Canada's wealth disparity rivals Third World: study
Fri Dec 13, 2002
CBC News Online
TORONTO-- A study by a Canadian public policy group has found what many
people have always thought: the rich get rich and the poor get poorer.
The study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) says the
gap between rich and poor in Canada has grown over the past three decades
and now rivals that of the Third World.
Using Statistics Canada data, the CCPA study concluded that half of the
country's families control 94 per cent of its wealth.
It says between 1970 and 1999, the wealthiest 10 per cent of families saw
their net worth more than double to an average of $980,000.
During the same period, the poorest 10 per cent of families saw their
inflation-adjusted net worth fall 28 per cent, leaving them in debt by an
average of $10,600.
The study, paid for by the government of British Columbia, says the
growing
divide is partly the result of federal and provincial taxation policies.
It
says measures such as cuts to high-income surtaxes and capital gains taxes
have favoured the rich.
At the same time, budget cutting has eroded social programs such as
unemployment insurance and welfare, hurting the poor.
Study author Steve Kerstetter, a former director of the National Council
on
Welfare, said the findings show that governments are out of touch with the
realities facing most Canadians.
He said a surprising number of Canadian families are a paycheque away from
financial disaster.
The study also found disparity in income from east to west. The average
wealth in Atlantic Canada was under $123,000, compared to $251,000 in B.C.
The study suggests that one way to create fairer income distribution would
be to bring in an inheritance tax. Canada is one of the few developed
countries without one.
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