After delivering the only G20 country in a recession, Carney tried to sell the illusion that, despite his declining economy, life has never been more affordable. In reality, he’s delivered the worst affordability in over two years.

According to Statistics Canada, overall inflation is now higher than at any point since 2023, rising to 3.2 per cent, up from 2.8 per cent in April. Even when you exclude the cost of gas, inflation rose at a faster pace year-over-year, up 2.2 per cent.

This rise in cost is hitting Canadian wallets across the board: food inflation has risen to 3.8 per cent, almost double the target and the worst in the G7. That figure is even worse for food purchased from stores, where prices have risen 4.3 per cent, meaning May is the 16th consecutive month food prices at grocery stores have outpaced headline inflation.

The price of fresh vegetables has soared 9 per cent and the cost of fresh fruit is up 5.3 per cent in the last year. The price of tomatoes has skyrocketed 45.2 per cent while grapes surged 23 per cent, the cost of carrots rose 16.7 per cent and fresh or frozen beef is up 13.3 per cent.

“Mark Carney promised that he would be judged by the price at the grocery store – that was over a year ago,” Poilievre said. “He then went on to say that affordability was the best it’s been in a decade. It was all an illusion. After a year and a half of Mark Carney, it’s more costs, more taxes, more debt – more of the same.”

The bad news continues for renters, with rents continuing to grow 3.5 per cent. Increases in the cost of rent have outpaced the 2 per cent inflation target since November of 2021. Canadians are paying 9 per cent more for transportation, as the price of gasoline has spiked 33.2 per cent compared to 28.6 per cent in April.

Carney will continue to blame ‘global factors,’ but Canadians know this is a made-in-Canada problem. That’s because even excluding gasoline, inflation rose at a faster pace year-over-year in May, and Carney has again delivered the worst food price inflation in the G7.

Poilievre pledged to end inflationary deficit spending and reduce the tax burden through a dollar-for-dollar law, cutting wasteful spending and ending costly projects like the unproven $90 billion ALTO boondoggle.

“My message to Mark Carney is we do not need any more excuses: you promised affordable food, you promised to grow the economy; you delivered a recession and inflation,” Poilievre concluded. “We need the Liberals to immediately reverse all of the policies they brought in that have driven up the cost of living. That’s the Conservative mission: a country that is affordable here, affordable for you and affordable always.”