Yukoners Still Struggling With High Rate of Inflation

WHITEHORSE – New data from the Yukon Bureau of Statistics (YBS) shows Whitehorse remains among the worst three jurisdictions in Canada for year-over-year inflation rate. After eight consecutive months with the highest inflation rate, the Yukon capital was tied for second highest in August.

August data from the YBS indicates that the inflation rate for Whitehorse was 4.6 per cent – tied with Quebec for the second spot just behind Nova Scotia at 4.7 per cent. The Whitehorse number is almost a full point more than Yellowknife at 3.6 per cent, while Iqaluit comes in at 1.9 per cent.

This week, the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition released its Living Wage Report. That report cited data from Statistics Canada that says annual food costs in Whitehorse are up by over 13 per cent from 2022. The report also notes jumps in transportation and housing costs, with residents spending more than 35 per cent of their income on housing.

“The Liberal government remains out of ideas and Yukoners continue to feel the pinch despite their weak actions to address inflation,” said Community Services Critic and Watson Lake MLA Patti McLeod. “We have known that rising food, fuel, and home heating costs have been major drivers of inflation in the territory for over a year and have made several suggestions to the Liberals to help Yukoners address these costs. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on these issues, the Premier demonstrated how out of touch he is with Yukoners by jetting off on a taxpayer-funded trip to India.”

The Yukon Party Official Opposition thinks Yukoners need a break. We have suggested temporarily suspending the territorial fuel tax, which will save 6.2 cents per litre on gasoline, and 7.2 cents per litre on diesel. As well, the Liberals could ask Ottawa to remove the carbon tax on home heating fuel as per a motion passed in the Legislative Assembly last November.

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Tim Kucharuk
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