Canadians Panic As Food Prices Soar On Collapsing Currency
It was just yesterday when we documented the continuing slide in the loonie, which is suffering mightily in the face of oil’s inexorable decline.
As regular readers are no doubt acutely aware, Canada is struggling through a dramatic economic adjustment, especially in Alberta, the heart of the country’s oil patch. Amid the ongoing crude carnage the province has seen soaring property crime, rising food bank usage and, sadly, elevated suicide rates, as Albertans struggle to comprehend how things up north could have gone south (so to speak) so quickly.
The plunging loonie “can only serve to worsen the death of the 'Canadian Dream'" we said on Tuesday.
As it turns out, we were right.
The currency's decline is having a pronounced effect on Canadians' grocery bills.
As Bloomberg reminds us, Canada imports around 80% of its fresh fruits and vegetables. When the loonie slides, prices for those goods soar. "With lower-income households tending to spend a larger portion of income on food, this side effect of a soft currency brings them the most acute stress" Bloomberg continues.
Of course with the layoffs piling up, you can expect more households to fall into the "lower-income" category where they will have to fight to afford things like $3 cucumbers, $8 cauliflower, and $15 Frosted Flakes.
As Bloomberg notes, James Price, director of Capital Markets Products at Richardson GMP, recently joked during an interview on BloombergTV Canada that "we're going to be paying a buck a banana pretty soon."
Have a look at the following tweets which underscore just how bad it is in Canada's grocery aisles. And no, its not just Nunavut: it from coast to coast:
Three bucks. For a cucumber. pic.twitter.com/xGkygxkxqB
— Steve Ladurantaye (@sladurantaye) January 12, 2016
If the CAD $ gets any weaker we might be able to buy groceries with shiny rocks #Canada
— Josh Landine (@joshlandine) January 12, 2016
@sladurantaye Heh. Had a similar reaction when I saw the price of cauliflower. Welcome to the future… pic.twitter.com/fxloxyePY3
— Craig Saila (@saila) January 12, 2016
The cost of Tide detergent in Nunavut: pic.twitter.com/2t2xA1EmYk
— themsteri (@teririch) December 31, 2015
And while some Canadians might think this is a regional phenomenon ...
... folks in the northern parts of the Great White North do have the most cause to cry foul:
No "Jack Nasty" it's not The Great Depression, but as we highlighted three weeks ago, it is Canada's depression and it's likely to get worse before it gets better. "Last year, fruits and veggies jumped in price between 9.1 and 10.1 per cent, according to an annual report by the Food Institute at the University of Guelph," CBC said on Tuesday. "The study predicts these foods will continue to increase above inflation this year, by up to 4.5 per cent for some items."
If you thought we were being hyperbolic when we suggested that if oil prices don't rise soon, Canadians may well eat themselves to death, consider the following from Diana Bronson, the executive director of Food Secure Canada:
"Lower- and middle-class people — many who can't find a job that will pay them enough to ensure that they can afford a healthy diet for their families" — also feel the pinch of rising food prices"
"The wrong kind of food is cheap, and the right kind of food is still expensive."
In other words, some now fear that the hardest hit parts of the country may experience a spike in obesity rates as Canadians resort to cheap, unhealthy foods. As we put it, "in Alberta it's 'feast or famine' in the most literal sense of the phrase as those who can still afford to buy food will drown their sorrows in cheap lunch meat and off-brand ice cream while the most hard hit members of society are forced to tap increasingly overwhelmed food banks."
And the rub is that there's really nothing anyone can do about it.
Were the Bank of Canada to adopt pro-cyclical measures to shore up the loonie, they would risk choking off economic growth just as the crude downturn takes a giant bite out of the economy - no food pun intended.
(59 votes)
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"NUNAVUT, which is Eskimo for "The Fucking Moon"
I'm stealing that.Lol
a 60 cent dollar is great for the gold miners. Canadians will get their gold before Americans... buy up all the shares.
then when USD goes bust, we'll all be sittin pretty and have a good laugh...
You hear me Trudeau?
Check out CAF.A central fund of canada...
CEF.a
I am glad the zionist Ted Cruz is not here anymore... what a relief
And I'm glad you selfishly decided to keep Trudeau all to yourselves and sent Cruz packing off to Texas.
There is a just god who presides over the destiny of nations...
Food is under valued.... that's gonna change this century....
Always loved 4 Strong Winds..... Alberta..... Our good times are all gone......: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBF-x-_BI2c
Bacon a 1.99$ jiant tiger. Food and rent are going up though, and oil, what a scam. I paid $1.20 a liter gas when it was over 120$ a barrel. Now I pay 99 cents for gas, and oil is where, bellow $30. So lets see 30 x 4 = 120 ok factor in a low dollar so gas should be around 40 cents a liter. Its not that low oil prices cant stimulate the economy, it might, if we acually saw any.
Giant tiger? must be chinese bacon.. or is that cat
No its real bacon, but its not the best lots of fat. Giant tiger the best, they alway's have sales on bacon chese, milk and some veggies, The best part they are 100 percent Canadian.
"No its real bacon"
sure it is.....
LOL this was picked up by bloomberg, or is it the other way around?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-13/canadians-are-going-lo...
it's fun to see the exceptional indispensible people gloating as they live on their island in the clouds... ambivilous to the financial issues here on earth with their bullshit FED
"we're going to be paying a buck a banana pretty soon."
I paid CAD$0.48 a pound today. That's about 4 bananas for CAD$1.
Be nice guys, if Cruz wins, a Canadian will be POTUS. Just because he threw away his passport don't mean he isn't a Canuck :)
Cruz is as far from a Canadian as a monkey is from the Antarctic. He is a shame and embarassemnt to all of us here. How he became so vicious and evil is anybody's guess.
That good old time religion will do it every time, turn men into evil
Colorado holds a relatively early caucus and I have been hearing some of the various candidate radio commercials as I drive around.
Never, not in my entire life, have I heard a more direct attack on the duocracy in Washington than from the Ted Cruz commercial I listened to tonight.
Check out "The People's President" at the following link:
http://www.keepthepromise1.com/media/keep-the-promise-radio-ads/
We may not be dead just yet.
Yeh, don't know why, but that guy does not sound sincere, sounds more like a band wagon jumper than a genuine "this time its different" leader of the people
He married a Goldman chick.
And Evil followed....
So they're getting some of that inflation the CBs are so keen on. There must be a wonderful future for Canada just around the corner. There'll be green shoots everywhere.
Here's something for you economic geniuses to chew on. Each and every month now, the Bank of Canada adds another 3 Billion US in reserves, which are now over 80 Billion US, up from 27 Billion 5 years ago. That's what's left after we pay all our bills. Pretty soon that pile is going to reach 150 Billion and when this thing turns around the BOC will start selling dollars right at the top which should yield close to a quarter of a trillion Canadian for health care, infrastructure, job training, business incesntives, tax cuts. A quarter of a trillion is a lot in the Canadian economy. It's 18% of GDP and it will go a long way.
Right now, the Canadian ten year, the most sought after government bond in the world is yielding 1.235% while the US 10 year is at 2.0%. The yield on Canadian dropped 2.22% today alone, that should tell you a lot about where the money is really going. While the US loses business, Canada gains tourists, investment, incoming cash flow, increased business and financial services, increased airline traffic, cross border shopper, the works while you lose jobs, jobs, jobs.
Purchasing power parity for the CAD against the US is 82 cents, so someone stands to make a lot of money when this thing finally snaps back, and it will, sooner or later. The bottom line is this. We are earning way more than we are spending every month and incoming cash flows indicate that most smart investors understand that it is still the Canadian banks, not the US dollar or banks, that is the true safe haven.
So enjoy your coming devaluation and hyperinfation.
we all have our experiences and thoughts...mine is that over the last few months I have met a few canadians, and they want to move here because things are cheaper..have no clue what that means, just telling you what they told me...they were in the western areas.
Albertans are more American than Americans. They should go there and take their guns with them.
No, we should just annex them.
We'll trade ya for Massachusetts, New York, or Illinois. Your choice.
New multi-decade lows in the CAD/USD ain't tellin u that Canada is some kind of safe haven - especially with sub US$50/bbl crude oil prices! The super-low bond yield dividend will vanish as fast as Toronto Maple Leaf play-off chances! Any free cash will be quickly consumed by mammoth 'free' health care & bloated bureaucracy, soaring electricity & hyper-inflating education costs! The consumer is majorly strapped-out @ +165% of disposable income & the Canada's net-debt will be pushing one trillion before long! Even worse - newly installed brain-less socialist/communist/marxist government regimes will be turning up the spending & borrowing momentum! Plummetting housing prices +/or a sub .60 CAD/USD will be the death-knell!
The opposite is just as true. Can anyone tell me why over a few years the greenback should rise 35% above the currency of its biggest trading partner.The economic situation in the US, between debt and joblessness and Obama care, is a disaster.Face it, Yellen has been working on a short squeeze for a couple of years by threatened rate increases and then following through.Canada is just one of many of the USA'S trading partners going through this.Later, when the greenback finally collapses, the Loonie should reach new highs, at least $1.50 to one.ZH will be able to do a find - replace and print this again! Mark my words.
Only if ... the price of oil quintuples, metals prices quadruple, lumber prices triple, gain & livestock prices double etc etc .... while government spending & taxation costs are pared by 50%!
as long as the tickets to go see Rush live in concert dont go up, I am ok...fuck food, just keep the music and beer flowing. gonna die anyway, might as well go out with a smile. I wish there was a war that I could believe in, not a banker war such as all wars faught..Even with my old feeble body, I would friggin go out and get 100 of them before they got me...its called spirit...as when david went against goliath...somebody bring an honest war, I feel like fighting. lol
I wonder if Canadians are responsible for the recent uptick in PM prices. Scary thought.
This....Cannot....BE....
Jim Cramer said that the collapse of oil must be FUCKIN' AWESOME FOR EVERYONE!!! BULL MARKET TIME BABY!!
How much is Spam?
Not a problemo! Canada just elected a fresh-faced, climate change fighting, pot smoking, First Nations wannabe, enlightend neo-progressive, former substitute elementary school drama teaching prince charming to lead the country thru the current economic mine-field! And if that ain't enough - he's got prime-time backup with an inspired NDP communist feminist in Alberta & a criminal super-spending-socialist feminist lezbo & former elementary school trustee in Ontario! And of course let's not forget the Keynesian super-hero central banker who thinks massive debt creation, money printing and a .50 cad/usd would be just what the doctor ordered! I ask you? What could possibly go wrong when the Dream Team is large and in charge?
Whats with all the comments from us Canadians? I thought we were all hibernating. Fuck the sun hasn't been above the horizon since november.
Well at least where these grocery's are being sold
The way to solve this is simply for all nations to ban currency exchanges and trade in US dollars.
That will fix things instantly...
If stupid Americans would stop trying to bomb the rest of the world to support their industrial military complex they would feel a lot safer because the rest of the world would not hate them so much....That exceptionalism isnt looking so exceptional these days...
Fact is Canada never printed 5X their money supply from 2009, while the US does everything they can to force the rest of the world to trade in US dollars....but the rest of the world is actively closing the US fiat dollar because the US is in fact bankrupt and only uses the US fiat status to bomb.....
The US dollar will collapse long before the CDN dollar will and by the way when the world does reset oil will be a valuable asset...
Wake up USA....Russia the number 1 oil exporter announced a oil price exchange selling in Rubles...China is bringing on a gold futures exchange in April...bilateral trade excluding the US dollar is exploding..even Britain is getting in on the act....demand for US dollar is declining in trade and will continue. A higher US dollar means less exports, more unemployment, more debt, and over time less military....remember the Roman Empire...your days are numbered and if cant see it put down the reality TV......
Agree and +1 but the US is now a cornered rat and we all know how vicious rats get when cornered.
Inflation will hit the USA, when all those Created Dollars come back to the USA and there are no Jobs to Earn any $US. to exists let alone save.
The Bankers forclose and Slavery is given a new reset.
Sad but True.
So you're saying that I may finally get some time to sit down and tie some fishing flies? Cant wait! I've only been walking by my new fly vice and looking down at it and thinking, "some day" for two years now.
Canadian Gov only has 3 tonnes of gold... but that's 3 tonnes more than the US gov.
Canada's gold is not not stored in some foreign bank, it' in the safest place possible until it's worthwhile to take it out. The ground.
Yawn! Wake me up when that uber-leveraged, super-bloated, & ridiculously priced housing market implodes! Now that's gonna be a party!
What I don't get about Americans... they have all these wars abroad... spending all that money in other nations..
Why not have war at home... then you keep the money in the country.
Then after you destroy everything you can borrow more from zio bankers and rebuild it all again...thus creating another Boom to the economy
Good point, if the US can't win any other war, they can win a civil war.
doubt it.. UN will come in and take over
Bump. :0)
Final step: US. Gota work on those pesky gun issues though
Other than that, start selling groceries on ebay? LOL. I'm sure all the rules will keep the people starving.
The Canadian CB refuses to defend the dollar because of our debt problem and no one is talking about this. So this is ONE MORE WAY savers get punished at the expense of borrowers
The shorts know this so it is a simple trade.
Add to that Canadian investors have to cash their earnings into US$ almost immediately in order to preserve the value of the earnings. This is adding to the pressure on the loonie
I guess it is our turn to be the lab
One positive note: Canadian banks are getting whipped. Maybe there is justice in the world
btw Canadians the CDN mint creates gold and silver with a face value.. you can exchange $20 fiat for $20 silver coin... with no mark up... pure exchange.
So canada has been preparing for US fiat implosion for a while.
http://www.mint.ca/store/product/product_exchange.jsp?itemId=prod1040001
Canada Gov has already said that 1 ounce of silver is worth $100 CAD (shipping included)
there you go... $100 silver
http://www.mint.ca/store/coins/100-for-100-fine-silver-coin-cougar-2016-...|categorypage|100_for_100_Fine_Silver_Coin_-_Cougar_2016|Shop-100_for_100&
I noticed the mint was pumping the Superman coins pretty hard. Same deal $20 for a $20 dollar denominated coin. It piqued my interest so I dug into it a bit more. The coin only contains 1/4 oz of silver not a full oz. I still hoard the maple leafs which is a full ounce of silver with a $5 denomination. I'm sure you already knew this but I thought I would post in case others were unsure. Stack on!