84% of Albertans demand government do more to ease inflation's bite: new poll

A new poll suggests a significant majority of Albertans want government to provide more relief for the rising cost of living, which has consistently ranked as one of the top sources of stress in their lives.

More than half of Albertans say their household financial situation has worsened this year, likely thanks to inflation levels not seen for decades, according to the survey of 1,200 people by Janet Brown Opinion Research. 

The new poll comes as the federal government introduces targeted measures to help low-income workers and students, while the Bank of Canada hikes interest rates to push Canadians to spend and borrow less money. However, that adds pressure on homeowner's mortgage costs.

In Alberta, the United Conservative Party under former premier Jason Kenney offered a few remedies to soften the blow over the past year, like a $50 monthly electricity bill credit and temporarily pausing collection of the provincial fuel tax. 

His successor, Danielle Smith, has signalled her government might bring that tax pause back, and other "one-time" help could also be in the cards.

But experts agree: inflation is a global problem, and the hands of federal and provincial governments are somewhat tied here. Though inflation may have peaked this summer, its lingering effects — the price of groceries, how much it costs to heat homes and how much it costs to fuel up — will remain for months to come.

The poll, conducted from Oct. 12 to 30, asked Albertans what they thought the most important issues facing Albertans were. Inflation and health care were the top two issues.

"The other thing we did in the poll was we presented a whole bunch of statements to people about things they think government should do," said Janet Brown, who conducted the research for CBC News.

"And every single statement we tested, the one with the strongest agreement was that government should be doing more to protect consumers from inflation and the rising cost of living."

After reaching what appears to have been a peak in June of 8.1 per cent (the highest level since 1983), Canada's annual inflation rate has been declining, dipping to 6.9 per cent in September. The soaring cost of food and housing has made things more difficult for Canadian families and has led to more Canadians turning to food banks than ever before.

Students and young people are the most likely demographic groups to want the government to do more about inflation. Ninety-six per cent of respondents aged 18 to 24 want this intervention to blunt the sharpest cost increases in their lives.

Anand Unnithan, 21, studies at the University of Calgary and works part-time at a fast food restaurant. He lives with his parents, who rely on a strict monthly budget. Without using coupons or taking advantage of deals at grocery stores, he doubts the costs of living are sustainable.

"We always talk about how prices go up. And we try not to stress about it too much," Unnithan said. "We understand what's going around the world with inflation, and other economic struggles, or even political issues around the world.