Canadians are feeling the pinch due to soaring energy bills and inflation and are cutting back on the amount of food they consume and may need to seek assistance to make ends meet.

Some in the country labeled the issue “Justinflation,” a swipe at Justin Trudeau, the prime minister, after seeing inflation hit a near 40-year high.

Pierre Poilievre, the opposition leader, blamed Trudeau and his federal Liberals for spending their way into the mess. 

“That is why we have the highest inflation rate in 40 years. It is ‘Justinflation,”’ he said, according to The Global News.

The country has been dramatically impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns under Trudeau that badly damaged the economy and crushed businesses. The International Monetary Fund said Canada is at risk of tipping into a “mild recession,” but has fared better than other G7 countries involved in the sanction war with Russia because it is a commodity exporter.

An Ipsos poll, which was conducted for CanadaHelps.org, found that 22 percent of Canadians polled said—within the next six months—they will likely have to visit charitable organizations to have access to essential items like shelter, clothing, and food.

The study was conducted between 28 October and 1 November and surveyed 1,000 Canadians 18 and over. Another poll, conducted by the Leger’s Youth Study Report, found young Canadians have become increasingly pessimistic about their economic future.

“Whether realistic or cynical, they are nervous about the future and prefer to live in the moment,” read the report, according to CTVNews.com. “They do not trust traditional institutions to make things better; rather, they prefer to embody change locally.”

About 66 percent of young people live with their parents because they can’t buy property or pay rent.

A survey conducted in October found that 20 percent of Canadians said they were forced to either reduce the size of their meals or not eat at all to save on grocery bills. The price of groceries jumped 11.4 percent when the poll was taken. Food banks across the country also found that there was a 15 percent increase from 2021 to 2022.

TRENDPOST: Canada is another example of a country that blames the “pandemic” for its economic downturn and not the politicians who put these draconian rules in place. 

Canada’s finance minister and deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Ottawa has been contending with the pandemic’s aftershocks, but has been able to use the recovery to “reinforce Canada’s social safety net without pouring fuel on the fire of inflation.”

She doesn’t give details on how she plans to carry that miracle out. 

The Trends Journal has reported extensively on Trudeau’s heavy-handed approach to taking control of the virus. (See “CANADA ENDS COVID-19 BORDER RESTRICTIONS WITH THE U.S.” and “TRUDEAU REVOKES EMERGENCY POWERS AFTER TRUCKER PROTEST ENDS.”)

Trudeau was one of the Western leaders who had the nerve earlier this month to criticize China’s effort to crush protests after he tried to destroy the lives of truckers who held a rally in Ottawa at the height of the outbreak. He warned China, “Canadians are watching.”

“We’re going to continue to ensure that China knows we’ll stand up for human rights, we’ll stand with people who are expressing themselves,” Trudeau said. “We also need to make sure that China and places around the world are respecting journalists and their ability to do their job. We’ll continue to make that very clear.”

Of course, we’ve all seen the video of Chinese President Xi Jinping scolding Trudeau for leaking private conversations to the press while the two attended the G20 summit in Indonesia.

“Everything we’ve discussed has been leaked to the papers and that is not appropriate,” Xi’s translator said, according to the leaked video. “And that was not how the conversation was conducted.”

“If there was sincerity on your part, then we shall conduct our discussion with an attitude of mutual respect, otherwise there might be unpredictable consequences,” Xi said.