bring inflation down are making things difficult for many canadians. and slow growth doesn't feel great. but the alternative - years and years of high inflation and then a deep recession - is much worse. when we get through this period of slow growth and inflation is back to the 2 % target, canadians will once again be able to budget and invest with confidence, prices will be stable and predictable, and the economy will work better for everyone. conclusion it's time for me to conclude. the past two years have been a painful reminder of how much high inflation hurts households, businesses and communities. it's our common enemy - not only because it creates financial pain and social upheaval, but also because no one wins when inflation is high and volatile. we all want to see high inflation defeated. the lesson from the 1970s is that fighting inflation half - heartedly and living with the stress, labour strife and uncertainty inflation can cause would be a huge mistake. the right way to respond is with a firm commitment to restoring price stability. but we don't want to avoid one mistake only to overdo it on the other side. we are trying to balance the risk of over - and under - tightening. if we do too much, we risk making economic conditions unnecessarily painful for everyone. if we do too little, canadians will continue to endure the harm of inflation and we will likely have to raise interest rates even higher later. to return to low inflation and stable growth in the years ahead, we need these higher interest rates and slow growth in the short term. our inflation target, our track record and our forceful response will get us through to the other side. we're well on our way, and we need to stay the course. thank you. i would like to thank daniel de munnik and brigitte desroches for their help in preparing this speech. 1 bank for international settlements, annual economic report 2022 ( june 2022 ). 5 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches

tiff macklem : ending the pain of high inflation remarks by mr tiff macklem, governor of the bank of canada, at the saint john region chamber of commerce, saint john, new brunswick, 22 november 2023. * * * introduction good afternoon. i'm pleased to be here today and i want to thank the saint john region chamber of commerce for the invitation. travelling to different parts of canada is one of the most important and rewarding things i do because it allows me to see and hear first - hand how economic circumstances are playing out across our vast country. i want to hear about the opportunities and obstacles your businesses face and to understand your perspectives on the economy. i look forward to your questions and our discussion today. i know that for many people, high inflation has made life hard. we hear it at the bank of canada in our surveys of consumers. and i hear it directly - i get many letters and emails from canadians. too many of these are about the impossibility of keeping up with higher prices. i hear the worry, the frustration, even the desperation in these letters. i also hear from businesses that are being squeezed by higher costs and from workers who need higher wages to keep up with the rising cost of living. nothing concerns me more than the pain that high and volatile inflation is causing so many canadians and the broader costs it's imposing on our economy. inflation has come down from its peak of 8. 1 %, but it's still too high, and progress is slower than we'd hoped. and i know that even as our interest rate increases are bringing inflation down, to many canadians they feel like another added cost. today i want to talk about the high cost of inflation on families, businesses and communities. the pain is real, and inflation is not going away by itself. that's why it is so important that we stay the course and restore price stability. we have already come a long way. and that's the other thing i want to discuss : what's working, and why. i will explain some of the advantages we have in this fight against inflation compared with the past. higher interest rates are squeezing many canadians, but these rates are relieving price pressures broadly throughout the economy. if we stay the course, the payoff will be worth it. the harmful impacts of high inflation by the numbers, the canadian economy has done remarkably well. the covid - 19 pandemic is now behind