On Friday Stats Canada published the monthly Consumer Price Index Numbers and not surprisingly our beloved friend the HST lent a hand and caused a more severe price jump than expected.
On July 1, 2010, the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) came into effect in Ontario and British Columbia. As well, Nova Scotia increased its HST by two percentage points.The largest year-over-year change occurred in Ontario, where consumer prices rose 2.9% after increasing 1.6% in June. Prices for gasoline, electricity, and passenger vehicle insurance premiums went up. Ontario consumers also paid more for homeowner’s replacement costs.
Thank you Dalton and crew for a tax grab which is not only additive it is inflationary too, this tax just keeps on giving.
How bad was Energy price increases you may well ask?
Energy prices rose 7.9% between July 2009 and July 2010, following a 1.3% increase during the 12-month period to June. Excluding energy, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was up 1.3% in July, after posting a 0.9% increase in June.
And it is those kind of increases that cause trickle through price increases in manufacturing and especially in food prices, so hold onto your hats, more price increases coming soon!
Lots of folks have been saying Deflation is coming soon, my guess is it’s the opposite, the kind of crippling inflation that we saw in the 1970’s is a real possibility, all it will take is another big Energy price jump and we’ll be in it up to our necks and sinking fast (but don’t quote me on that, I have been wrong many times before).
The Really Big Table
Here is the really big table of price increases have a look at your favorites and look for the big jumps on the list.
Consumer Price Index and major components, Canada
| Relative import 1 | July ’09 | June ’10 | July ’10 | June to July ’10 | July ’09 to July ’10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not seasonally adjusted | ||||||
| (2002=100) | % change | |||||
| All-items | 100.002 | 114.7 | 116.2 | 116.8 | 0.5 | 1.8 |
| Food | 17.04 | 122.3 | 123.0 | 123.7 | 0.6 | 1.1 |
| Shelter | 26.62 | 120.8 | 123.3 | 124.3 | 0.8 | 2.9 |
| Household operations, furnishings and equipment | 11.10 | 107.1 | 108.6 | 109.2 | 0.6 | 2.0 |
| Clothing and footwear | 5.36 | 91.3 | 89.7 | 88.8 | -1.0 | -2.7 |
| Transportation | 19.88 | 114.3 | 117.3 | 117.4 | 0.1 | 2.7 |
| Health and personal care | 4.73 | 112.5 | 114.7 | 115.6 | 0.8 | 2.8 |
| Recreation, education and reading | 12.20 | 104.3 | 104.2 | 105.1 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products | 3.07 | 131.5 | 132.2 | 134.5 | 1.7 | 2.3 |
| Special aggregates | ||||||
| Core CPI3 | 82.71 | 113.7 | 115.6 | 115.5 | -0.1 | 1.6 |
| All-items excluding energy | 90.62 | 113.5 | 114.6 | 115.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| Energy | 9.38 | 129.6 | 135.7 | 139.8 | 3.0 | 7.9 |
| Gasoline | 4.92 | 141.0 | 142.8 | 147.8 | 3.5 | 4.8 |
| All-items excluding food and energy | 73.57 | 111.5 | 112.7 | 113.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| Goods | 48.78 | 107.7 | 108.7 | 109.1 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
| Services | 51.22 | 121.6 | 123.6 | 124.5 | 0.7 | 2.4 |
Just saw an Ontario HST charge on a parcel shipped to me in Alberta. Doesn’t seem right, but apparently everyone gets to share the pain and pay Ontario taxes now? CPI increases for all around, yeah!
Kind of like cheering for a kidney stone… OUCH!