Inequality and poverty

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Hennessy’s Index is a monthly listing of numbers, written by the CCPA's Trish Hennessy, about Canada and its place in the world. For other months, visit: http://policyalternatives.ca/index $201,400
The City of Winnipeg’s preliminary operating budget for 2013 cuts spending on poverty reduction, housing, and neighbourhood initiatives at a time when government leadership and resources are desperately needed to address economic and social inequality.
A year after the Occupy movement focused public attention on the income, wealth and opportunity gap between the top 1 per cent and the 99 per cent, the issue is attracting the attention of conservatives in Canada. Quite simply, they want the problem to go away. So they’re intent on a simple message: chill out, Canada, inequality isn’t the problem. Two reports — one by the Fraser Institute, the other by TD Economics — illustrate the attempt to spin the issues as nothing to worry about.
For Canada’s 100 highest paid CEOs, the rewards start clocking in very early into the New Year.  By 1:18pm on January 2, the first official working day of the year, Canada’s top 100 CEOs will have already pocketed $45,448. It takes the average Canadian an entire year of full-time work to earn that. This factsheet, Overcompensating: Executive Pay in Canada, highlights some key numbers around executive pay in Canada and also includes a list of Canada's highest paid 100 CEOs. 
Debates about taxes in BC can be as much a blood-sport as politics. But a major new opinion poll conducted by Environics Research (commissioned by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) offers some surprising insights into what people of different political stripes think about taxes, inequality and public services. It turns out we aren’t nearly as divided on these issues as you might think. On the whole, British Columbians appear ready to approach issues of tax reform – and even tax increases – with more openness than our political leaders give us credit for.
The Provincial government announced recently that it will take away Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) benefits for people with outstanding warrants for serious crimes. Recently there have been a couple of high profile cases where there were delays by the police in picking up individuals with outstanding warrants and this move appears to be the Province’s response.
It’s been a bad week for advocates working to improve the lives of people living in poverty.  Recent child poverty statistics continue to show high rates for Manitoba and Monday’s throne speech gave no hint that poverty will be a priority in the next budget.
British colonial rule in India led to the killing of 200 million Indians and, with this holocaust, the country was forced into the Western capitalist system. Capitalism and imperialism created an abyss of poverty in India which continues today as more than 750 million Indians, about 75% percent of the country’s population, are still mired in poverty.
TORONTO – A new Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA-Ontario) report challenges the Ontario government to take 10 steps to close the province’s persistent pay gap between men and women.  The report, 10 Ways To Close Ontario’s Gender Pay Gap, shows women in Ontario still earn 28 per cent less than men – despite increased levels of education and workforce participation. 
Regina – In the summer of 2012, the Saskatchewan government published its anti-poverty strategy "From Dependence to Independence" claiming that no previous administration in the province had approached the challenge of poverty “with a comparable commitment to holistic, cross-government solutions.” A new report from the Saskatchewan Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives assesses the claims of the government’s strategy critically comparing Saskatchewan’s anti-poverty plan to that of other provincial programs to reduce poverty.