I know eh! We also run in similar circles here on hive ( precious metals enthusiast). Yes indeed the economics have been harsh in the last few years. I haven't been keeping track of all the price gains exactly but trends and the fact that I haven't received a raise in a decade yet considered an essential service with no right to strike...that irks me a little.

When the current leader was voted in power, everyone knew he was anti oil & Alberta oilsands and like it or not it's a cash cow for Canada on different levels in return. As soon as he got voted in, the Canadian dollar dropped 30% so all imported goods became that much more expensive over night but because of lack of jobs, wages are stagnant or going down. Add a year of lockdown light on top with worst employment disruption since the great depression. The exodus of oil sector jobs means 100 000 + 6 figure income jobs were wiped out overnight in Alberta to a total of over 400 000 high paying jobs lost and money not being spent n the economy impacting small local businesses that are now dropping like flies having to seek jobs instead of creating them.

There is also supply/demand issues with pricing, one day you will go in and get your celery for $3 then next thing you know the next week it's $7. The same bag of coffee can be 18.99 on week, 14.99 2 weeks later or 8.99 on another than back up. Same effect on many items, prices are unstable, having gotten used to that fact, I load up when it's cheap. Rent, bills, real estate prices, everything is going up yet we are experiencing one of the highest rates of homelessness despite being the most progressive city in Canada in efforts to tackling the issue. Increased crimes, the signs are there for a bad brew. It just doesn't make sense anymore.

The gov may have backdoor agreements but there was a tariff dispute with JT and Trump, no love there. Customer always pay full price regardless of backdoor deals.