The Financial Post reports in its Thursday, Dec. 5, edition that former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz says Canada is in a recession. The Post's Jordan Gowling writes that on Wednesday Mr. Poloz said: "I would say we're in a recession, I wouldn't even call it a technical one. A technical one is a superficial definition that you have two quarters of negative growth in a row, and we haven't had that, but the reason is because we've been swamped with new immigrants who buy the basics in life, and that boosts our consumption enough." Mr. Poloz said the Canadian consumer has suffered a 30-per-cent increase in the cost of living following the recent inflationary period, which has reduced spending. Additionally, inflation has fallen faster than was predicted, which Mr. Poloz argues only happens during a recession. The recent threat by Donald Trump to slap a 25-per-cent tariff on all imports from Canada also remains a source of uncertainty for Canada's growth going into next year. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce said that if tariffs on Canada and Mexico were implemented on inauguration day, it would lead to a 2.6-per-cent hit to Canada's GDP and a 1.6-per-cent decline to the U.S. economy.