An average Canadian took home just under $45,000 in earnings in 2010, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Meanwhile, our 100 most well-to-do compatriots banked an average of $8.38 million each over the same time, a whopping 189 times as much.
What's more, said the left-leaning think tank, top executives saw an incredible 27 per cent pay raise over the previous year (what financial crisis?) while most Canadians soldiered through Christmas with flat or declining wages - many counting their blessings to still have a job at all.
Against this backdrop, New Democrat MLA Jagrup Brar begins his pet project of living for a month on one of B.C.'s meagre $610 welfare cheques. It's a stunt, to be sure, and the NDP's own record of welfare policy is patchy at best. But it's clear the Liberal approach has driven the income gap wider. Tax cuts are no more silver bullets than increased social spending is. But as the CCPA report shows, it isn't a runaway welfare state that is distorting the distribution of Canada's wealth.
Income inequality has far-reaching consequences for health care, education, the justice system, the labour market - almost every aspect of our society. A healthy middle class is the anchor for a free and prosperous nation. Do we really want Canada to be characterized by the hyper-rich and a permanent underclass?
It's a shame we didn't have this report during the Occupy episode. Perhaps we could have had a mature public discussion about a complex issue rather than arguing about tents.
