Opposition Leader says disconnect between economic messaging and the reality most people are facing

Wakeham says “While Minister Coady boasted about jobs growing and the inflation rate decreasing, many people know they need two or three of those jobs to make ends meet, and their cost of living is continuing to rise, making it harder and harder for people living cheque to cheque on fixed incomes to make ends meet,”

PC Party Leader Tony Wakeham said the people he is talking to are shocked that there is such a massive disconnect between the positive economic messaging of Finance Minister Siobhan Coady and the reality that most people are facing as they struggle with the ever-increasing cost of living. Wakeham says “While Minister Coady boasted about jobs growing and the inflation rate decreasing, many people know they need two or three of those jobs to make ends meet, and their cost of living is continuing to rise, making it harder and harder for people living cheque to cheque on fixed incomes to make ends meet,” He says “They ought to know that even an inflation rate of 2.3% means things are continually getting more expensive.” Last week, the Public Utilities Board approved Newfoundland Power’s request to raise power rates by 7 percent effective August 1. Wakeham says this is “,leaving cash-strapped people with even less money for food and facing difficult choices of turning off the fan on hot days or suffering in cold homes during winter. People who can’t afford to pay their power bills are facing eviction and homelessness.