CPI always has gas in the tank
Published: August 06, 2008 3:19 PMRe: Up, up and away (Editorial, NewsLeader, July 31)
Statistics Canada would like to correct a misleading statement in your editorial. The item stated that “Statistics Canada refuses to put the cost of gasoline into its inflation calculator, stating that the price is too volatile.”
This is incorrect.
Statistics Canada collects more than 1,600 gasoline prices every month across Canada, which enter into the calculation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). It also publishes a wide range of special aggregates for analytical purposes, including a price index for gasoline; an energy index covering electricity, natural gas and fuel; the total CPI excluding food; and the total CPI excluding food and energy.
In addition to these special aggregates, Statistics Canada publishes on behalf of the Bank of Canada the Core Consumer Price Index. This index is used by the Bank of Canada to monitor inflation and should not be confused with the CPI. This measure excludes from the total CPI the effect of indirect taxes and eight of the most volatile components as defined by the Bank of Canada: fruits, vegetables, mortgage interest cost, fuel, natural gas, gasoline, inter-city transportation and tobacco products.
Louis Marc Ducharme
Statistics Canada
