Also schoolboy French speaker, but my assumption is that it's a malapropism: "Les Canadiens sont inquiets du coût de la vie!" would mean "Canadians are worried

Also schoolboy French speaker, but my assumption is that it's a malapropism: "Les Canadiens sont inquiets du coût de la vie!" would mean "Canadians are worried about the cost of living", and my guess is "cul de la vie" is how some heard his accent.