Prices hit foreign worker twice

from The Calgary Herald

Man sending cash to family in Philippines

Kelly Cryderman
Calgary Herald

As Geronimo Manalad signs the forms to transfer $800 to his family in the Philippines, he wishes it could be more.

In the six months since the 43-year-old bus driver left for work in Canada, rice prices in his home country have doubled. Manalad has two children, and his elderly mother tells him on the phone she is worried about the family's food costs.

"Filipinos eat rice almost five times a day," Manalad said before he joined the line of people at the iRemit outlet in Pacific Place mall waiting to send money to their families around the world. "They don't have work," he said. "They depend on me."


But Manalad, a temporary foreign worker who takes home about $2,000 in monthly pay, can't afford to send more to his family because his living expenses in Calgary are so high.

Such is the nature of the global surge in food and fuel prices.

The same soaring costs causing riots, uncertainty and despair in poverty-stricken countries around the world is also causing ripples for the poor and working classes in Canada.

The Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank says will add $50,000 to its food purchasing budget next year -- for perishables such as bread, milk, eggs and ground beef -- in preparation for higher prices. The food bank's capability not only affects the 33,000 emergency food hampers it distributes each year but also the 73 social agencies it provides food.

"If food isn't coming to us, that means we're unable to share it," said food bank CEO James McAra. "There's this ripple through the agencies."

McAra said it's not so much what is happening now, but what could occur in six months.

"The impact hasn't hit the community yet," McAra said. "If something spikes right now, what happens . . . I'm not going to cut the quality of the food."

Fuel is another scary topic, he said. A $50,000 pledge from Petro-Canada was expected to cover all gas costs for the year. Now McAra isn't so sure.

At Meals on Wheels, fund development manager Kathryn Robson said volunteer drivers -- who receive a once-a-year fuel honorarium in

November -- have yet to express concerns about rising fuel costs.

"They're the type of people who just suck it up. That's their nature," she said.

Robson acknowledges fuel costs are a bigger worry than food at this point for the non-profit organization.

If it gets worse, she said it may be that volunteers stop signing up for additional shifts and trucking companies start to apply fuel surcharges to deliveries.

Carolyn Pearce, who volunteers to make deliveries at the organization, said high gas costs are "not dissuading me from doing my route, but it does cost a lot more money."

Pearce worries that retired volunteers on fixed incomes -- many of whom who make weekly deliveries -- may be more affected. "For them, I'm sure it would be an issue," she said.

And working families are also struggling. Food and gas prices are a concern for single-income families like the Zoboskis, who rely on a boarder for part of their income. The family doesn't want to raise the rent, but gas prices are starting to affect the household budget.

"Everything is going up," Bonnie Zoboski said. "It's actually kind of freaky."

Zoboski home-schools her daughters Anna, 8, and Ashley, 4. Her husband Andy works providing personal care for quadriplegics and often picks up extra hours to help with costs.

"We have to work a lot to make a go of it," she said. "You can survive but it's hard to get ahead."

University of Calgary economist Frank Atkins said people at the lower end of the income scale have more difficulty when prices spike.

"When prices go up, you have to re-allocate your budget."