Canada's Income Gap, the Richest 20% vs the Poorest 20%

You Oughta Know: Income Shares in Canada

View more presentations from Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

The income gap between the rich and the rest of us has worsened over the past generation. In 2009, during the dark days of Canada's recession, the richest 20% of Canadians took home a whopping 44.2% of total after-tax income -- in stark contrast to the poorest 20% whose after-tax income share was only 4.9%. What did the gap look like in your province? This You Oughta Know slideshow tells the story.

Rich Canadians Are Getting Richer

From a Conference Board of Canada news release:

The richest group of Canadians increased their share of total national income while poor and middle-income individuals lost ground since 1993, according to The Conference Board of Canada's How Canada Performs analysis of income inequality. Even though income levels for the poorest group of Canadians also rose, albeit minimally, the gap between the rich and poor in Canada widened.

"While the poor are minimally better off in an absolute sense, they are significantly worse off in a relative sense," said Anne Golden, President and CEO of the Conference Board. "High inequality raises two questions. First, what is the impact on the economic well-being of a country? The answer is that high inequality can diminish economic growth if it means that the country is not fully using the skills and capabilities of all its citizens or if it undermines social cohesion, leading to increased social tensions. Second, high inequality raises a moral question about fairness and social justice."

Anti-Hate Resources in London : Police-reported hate crimes up 42 per cent in 2009

The highlights:

"Because not all victims come forward to police, StatsCan said the 2009 police-reported total "likely undercuts" the true number of hate crimes that occurred across the country that year.

Statistics Canada said 54 per cent of the hate crimes reported to police in 2009 were motivated by race or ethnicity, which was more than cases in which victims were targeted because of their religion (29 per cent) or sexual orientation (13 per cent).

Four in 10 police-reported hate crimes were violent in nature, while 54 per cent involved mischief offences, such as graffiti or vandalism."

Here's a link to the full article.

LUSO Community Services offers programs to community groups, organizations and schools to address issues of racism, bullying, hate and bias activity and discrimination. 

London Police Service Youth Crime Unit are responsible for the investigation of hate-motivated crimes. These officers liaise regularly with community organizations, including the London Urban Alliance, in their efforts to eradicate hate-crime. The philosophy of the Unit has been to thoroughly investigate all reports of hate-motivated crime, with the understanding that even seemingly isolated incidents of criminal activity can have broader implications for the community at large.

Anti-Hate, Anti-Bias Hotline The Hate Helpline is a confidential service that offers support in the form of informationfi dential service that offers support in the form of information and referrals to people who have experienced or witnessed hate-motivated activity, bias, or discrimination due to factors such as gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, religion, ethnicity, family status, and race. If you or someone you know has experienced prejudice or hate, please call the Hate Helpline to make a report and/or access support.
Hate Helpline: (519) 951-1584

London’s Diversity and Race Relations Advisory Committee (LDRRAC) is dedicated to making London an inclusive, safe, and equitable community for the benefit of all community members. As a committee of individuals appointed by City Council, to provide leadership on matters related to diversity, inclusivity, equity and the elimination of discrimination in the City of London.

Short-form census makes debut Monday
April 28, 2011

Toronto Star
By Bruce Campion-Smith

Briefly:

"It’s controversial, political divisive and could have a lasting effect on how Canadians see their country. And it’s not Monday’s election. It’s the census and missing this year are the detailed long-form questionnaires that have helped many corners of Canadian society plan for the future. Yet many experts warn that the loss of the mandatory long-form census — and its questions on education, employment and commuting habits — risks leaving Canadians in the dark about their changing lifestyles and trends.

“That’s my firm belief,” said Ivan Fellegi, who served as chief statistician at Statistics Canada for 23 years. “But more important than that, we will not only have less knowledge about ourselves, we will have the wrong knowledge about ourselves because we won’t know what’s right and what’s wrong."

Democracy

Hennessy's Index: A number is never just a number April 2011: Democracy 
(download the PDF from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)

1918
The year women secured the right to vote in Canada. 1944 France. 2005 Kuwait.

1947
The year Chinese Canadians secured the right to vote.

1960
The year non-enfranchised Aboriginal peoples in Canada secured the right to vote.

73.1
Percentage of Canadians who voted in 1867 federal election: year of confederation.

Two Parties
Choice in 1867 federal election: Conservatives 50%. Liberals 49%.

74.2
Percentage of Canadians who voted in 1935 federal election: mid-Great Depression.

75.3
Percentage of Canadians who voted in 1945 federal election: end of Second World War.

79.4
Percentage of Canadians who voted in 1958 federal election: John Diefenbaker’s Conservative government secured one of largest majorities in Canadian history.

75.7
Percentage of Canadians who voted in 1968 federal election: Trudeaumania.

75.3
Percentage of Canadians who voted in1988 federal election: free trade.

Five Parties
Choice in the 2008 federal election: Conservative, Liberals, NDP, Bloc, Greens.

58.8
Percentage of Canadians who voted in the 2008 federal election. Historical low.

Public Legal Education Webinars

http://www.cleonet.ca/training/most_viewed_webinars

I'm amazed by the number and variety of webinars available for viewing at CLEO! There is something on this list for everyone:

• Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Standards
• Bill 168 Harassment and Violence in the Workplace
• Cell Phone Contracts
• Child Custody and Protection
• Collection Agencies
• Consumer Reporting and Credit Reporting
• Criminal Injuries Compensation Board
• Door-to-Door Sales
• Elder Abuse
• Employment Rights
• Energy Re-billing
• Fired or Laid Off?
• Forced to Quit?
• Health Care Consent
• Health Care Consent and Advance Care Planning
• Human Rights in Your Workplace
• Identity Theft: An Overview
• Identity Theft: Assisting Victims
• Investment and Saving for ODSP Recipients
• Legal Aid Ontario
• Motor Vehicle Dealers Act
• Motor Vehicle Repairs
• ODSP Disability Determination and Application
• OW and ODSP Applications and Appeals
• OW and ODSP Rights and Benefits Overview
• Pay Day Loans Act
• Pre-Paid Services
• Private Career Colleges Act
• Reporting Peer to Peer Violence in Schools
• Residential Tenancies Act: The Basics
• Sexual Assault and Harassment
• Social Media
• Social Media for Clinics (Northern Regional Training)
• Substitute Decision Making ABCs
• Substitute Decision-Making Authorities and Powers of Attorney
• Workplace Safety and Insurance Board Basics

How Does Poverty Affect a Child's Health

• Low-income children are more likely to have low birth weights, asthma, type 2 diabetes and

suffer from malnutrition.

• Children living in poverty are 2.5 more times likely than those from wealthier families to have a disability, and are the least likely to access medical and community supports.

• Children in low-income working families are unlikely to have benefit plans for prescription

drugs, vision and dental care.

Read more:
http://www.campaign2000.ca/whatsnew/resources/breakfastNov25.html
http://www.campaign2000.ca/whatsnew/resources/Campaign2000ChildPovertyandHealthNov2010.pdf

Oh God, Not Another Election

Okay, so I stole the title from this Globe & Mail article.

Here's a paragraph I particularly enjoyed:

"For the NDP, this is the moment when Jack Layton must raise big issues, speak big truths and take the honourable gamble that Canadians are ready listen to the truth about our real problems: growing inequality, a declining middle class, the precariousness of daily life for millions of Canadians (including Mr. Harper's beloved immigrant communities), the need for vast infrastructure expenditures so that our kids have a viable country to grow up in, and of course climate change. This will admittedly take major new funding, but if the wealthy and their corporations actually paid the taxes they should much of that funding would be available. But not all. If we really want a better Canada, we will have to pay for it. Tell it the way it is, Jack. People need to know."

Action Alert! Help ensure that Ontario’s social housing system changes for the better!

From the Housing Network of Ontario:


The government is changing the social housing system in Ontario.


Let’s make sure it changes for the better!


The Government promised that the new Housing Services Act would make sure the affordable housing system ‘put people first’. The new law does not do nearly enough.


If the government is serious about a housing program that focuses on positive results for low-income Ontarians, the new Housing Services Act must be changed.  Take action by March 31st!



The Housing  Services Act must be changed to:

1. Prevent the privatization and sell-off of social housing:
Affordable housing strengthens the foundation of communities and is an important public asset. The Housing Services Act should make it illegal for municipalities to reduce the number of units of social housing.


2. Restrict punitive rent-geared-to-income rules:
Tenants on social assistance who live in social housing should not be worse off if they find a job. The Housing Services Act should protect tenants from rapid, unfair rent hikes if their income rises.

3. Improve fairness for tenants:
Tenants need an independent review process when disputing decisions made by housing providers, such as cancelling a rental subsidy. The people reviewing the decisions should not be the co-workers of the people who made them in the first place. The Housing Services Act should mandate the creation of an independent panel to consider these disputes.


4. Introduce Inclusionary housing:
One of the fastest and fairest ways to create stable, equitably accessible, affordable housing is to ensure that it is built into any new development. The government needs to amend the Planning Act to allow municipalities to introduce inclusionary housing policies.

5. Social Housing providers need a fair appeals process:
Under existing legislation, co-ops and non-profits have not had the ability to seek an independent review of Municipal Service Manager actions or decisions that did not involve costly court proceedings. The Housing Services Act must introduce an independent, fair and transparent appeals process for housing providers.

Tell the government that this opportunity to improve Ontario’s affordable housing system cannot be wasted.

Take Action NOW:

1. Copy this email and add your own reasons for the government to make these changes, then send it to the Standing Committee on Justice Policy , BEFORE MARCH 31, by emailing the clerk at: trevor_day@ontla.ola.org

2. Call/email your MPP and tell them that the new Housing Services Act, must be changed to better protect tenants and promote affordable housing.


Even with these changes, Ontario needs to improve the long-term affordable housing strategy by introducing targets and timelines and funding in order to meaningfully address the housing crisis. Ontarians need:
• New affordable housing units and repairs to rundown housing.
• A housing benefit and rent regulation to close the gap between low incomes and rising rents.
• Supports and services to help people access and maintain housing they can afford, and to ensure equitable, inclusive communities.

You can view the proposed legislation at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario web page: http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&BillID=2440&detailPage=bills_detail_the_bill&Intranet

March 21st ~ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

"Overcoming racism compels us to address public policies and private attitudes that perpetuate it. On this International Day, I call on Member States, international and non-governmental organizations, the media, civil society and all individuals to engage meaningfully in the promotion of the International Year for People of African descent – and to work together against racism whenever and wherever it occurs."

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

I recognize the unearned priviledge that I am granted by Western society, simply by having been born in a white body (see the 'classic' White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack By Peggy McIntosh). And I know I'll never understand how racism feels, living in out society dominated by whiteness.  I'm reminded today--the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination--to take a look at what is happening in our community and country, in  both the effort to eliminate racial discrimination, and the things which serve to reinforce racism

To Canadians of European descent whiteness  is akin to normalness; yet, as Frankenberg (1996) points out, it is unacknowledged and unknown to most white people. Euro-Canadians do not define themselves as white - they merely construct themselves as NOT being people of colour. This invisibility  of whitenes is “historically, socially, politically and culturally produced and ... linked to ... relations of domination” (Weis et al., 1997, p.22). This domination manifests itself in the form of white privilege...These privileges are invisible  to most Euro-Canadians; yet, they exist. They are built into Canadian society. It is a “protective pillow of resources and/or benefits of the doubt” (Fine, 1997, p 57). ...from J. Cameron, Media, Stereotypes and the Perpetuation of Racism in Canada

From the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:

Colour Code Keeps Workers Out of Good Jobs: Study

"[R]acialized Canadian workers earned only 81.4 cents for every dollar paid to non-racialized Canadian workers – reflecting barriers in Canada’s workplaces.

'The work racialized Canadians are able to attain is more likely to be insecure, temporary and low paying,' .... 'Despite an increasingly diverse population, a colour code is firmly in place.'"

From the Vancouver Sun:

Canada to Scrap One Avenue for Refugees - Critics Say Move Will Force Asylum-seekers to Use Human-smugglers

In its notice of the proposed change, the government says the groups most likely to be affected by the change are Colombians and Eritreans.

Currently, six countries are designated: Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Sudan, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. (hmm...where people of colour live! ~ N.S.)

However, Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, said scrapping the class instead of reforming it will close the door to people who can't easily leave their home countries to apply for refugee status and force them into the arms of human-smugglers.

"They are proposing to close one of the few options Canada has which allows people who face persecution to avoid smugglers."

From the Ontario Human Rights Commission:

RACISM & RACIAL DISCRIMINATION: Your Rights and Responsibilities

Reframing the Sally Ann Report

I posted about last week about a Salvation Army report on Canadian attitudes about poverty.

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. 

Hennessy's Index: March 2011 Security/Insecurity

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)

Goar: Need help? Don't Look to Ottawa.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/954549

March 15: 2011 - Toronto Star columnist Carol Goar paints federal, provincial and municipal politicians with the same brush.

Highlights:

"Politicians at all levels are taking their cue from the public. Canadians either want them — or allow them — to overlook those tossed aside by market forces.

It is easy to condemn Finley. She is brazenly callous and self-righteous about it. But the heart of the problem lies closer to home."

Danny Williams’ Post-Secondary Education Legacy

We KNOW that there is a direct relationship between education and poverty. To put it in terms that the political right might understand:   Poor kids don't get educated, and this keeps them in poverty, so their kids grow up poor, and poor kids don't get educated.  Equality in access to education is precisely where McGuinty should be pointing his Poverty Reduction compass.

UNESCO agrees:

"Two consistent research findings in the social sciences relate to the relationship between economic and education variables, and therefore between education and poverty. Educational research has consistently found home background (socioeconomic status) to be an important determinant of educational outcomes, and economic research has shown that education strongly affects earnings."

"Better educated people have a greater

probability of being employed,

are economically more productive,

and therefore earn higher incomes."

Link to the Danny Williams article

Some highlights:

"Admittedly, by the time Danny Williams was swept into office in 2003, the momentum had shifted. Newfoundland and Labrador had begun to lead the way in terms of post-secondary accessibility, in large part by going against the national trend of annual tuition fee increases.

But Williams, who won almost every seat in the provincial legislature that year, could have easily put things on auto pilot. He didn’t.

In 2007, the Williams government had both continued the tuition fee freeze and implemented an up-front, non-repayable, needs-based grant system for all post-secondary students. The same year, the interest rate on the provincial portion of all outstanding and future student loans was reduced from prime plus 2.5 per cent to prime.

In 2009, the Williams government went even further, eliminating the interest rate charges on the provincial portion of student loans. Also in 2009, the needs-based grant system became even more generous.

Since 2003, the Williams government has increased funding for post-secondary education in Newfoundland and Labrador by about 82 per cent."

....

"As McGuinty tries to differentiate himself from other party leaders, he’d be well advised to look at Danny Williams’ record on post-secondary education. If making a post-secondary education affordable worked on the Rock, it can work in other provinces too."