Here's a Financial Post article from March 1st, about the report.
Trish Hennessy, from the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives, takes a different look at the numbers from this study in her blog post on March 4th. Here's a brief quote:
"The story highlights a handful of statistics from an Angus Reid online poll conducted for the Salvation Army of Canada, which released a report attempting to educate Canadians about the true reality of being poor — a laudable goal.
Not to diminish the important warning within the findings – that some Canadians hold harsh judgments against the poor — I think it’s instructive to really pause on the numbers behind the headline in this news story, which reads: Survey finds many Canadians believe poor are ‘part of the problem’.
Actually, the vast majority of Canadians do not necessarily blame the poor for being poor. The news story about the poll notes that 28 per cent of Canadians say the poor have “lower moral values”.
Disappointing as that finding might be, 28 per cent is a very low number. Most polling numbers that rank this low in a poll never make it into a news story. In fact, when I see 28 per cent of Canadians hold this judgment against the poor, I think: 72 per cent do not. Isn’t that the story?"
I'm a big fan of Trish Hennessy's "A Number is Never Just a Number" fact sheets from the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives.
A short Hennessy bio: Trish Hennessy is former journalist who traded in the neutrality of news reporting for her real passion: Promoting social justice in Canada. She has advised some of Canada's leading progressive economists, researchers, activists and politicians. As director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' income inequality project, Trish specializes in the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us (learn more at www.growinggap.ca). Trish has a B.A. in Sociology from Queen's University, a B.S.W. from Carleton University [love those social workers!!!], and a Master's degree in Sociology from OISE/University of Toronto. (from rabble.ca)
