became fabulously wealthy. The most profitable fa-
cilities were those located near large urban areas,
such as the Mashantucket Pequot’s Foxwoods Ca-
sino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Tribes in more
isolated regions, on the other hand, received few
benefits from gaming, and their members contin-
ued to experience poverty and unemployment rates
that were among the highest in the United States.
Further Reading
Clinton, Robert, Nell Newton, and Monroe Price.
American Indian Law: Cases and Materials. Char-
lottesville, Va.: Bobbs-Merrill, 1991.
Kallen, Stuart, ed.Indian Gaming. New York: Thom-
son Gale, 2005.
Mason, W. Dale.Indian Gaming, Tribal Sovereignty,
and American Politics. Norman: University of Okla-
homa Press, 2000.
Thomas Tandy Lewis
See also Native Americans; Racial discrimination;
Supreme Court decisions.
Inflation in Canada
Definition Rate of increase in prices in Canada
Price levels in Canada continued to track those of the coun-
tr y’s much larger neighbor to the south, and the continued
inflation of the 1980’s posed a significant problem for the
Canadian economy.
Canada’s consumer price index, like that of the
United States, rose substantially during the 1980’s.
The sharpest rise occurred between 1980 and 1982,
when the rate of inflation was in the double digits for
three consecutive years. Prices rose 10.2 percent
over the preceding year in 1980, 12.5 percent in
1981, and 10.5 percent in 1982. In 1983, the annual
rate of increase fell to 5.8 percent, but it remained at
least 4 percent for most of the rest of the decade. In
1989, it rose to 5 percent.
Inflation in Canada reflected, in part, shifts in the
value of the Canadian dollar versus that of the U.S.
dollar. Although the Canadian dollar depreciated
against the U.S. dollar, it appreciated significantly
against several other currencies. Canadian govern-
ments, both the federal government and the provin-
cial governments, attempted to shield their citizens
from the effects of inflation, leading to a rise in the
deficits of the various governments. Many of the gov-
ernments attempted to hold down public employ-
ees’ salaries for the benefit of those in the private
sector. The disparity between labor productivity and
labor costs largely explains the rise in inflation dur-
ing the 1980’s.The Eighties in America Inflation in Canada 513
Consumer Price Index Figures for
Canada, 1980-1989The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures
the cost of living in Canada and is an important
indicator of inflation. Statistics Canada tracks
the retail price of about six hundred goods and
services; this “market basket” of items includes
an average household’s expenditures for food,
housing, transportation, furniture, clothing,
and recreation. Statistics Canada measures the
prices against the base year of 1992; the aver-
age index level for that year is equal to 100. In
1980, the CPI was 52.4, which means that what
consumers could buy for $100 in 1992 would
have cost only $52.40 in 1980. The rate of in-
crease of the CPI is typically reported as the
percentage increase in the index over the past
twelve months.
The following CPI figures measure the costs
of all items in the index during the 1980’s and
the percentage of change from the previous
year:YearConsumer Price
Index for All ItemsPercentage Change
from Previous Year
1980 52.4 10.1
1981 58.9 12.4
1982 65.3 10.9
1983 69.1 5.8
1984 72.1 4.3
1985 75.0 4.0
1986 78.1 4.1
1987 81.5 4.4
1988 84.8 4.0
1989 89.0 5.0Sources:Statistics Canada; Bank of Canada.