The Trudeau Liberals have failed Canada’s middle class. On taxes, housing, employment, economic growth, health care and income, ordinary working Canadians are worse off than they were in 2015 when the Liberals took over. The latest proof came this week from Statistics Canada’s family income data.
On the surface, the numbers from the latest available year were not that bad: “In 2022, the median family after-tax income of Canadians was $60,800.” That was “up 2.5% from 2021, before adjusting for inflation.
” A 2.5% increase is nothing to get giddy over, but it’s not awful, either. But here’s the kicker: “Adjusted for the annual rate of inflation,” which was 6.
8% that year, “the 2022 median family after-tax income was 4.0% lower than in 2021.” The middle class slid backwards that year.
And while inflation has since fallen back to nearer-normal levels, most Canadians’ pay raises have been small and nearly all of these tiny gains have been eaten up by rising prices. Middle-class Canadians have failed to get ahead since well before the pandemic. This is a double failure because, if you recall, the Liberals ran in 2015 on being the champions of the middle class.
Their campaign platform nine years ago was even called, “A New Plan for a Strong Middle Class.” Needless to say, that plan has backfired. Campaign ads featuring now-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2015 touted taxing wealthy Canadians “just a little,” so the middle class could have more.
Put a.