer… (typing).
Oumar
Well, I feel like that’s also a very strategic play from the journalists or even the people answering the questions in this whole framing, is that these are people who could probably afford to make some of these suggested cuts or, like we’re talking about, some small lifestyle changes aren't meaningful. But when someone’s margin for error in their monthly budget is like negative $5 and they don’t know how they’re going to pay for everything they have to pay for to survive, then these really don’t apply. But if you’re a front-end web developer in Canada’s biggest city, your salary probably makes you enough money that you can be flexible. Yeah, you can enact whatever change you need to fit with whatever times you’re in. But it’s just not representative of what’s going on for the vast majority of people.
Nicholas
Okay, yeah. I just looked it up. Front-end developer average salary in Toronto is $90,000 per year. That’s lower than I thought it was. But I guess a front-end developer in Canada at Amazon, it says, is $134,000. This is just off of Indeed. So I don’t know if that’s accurate or not, but even if those numbers are lower than they actually are, that, I would say, is still not representative of the kind of person being truly affected by inflation in the way that we talked about earlier in the episode.
So anyways, sure. Deborah is a front-end developer in Toronto. Let’s see a little bit more about her situation and what kind of advice she has. Deborah says rent is the major variable, eating away at her income and ability to save for big goals like buying a house. “As for easing discretionary spending, Deborah is scaling back on outings to restaurants and bars, and not even bothering with concerts, noting how often they’re getting cancelled. “Instead of ‘Let’s go here, here, here, here,’ it’s more like ‘OK, let’s go here and let’s share something.’ Maybe I won’t buy a second drink,” she said. “Or, you know, I might have friends over and we’ll split Uber Eats or something like that just seems a little more conscientious.” “It’s more like, okay, let’s go here and share something. Maybe I won’t buy a second drink,” she said. Travel is one activity she was hoping to get back into, but is holding off because plane tickets and accommodations have gotten pricier. The outgoing delays at airports is another factor influencing her decision.”
Okay, this is — like the things that are being talked about here… It almost seems like they just made up this person Deborah, and gave them quotes to try and paint a picture of young Canadians as living excessively extravagant lifestyles. Like, “oh boo-hoo, maybe you won’t have a second drink.” And “instead of let’s go here, here, here, it’s more like let’s go here and share something.” Like that quote there is just written to try and perpetuate the stereotypes of millennials as just spending too much.
Oumar
No, absolutely. And I feel like it’s very alienating to read something like this and to… If you’re taking this at face value, I feel like you can definitely have feelings of inadequacy or question how you match up with these people that are living in this world where it’s like, the option is between 1 drink or 2. And that’s what this monumental economic crisis and inflation means to you. It's the difference between 1 drink or 2, not whether or not you’re going to be homeless, or whether or not you’re going to have food in your fridge. And I feel like it’s dishonest because you’re right, this is not representative of anyone and it almost feels made up.
Nicholas
Yeah. And I mean this is how the media wants to think about inflation. They don’t want you to think about it as companies like Loblaws raising their prices and making a record $387 million in profit in Q2 alone. They want you to think about it as your responsibility. And if you are being hit hard from inflation, it’s just because you failed to scale back your extravagant spending.
So anyways, sure. Maybe they made up this person, Deborah. Maybe Deborah’s position as a front-end developer in Toronto isn’t representative of the working class. But let’s see who else they talk about in this article. Maybe the next person that they mention will be more representative of the kind of person who is hit really hard by inflation.
So “Jen Chae, who grew up in Toronto...” Oh okay, another Toronto story. “...is a marketing professional in the fintech industry…” Oh okay, fintech. “...and has been working and living abroad for the past several months. She now lives in Switzerland, where she said she is making significantly more money and has been able to save more money than she did while working in the city she was raised in.” What? Who are these people? How are they finding these people, and why are they talking to them?
Oumar
It’s not only that, but like in the context of Switzerland as a country. I highly recommend any listener go and look up what it’s like to be from Switzerland. And not only that, but how difficult it is to immigrate there and to work successfully, and how expensive the society is. So yeah, it’s baffling who these people are and how this is framed as yeah, just young Canadians. These are young Canadians, yeah.
Nicholas
And then they talk to a personal finance expert apparently, who says “to get through inflationary periods like this one, budgeting is imperative. She advises young professionals to set up “sinking funds,” which are reserves of money set aside for different expenses, and oftentimes bigger expenses. Every month you put money in one or multiple funds to be used for a later date.”
Oumar, why haven’t I thought about this? Why haven’t you thought about this?
Oumar
That imaginary money sitting in my account, I should be moving into another fake account.
Nicholas
Yeah, you just have to set up a sinking fund for it.
Oumar
I completely miss the bag, that's my bad. My bad. Yeah.
Nicholas
Yeah. So anyways, that was your first mistake. “Additionally, she suggests going back to some of the low-cost activities from the early days of the pandemic, whether it be picnics, walks or bike rides, in order to save some cash while maintaining a social life.”
Oumar
Hmm, interesting. And also, I love how this reinforces the idea that poverty is a series of personal decisions that leads to an undesirable state, that can then be reversed through a series of personal decisions — better, more positive ones. And no structural influence or impact beyond the individual who, like I said, makes these decisions on yourself. Ignore the reason why this keeps happening to millions of people. It seems like that’s what’s happening here. It’s very infuriating for sure.
Nicholas
Yep. And the last piece of advice from this expert here is “with the potential of a recession looming, Nelson…” that’s the finance expert. “...Nelson is encouraging young professionals to bulk up their emergency savings accounts or create one if they haven’t already.”
In case you missed the memo, the whole premise of this article is that people are being hit hard by inflation. What kind of position do you think people are in to bulk up or create an emergency savings account if they don’t already have one?
Oumar
At a certain point, we’re going to have to start thinking of looking outside of this like capitalist ideology to create answers, because it’s getting to the point now where the contradictions are becoming so obvious. And like, it’s almost at the surface level. But obviously we’re all still living in this. But I don’t know, it might just get weirder, we might just keep seeing this. But you’re right, how can you spend money that you don’t have, how can you move money that you don’t have in the context of an economic crisis that’s impacting people and causing them to have less money? Unless, of course, you have some connection to Switzerland, or you work in this very — I don’t want to say very small, but comparatively small industry — to what almost everyone else is doing.
Nicholas
Yeah. I mean it doesn’t even have to be a small industry, it’s just that it doesn’t really represent what most people are going through. So using those examples in an article here that is supposedly giving a more holistic view of how young Canadians are holding up through this inflation crisis…
The more we’re talking about it, I think there's the angle that this article is maybe trying to pin more of the responsibility on you. But I definitely think that anybody who’s been hit hard by inflation reading this just knows how unrealistic it is. So I think maybe more of the purpose of this article is to try and just shape more of a narrative around inflation not being a big deal and not really needing to be something that we address, or that anyone pays any kind of political price for, or that needs to lead to any kind of systemic change.
And they really try to drive that point home in how they end their article here because they say, “despite all the economic uneasiness right now, there is a segment of young professionals who aren’t overly worried.” So as if what they just talked about, the front-end developer in Toronto and the fintech worker who moved to Switzerland, those were their examples of economic un-easiness.
So here’s their example of young professionals who aren’t worried. “Toronto portfolio manager Charlie Digilakis, says the current economic climate has certainly caught his attention, especially the high gas prices. But he feels confident in the decisions he’s been making amid the trifecta of soaring inflation, high housing prices and rising interest rates. ““I think I’ve been budgeting really well during this time. And, you know, if I have to continue to draw back on some of my expenses that aren’t necessities, then I’ll continue to do that,” he said.”
Well folks, there you have it. That’s all you need to do to stay afloat and to be in a really good spot. Just draw back on some of the expenses that aren’t aren’t necessities and you'll be swimming.
Oumar
Exactly. That is the recipe. The solved inflation. We should thank them.
Nicholas
Yeah. So anyways, that was an article from Wednesday. So Global just hitting us back to back here with bangers —
Oumar
Just to jump in real quick. Global, but originally the Canadian Press.
Nicholas
Oh okay, right. So this was just posted by Global?
Oumar
So reposted, yes. Yes, reposted. So they use the wire service. Not to excuse Global because they’re still platforming of course. But it is a wire story.
Nicholas
Tell me more about the Canadian Press.
Oumar
The Canadian Press is a pretty old institution similar to like the American Press or the Associated Press, where it is focused on news gathering for the sake of news gathering in places and ways that other publications might not be doing, to essentially ensure that they can get the standard story of the day and make sure that that can also be used by anyone else.
So they run a wire service, essentially, where you can pay The Canadian Press, or in some ways I think you can also use it in unpaid ways. But mostly it’s a service for bigger publications to include CP stories in their publications to fill out places that they might not have reported or just get stories in places that they aren’t.
Nicholas
Gotcha. Kind of like resume padding, I guess.
Oumar
Definitely like resume padding (laughs).
Nicholas
Well Global definitely didn’t need it, because they had one of their own coming immediately the day after. And the headline here is “Inflation, high rates putting big purchases on hold? How to budget for must-buys.” So some more problematic headline framing here. Yeah, inflation is only hitting people who are planning big purchases. So I mean, what's the big deal, right?
“Canadians are increasingly shying away from buying big ticket items amid rampant inflation and rising interest rates, new polling shows. But experts say there are ways to adjust your budget when avoiding major purchases isn’t an option.” Anyways, I’m not going to read the whole thing. But they talked to another personal finance expert here who says it’s “prudent to put off big ticket purchases right now.” Well, good thing I read this, because I was definitely going to make a big ticket purchase right now.
Oumar
Oh yeah, that’s true. Right. Like I completely forgot that I was going to buy something very expensive. But then I read this.
Nicholas
Yeah. You were going to redecorate your place, right Oumar?
Oumar
Oh yeah! I’ve been telling you about that German shelving system I’ve been really interested in.
Nicholas
Oh, the Germans know what they’re.
Oumar
Of course.
Nicholas
Well, good thing this article is here to rescue you, because this personal finance expert has told Global that “it can be fruitful to put off major redecorating or expensive trips for a year or 18 months, as you can use that time to save for the project instead.” So I bet you didn’t think about that.
Oumar
Oh, no, no. Definitely did not.
Nicholas
And here’s another pro-tip for you. “Other expenses, such as home appliances or a new vehicle could see price drops during economic downturns.” So this recession could be a really good thing for you if you play your cards correctly, Oumar. ““You may actually get a better deal by waiting, if that is possible for you to do,” she says.”
Oumar
Very interesting. I can wait to find out that I don’t have $10,000 to buy the car that I want, but what’s going to change between now and a year? I guess maybe I’ll work more and more of that money will go towards my increasingly rising basic necessities.
Nicholas
Yeah, and what about a home, you ask? Well, “despite rising interest rates pushing monthly mortgage payments higher, the resulting cooldown in the housing market might actually make it a good time for some buyers to get into a home, according to Leah Zlatkin, a mortgage broker and expert with LowestRates.ca.” That’s really interesting. I wouldn’t have expected that a mortgage broker would be saying that it’s a good time to get into the housing market.
Oumar
When you first read that to me, I think I was pretty shocked. Because it’s not every day that you see someone who works in a field that could directly benefit from the advice that they’re giving, directly benefit from advice that they’re giving. I feel like it’s something special, we should keep reading.
Nicholas
Well no, you do. I mean, I think typically you see people acting in self interest. But mortgage brokers are typically the exception.
Oumar
Ah yes. That’s true.
Nicholas
So that’s why I was just really shocked here. They’re usually completely selfless. Okay. I guess throwing a little curveball in here. This mortgage broker says “The other main factor is your sense of job security as the cooling economy spurs rumblings of a recession and a possible wave of layoffs. “I would be much more concerned about losing a job rather than high rates,” she says.” So she’s telling you, go ahead and buy that house. Don’t worry about the high interest rates. Just worry about keeping your job.
Oumar
It’s something that, like —
Nicholas
You should’ve thought about that before you quit, Oumar.
Oumar
Oh yeah, my bad (laughs). Yeah. Oh man.
Nicholas
But still, not all hope is lost. “For those keen on entering the market, or who are finding their existing mortgage becoming too expensive for their comfort, there are a few strategies to stick to your budget. Zlatkin notes that some government-backed, insured mortgages with five-year, fixed rate-terms are looking like a cheaper option these days. A common solution to mortgage pain, however, is changing your amortization — the amount of time in which you pay back the loan. Adjusting a 20- or 25-year mortgage to a 30-year term results in smaller chunks of monthly payments, Zlatkin says. “If you’re buying and you need to keep numbers low, I would say, look to put down more and look to take a smaller mortgage,” she says.”
Okay, great. Well, there’s some great strategies there for you. Probably the winner there, I would say, is to take out a 30-year mortgage instead of a 20-year. Because if you didn’t know, that will result in smaller chunks of monthly payments.
Oumar
Yeah, it’s the great equation of saving yourself in the short term to screw yourself over in the long term by giving more money that you supposedly don’t have, which is why you’re saving in the first place, or doing these changes? The logic is there. That’s what I’m saying here.
Nicholas
Yeah. I mean, they’re just talking about like record high — not record high, but very high — interest rates right now. And as a mortgage broker, curious that she’s telling you to take out a 30-year mortgage during a time when the interest rates are so high, when in a 30-year mortgage, you’d be paying so much more interest.
So anyways, yeah. Not really sure what’s going on there. But yeah, these are just some of the tips that the media is putting out there for all of you to benefit from and get your lives in order. So, we definitely hope that that’s been really helpful and we’re really happy to platform these helpful self-improvement tips here at Is This For Real?
Oumar
Mm-hmm. No, I’m glad we could end on a positive note with some useful information for people, for sure. And yeah, if any of that didn’t help, then my tried and true method is: if you don’t have any money, just have more money. And then you’ll be find, you know?
Nicholas
Yeah, that works too. And I’m sure the personal finance experts in these articles would probably tend to agree with you, although they might have some strong opinions about where you should be immediately spending that money.
Oumar
Yeah. For sure. I guess the last thing that I maybe want to share, is that I was talking to someone who lives in my building, and they work for a union. And they’re seeing first hand how people’s lives are falling apart. And they raise this question that’s a pretty simple one. What’s going to happen when people can’t afford to buy things, but our economy is based on people building things or making things and people buying them. If your job doesn’t pay you enough to live, how is it going to pay you enough to buy things to uphold the economy? Then what? So I feel like that train, heading in that direction, it’s only heading towards a cliff. But we have no conception or idea that this is happening, let alone what will be across the edge of the end of capitalism or the economy as we know it.
We have this information, though. We had this article (laughs).
Nicholas
That’s right. Why are you still asking that question? We already answered that.
Oumar
Yeah. What am I saying?
Nicholas
Yeah, definitely something we’ll continue to discuss because, as we talked about, inflation isn't going anywhere, and we're dealing with long, ongoing crises that are also not not going anywhere. So yeah, it was really good to talk today and reflect on some of the stuff that has been happening in our city and that we’ve been going through here. Yeah, looking forward to seeing where these conversations continue to go.
Oumar
No, absolutely. And I’m really glad we’re still able to continue doing this, because as long as we’ve been doing it, things have changed and it’s really informed what we’ve been able to talk about. So I’m grateful to have these conversations and grateful for people who are listening. So yeah, thanks for tuning in.
Nicholas
Yep. Also, big thanks to the Patreon supporters. If you remember, we had the Patreon on pause for the first half of this year. So yeah, we had just turned it back on in July. So yeah, thanks very much everyone for the support. Hopefully a lot of this has been resonating with you. And we’ve said this before, but we always welcome feedback and are really happy to just talk with or engage with you anytime on socials or if you want to write to us. Yeah, just stay in touch.
Oumar
For sure.