Tag: Inflation

Categories
Opinions

A student’s rant about grocery prices

Scan by Lily Cowper

 I spent $51 for six small grocery items and I’m less than thrilled about it.

Last week, I bought my usual basics at Costco, which usually amount to less than $20 and last me a month. But this time, I added tortillas, a dill pickle salad kit, and Cascade pods (on sale) and bam! Somehow, my bill got bumped up to $51. 

It’s safe to say I wasn’t a happy camper, especially when I had another impending bill with two grocery items I was going to split with my boyfriend: $32 for eight pieces of chicken breast and seven dollars for two bags of gnocchi. 

My own groceries combined with what I was splitting totalled around $80. Seven and a half items for $80—I was floored. 

Being a student and managing your own food expenses is stressful, and I personally have a low stream of income. A little pit in my stomach opens up every time I see the total for basic necessities, which is what groceries are. Why charge so much for something that everyone needs to remain alive? 

This year, prices have really gone up. I understand that we are in a recession, but along with grocery prices going up, discounts are disappearing, which is asinine. If one Metro offers a discount on cheese, why can’t all the other Metro locations (some of which are closer to home) offer the same discount? So, not only are groceries expensive, it’s also time-consuming to go buy them. At this point, I might as well buy a chicken so I can get eggs for free; it can live on my patio for now. 

The Concordian recently wrote about how Provigo got rid of, then reinstated, its 50 per cent discount section…It is definitely a valid assumption that most students shop in that section.  Many supermarkets don’t even offer student discounts and I’m more than certain they can afford it.

I found that shopping at local supermarkets really cuts some of my grocery costs; at some local producers’ stands, you can get strawberries for two dollars and fifty cents, compared to IGA’s six dollars. Though I’m currently less than thrilled with my last Costco bill, I’d recommend finding a friend whose membership you can piggyback on, and split some of Costco’s bigger-ticket items. T&T can also be super reasonable sometimes—it’s definitely a trek, but so worth it. 

Due to the spike in grocery prices, I’m now of the mind that if I can make it at home, I am not going to buy it. I cannot justify spending seven dollars on mayonnaise when I can make my own at home for under two dollars. Pickles became a luxury for me, and I am a pickle girl, so I learned how to make my own. I became a bit of a “do it yourself” girl.

Being alive is so expensive. The best I can say is to take a day to scope out what markets near you can be counted on for cheaper prices, figure out what you can make at home and what big-ticket items you can split with people.

And for pity’s sake, please let me know if any big grocery corporations ever offer discounts… I am not interested in paying six dollars for yoghurt or two dollars for a can of kidney beans. 

Categories
Opinions

No Living Wage? Here’s a toonie

Graphic by Carleen Loney/ THE CONCORDIAN

Why we should all be tipping well.

Fifteen percent is the bare minimum. No seriously, it is.

Have you ever gone out to eat and found yourself wondering why the tip ends up costing you maybe as much as an appetizer? Well, that’s because, in Quebec, servers are not paid a living wage.

A living wage is basically a fair amount that allows you to afford the cost of living in your area. While I believe that the required minimum wage isn’t even a living wage nowadays, that’s for another article. 

As someone who works in a restaurant, I know for a fact that servers are paid below the minimum wage. The average hourly salary of a server in Quebec is $12.20 while the minimum wage is currently $15.25. Except, it’s not just servers, it’s most tippable jobs. I don’t mean the cashier with a tip jar (we’ll talk about that later) but any job where a tip is expected.

So, with inflation and the cost of living constantly on the rise, shouldn’t the people being paid less than a living wage be given a little more consideration? 

With that said, here’s my guide to tipping:

As I mentioned, 15 percent is the bare minimum. The rule I go by is, that if you can’t afford to tip at a place, you can’t afford to eat there. If you’re budgeting yourself ahead of time, the tip should be factored in. If you don’t tip, servers quite literally end up paying to have served you. It’s messed up, but it’s true. Servers are required at the end of the night, to “tip out.”

If you don’t know, “tipping out” is when the server pays out a percentage of their sales to “the house” (the house is just the restaurant). That percentage then goes to helping pay the salaries of the kitchen, bussers, and hostesses, as well as going to the manager’s and owner’s pockets. 

To recap, if you don’t tip, servers are still required to tip out to the house as if you did tip— so it ends up being money out of their own pockets. 

Now, how do you tip properly? Well, cash is usually the best way to tip because they don’t have to declare as much of it in sales. That means they won’t be as taxed on it, and they won’t have to tip out as much of it at the end of the night.

In a world where nobody carries cash anymore though, just tip well. 

Moreover, you shouldn’t only be tipping at restaurants. A general rule I follow is if I pay cash, I tip all the small change I get back. If you’ve ever worked in the service industry you know it can be soul-sucking and draining. The people in these industries deserve some love and appreciation too, especially since tips are scarce and usually split among staff.

Really, we should all be conscious of the fact that these people are running around to serve us while barely being paid fairly. Everyone deserves a living wage, and while it shouldn’t be our responsibility to compensate for unfair salaries, we do it (or at least should).

Categories
News

Peter-McGill Community groups struggle to cope with rising rent costs

Surging cost of living drives many out of Concordia’s neighbourhood

Once considered to be the most affordable city in Canada, Montreal’s rent costs continue to rise at a rate that many of the city’s residents, businesses and community groups are struggling to meet. For many, especially those living in the neighbourhood around Concordia’s Sir George Williams campus, it’s a trend that is putting their future in the area into question.

Representatives from over 11 community groups in the Peter-McGill district, which encompasses both Concordia’s Sir George Williams campus and McGills’ downtown campus, convened a neighbourhood assembly at the School Trades Catering And Tourism De Montréal to address the challenges posed by rising costs of living throughout the district. 

“The focus of tonight’s meeting is to draw attention to the issue of space in the downtown neighbourhood,” said Margot Digard, communications officer for the Peter-McGill Community Council. “We’ve seen a lot of organisations leave the neighbourhood because of issues around rent and not being able to afford services.”

According to data collected by the Peter-McGill Community Council, the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in the neighbourhood came in at around $1,400 a month, with the cost of a two-bedroom going as high as $2,000 per month in some instances. These rates are some of the highest reported rent prices in the city. 

With demand far exceeding the existing supply, affordable rental options for community organisations based in and around the Peter-McGill area continues to diminish and pre-existing centres are put in jeopardy as property costs continue to rise. Christa Smith, coordinator of the youth group Innovation Jeunes, says her organisation was forced out from their original building after she alleged that the property owner instigated a rent increase in an attempt to get the organisation to forfeit their lease. 

“We spent close to ten years on Pierce Street,” said Smith. “Then in 2018, the owner wanted to increase our rent by almost 40 per cent, which we soon realised [meant] that he basically wanted us out.”

While Innovation Jeunes was able to relocate to a nearby Pentecostal church, this outcome remains the exception to the norm. Maryse Chapdelaine, Project Manager of the Peter-McGill community council, explained that many requests by community groups for additional support from established institutions like the Montréal General Hospital and Concordia University are met with indifference.

“Yes, we tried, but Concordia refuses to open any space to the community,” said 

Chapdelaine when asked if the Peter-McGill Community Council had considered leasing out space from the University. In one instance, Chapdelaine recalled how the University refused to open the Grey Nuns courtyard to the public during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We asked them, ‘can you open them now that there are no students,’ and they said no. And then we asked the city, ‘could you ask Concordia to open the garden’ and Concordia said to the city of Montreal, no,” said Chapdelaine. 

While Concordia does permit outside organisations to rent out space on University property, according to Chapdelaine the hourly rate that is charged by the administration tends to fall far beyond the financial means of most community organisations.

Chapdelaine stresses that there is no ‘magic bullet’ solution for the ongoing affordability crisis in Peter-McGill. Any long-lasting solution must include Concordia, if the University wishes to preserve the neighbourhood it calls home.

Categories
Briefs News

Concordia unites to fight against poverty 

How has Concordia adapted this year’s Centraide campaign to the pandemic and inflation?

Centraide is currently running their annual fundraising campaign at Concordia. In the midst of inflation and the aftermath of the pandemic, they had to re-think their goals.

Centraide gathers funds and supports 350 community agencies working on diminishing poverty in Montreal. According to their website, 615 thousand people in Montreal live in poverty. Their focus is supporting the youth, helping people buy essentials, and building community bonds. 

Nadia Bhuiyan is a co-chair of the Centraide campaign this year. She is also the vice-provost of Partnerships and Experiential Learning at Concordia, as well as a professor of mechanical, industrial and aerospace engineering. 

Bhuiyan’s role entails planning events and activities to raise awareness and funds. She also works on campaigns to solicit donors and gather testimonials encouraging people to donate. 

While her work as campaign co-chair is different from her work as a professor, Bhuiyan’s “desire to help others, especially those who are less fortunate, has been a guiding force [her] entire life.” 

“Much of my focus is on how to help youth overcome challenges and find their own meaning of success,” she said, “so this area particularly drives me.”

This year, the Centraide campaign aimed to raise 205 thousand dollars — only five thousand more than last year — owing to inflation. 

“We didn’t raise it too high this year, knowing that everyone is experiencing a higher cost of life,” said Bhuiyan.

Maud Doualan, the senior director for the annual campaign at Centraide, oversees campaigns all over Montreal. 

“This year, the campaign is very important,” Doualan said. “Inflation is really hitting hard on people who were already struggling. And what the agencies are telling us is that they’re seeing people that they never used to see before.” 

“The main focus of this year’s campaign is to increase participation. “We’re really trying to reach out to people who give zero dollars. Those are the people we’re trying to target, to say: ‘You know what, if you want to be involved in your community and you want to make a difference, Centraide is a good place to start.’”

The agencies supported by Centraide also dealt with an increase in costs and a big staff turnover. 

“There’s a lot of expertise that is lost,” said Doualan. Centraide has always worked closely with the agencies they support, even more so during the pandemic.  “We’re also trying to be super agile with our funding, to make sure that we can adjust where we’re investing and make sure that we can support [the agencies].” 

Students are also encouraged to participate through volunteering programs. 

“Every donation makes a difference, so if they want to contribute something, I think that’s great as well,” said Doualan.

Categories
News

Kazakhstan uprisings: violence slows down amid hundreds of deaths

Following weeks of brutal crackdowns against protesters, the Central Asian nation is slowly letting the smoke clear

On Jan. 2, thousands of citizens in at least 19 cities across Kazakhstan began mass protests against the nation’s government. Authorities stated that 225 protesters were killed and 12 thousand have been arrested, but international experts are calling those numbers suspiciously low.

The movement began when Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev lifted all price caps for gasoline nationwide. This resulted in a massive spike in prices, infuriating millions of citizens, especially those in the working-class oil-producing regions.

What followed was a strong national dissent against Tokayev and his government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government’s egregious human rights violations, crackdowns on freedoms, economic inequality, and corruption. 

In Almaty, the country’s largest city, government buildings have been stormed and set ablaze. Tokayev urged his armed forces to shoot and kill without warning on Jan. 7, labeling the protesters as “bandits and terrorists.”

Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, issued a statement condemning the violence and calling for peace. 

“We emphasize the importance of upholding democratic values, respecting human rights, and refraining from violence and destruction,” said Joly. “Canada calls for restraint and de-escalation. We urge that the situation in Kazakhstan be resolved quickly and through peaceful dialogue.”

Kazakhstan is home to some of the world’s largest reserves of petroleum, natural gas, agricultural goods, and other precious resources vital to international trade. The nation is Canada’s largest trading partner in Central Asia, but diplomacy with the country since its independence in 1991 has always been somewhat tricky, due to the immediate dictatorship that took place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

After the USSR’s collapse, the republic of Kazakhstan was established, and Nursultan Nazarbayev became the head of state. An already prominent Kazakh figure during the tail-end of the Soviet regime, Nazarbayev’s rule lasted for nearly 30 years. Under his regime, the private sector was developed, corruption skyrocketed, an oligarchy formed, and mass inequality became a cornerstone of the nation. 

After another movement of mass protests in 2019, Nazarbayev stepped down as president, but hand-picked his predecessor, Tokayev. The former president was still sitting as chairman of the country’s national security council until January 2022 as protests prompted him to leave his position.

A key player in the anti-government movement gripping Kazakhstan has been Vladimir Putin. The Russian government announced on Jan. 7 that it would be sending thousands of infantry and special operatives to Kazakhstan in order to place pressure on Tokayev. Russia has many important trade and security ties to the Kazakh government, including its Baikonur Cosmodrome, one of the primary sites for launching Russian spacecraft and missiles.

It was announced by the Kremlin that Russian troops would be leaving Kazakhstan relatively soon, seeing as the situation has begun calming down. After the arrival of troops, Tokayev announced that the caps on fuel prices would be reinstated for six months, giving time for the government to come up with better, less flame-fanning policies.

In a fight against social repression, economic disparity, and political brutality, thousands of Kazakh protesters remain imprisoned. Having burned and destroyed government buildings, including parts of the president’s home, the government has been clear that the punishment for the protesters will not be light.

Hundreds have passed away as a result of the fighting, but the situation slowly becomes more stable as the government reasserts its control and attempts to quell the desperate cries for change.

 

Graphics by James Fay

Exit mobile version