OFL Statement: Interest Rate Hikes Continue to Push Working People to the Brink, While CEOs Remain Unscathed – Enough is Enough!

Despite workers enduring the greatest impact of aggressive interest rate hikes over the past few years, the Bank of Canada has once again increased its interest rate, now sitting at 5%. This recent adjustment represents the 10th increase since March 2022, which sets the prime interest rate and the highest rate observed since 2001. The Bank’s goal is to bring inflation to 2%, a target not expected to be met until 2025.

Enough is enough, workers should not be the ones continually forced to pay the price for an affordability crisis they didn’t create.

The rampant inflation we have seen in recent years has ravaged the lives of workers, particularly in Ontario. Soaring housing rental prices, and skyrocketing grocery costs, are direct consequences of inflation, while banks, corporate landlords, and CEOs shamelessly continue to reap the benefits.

It is time for the Bank of Canada to acknowledge the true drivers behind increased interest rates and not hide the fact: Banks and CEOs have been profiting from inflation. Despite last month’s CPI report clearly identifying high mortgage rates as a significant contributor to inflation, the Bank of Canada conveniently shifted blame, attributing the increase to “robust demand” and “tight labor markets.” However, the reality is that necessities like food and housing emerge as the primary drivers behind inflation. As working people grapple with the challenge of affording these necessities, grocery store CEO’s, corporate landlords, and banks have seized the opportunity to pad their bottom lines.

Not only have we seen CEOs and Banks continually reap record profits, but governments continue to exploit workers and neglect public services under the pretext of inflation. In Ontario, for instance, we saw measures implemented by Doug Ford’s Conservative government, such as wage freezes for public-sector workers through Bill 124, the push for healthcare privatization, and the continued short-changing of valued public services like public education.

Workers will not accept blame for interest rate hikes, nor will they tolerate being the ones to bear the brunt of the consequences that these hikes bring. Enough is enough!

Join the OFL’s campaign to say Enough is Enough, visit wesayenough.ca to learn more about our campaign to end the affordability crisis.