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By Doug Collins

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Can we hold on financially?

Sep 23, 2022 | 4:31 AM

CANADIANS ARE FACING TREMENDOUS financial pressure as they try to keep up even a modest standard of living in this time of rising inflation, which has created more and more stress for those on modest or fixed incomes. Raises for workers are pale compared to inflation, and sadly the working man or woman is falling further behind. People at the top gain most of the benefits; people at the lower levels get less.

More and more reports point to the difficulty of getting by. A report online this week from the Financial Post says, “Financial stress storm just starting for working Canadians.” The story quotes the National Payroll Institute, which says the number of people working paycheque to paycheque is up 26 per cent over this time last year.

There’s no question our money is stretched thinner and thinner. That means we have less money to spend supporting local businesses in all forms, not to mention supporting efforts to alleviate conditions for the marginalized in our society. And 41 per cent of those feeling the pain are making over $100,000 a year.

Statistics Canada issued a report this week stating more than 800,000 Canadians are living in homes that are too small for the number of people living in them. Families have supported each other for generations. Many children have supported their elders, having had their parents living with them in a separate part of the house or in rooms that could be converted into bedrooms and even sitting areas. It can create stress but can be very functional.

But now, people are cramming their own families into smaller areas so they can rent out space to people who are outside the family unit, students and others who are in desperate need of space to rent. Space that, according to the “experts” is going to be harder and harder to find.

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While there seem to be a lot of job vacancies out there, there are still only 24 hours in a day. And while we so far have seemed to be able to stretch our budgets, we haven’t been able to figure out a way to add more hours to the day.

This crunch is going to be with us for some time to come.

We’d better get used to it, because governments don’t have the resources to have much impact. Governments are ill-equipped to fix anything. We’re going to have to use our own ingenuity to craft a way to beat this increasingly serious dilemma. Hopefully, that financial savior is out there somewhere. In the meantime, we can always live by the mantra of Bobby McFerrin — don’t worry, be happy.

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.