Doug Ford asks Bank of Canada to stop ‘devastating’ interest rate hikes

The letter follows B.C. Premier David Eby’s plea urging the bank to hold off on any more increases, given one could be announced on Wednesday.

Thestar.com
Sept. 5, 2023

Doug Ford is urging the Bank of Canada to stop raising interest rates, saying the impact has been “devastating” to some Ontarians.

“Ontario families and businesses are struggling to make ends meet and cannot afford the crushing costs brought about by repeated interest rate hikes,” Ford said via social media on Monday, a day after writing the letter to Tiff Macklem, governor of the Bank of Canada.

Ford’s letter follows that of B.C. Premier David Eby, who wrote to Macklem last Thursday urging the bank to hold off on any more increases, given one could be announced on Wednesday.

“Over the last 18 months, we’ve suffered 10 interest rate hikes, which have had a devastating impact on people who are already struggling to get by,” Ford wrote.

“These hikes have forced many families to pay thousands of dollars more per month just to cover their mortgage payments. Some are seeing payments double or triple. Your rate hikes have made it next to impossible for young people, newcomers and first-time homebuyers to have any place to call home.”

Ford said “people all across our province tell me they have to choose between paying their mortgage and putting food on their family’s table. Ontarians simply cannot cope with the higher monthly payments on their homes brought about by repeated interest rate hikes.”

Eby had warned that residents of B.C. are “being pushed to the brink.”

In July, the Bank of Canada raised interest rates to 5 per cent, the highest rate in more than two decades, as it works to tame inflation back to its 2 per cent target.