Poilievre will do 'anything to win,' must condemn Alex Jones endorsement: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ramping up his attacks on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he promotes his government's federal budget.
The Bank of Canada released a summary of its Governing Council meetings on Wednesday, providing the public and financial institutions with more insight into the central bank’s decision to raise its key interest rate on Jan. 25.
The Governing Council, made up of six members including Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem and his deputies, met five times starting on Jan. 18, before their decision on Jan. 25 to raise the overnight rate by a quarter of a per cent to 4.5 per cent.
Discussions at these meetings did look at the possibility of pausing the rate at 4.25 per cent.
“The case for leaving the policy rate at 4.25 per cent was that developments with respect to both the economy and inflation were beginning to move in the right direction and that policy had been forceful and just needed more time to do its work,” reads the summary released on Wednesday.
Ultimately, the council’s consensus to raise the rate was due to a tight labour market and concern over stronger-than-expected economic growth in the third and fourth quarters of 2022. Despite this, there was also consensus to indicate a pause in the bank's hikes to measure the full effect of its forceful tightening.
Members of the council viewed the tight labour market as an indication the economy remains in excess demand, and project that rebalancing the labour market may take longer than usual as businesses continue to face labour shortages.
“Council concluded that wage momentum was plateauing in the range of 4 per cent to 5 per cent,” reads the summary. “Persistent wage growth in this range was not viewed as consistent with achieving the 2 per cent target.”
Domestically, the bank debated why consumption could be slower than it projected. The members of the council noted that many Canadian households may be renewing five-year terms on their mortgages, which means many consumers could be facing higher monthly mortgage payments, which dampens consumption.
Discussions around the international economy were focused mainly on the United States reaching its debt ceiling, and how negotiations in U.S. Congress around raising it could become “protracted and pose risks of financial volatility if an agreement were elusive.”
Other international factors the council considered included China and its rapid relaxation of COVID-19 policies, which could pose a risk of higher oil prices, if China’s demand outweighs what was initially expected. Overall, even with central banks tightening their policies worldwide, members of the council concluded global inflation had edged down from its peak and “the perceived risk of a deep recession had decreased.”
The central bank plans to continue these summaries of Governing Council meetings. The decision to release them was in response to recommendations made by the International Monetary Fund in its transparency review of the central bank.
“It will give some additional insight into our decision-making process,” Macklem said in an interview with CTV News on Jan. 25. “What were the key factors at play? What were the options on the table? And really, how did we drive to a consensus decision?”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ramping up his attacks on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he promotes his government's federal budget.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
New video evidence uncovered by CNN significantly undermines two Pentagon investigations into an ISIS-K suicide attack outside Kabul airport, during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
A Polish pilot proposed to his flight attendant girlfriend during a flight from Warsaw to Krakow, and she said yes.
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
The RCMP says a former SNC-Lavalin executive has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison in connection with a bribery scheme for a bridge repair contract in Montreal.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.