OTTAWA – There is a major affordability gap between Canada’s richest and poorest households, says a new Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study released today.
The Affordability Gap: Spending Differences Between Canada’s Rich and Poor reveals how Canada’s poorest households often forego buying things most Canadians consider essential, from eyeglasses and dental care to computers and newspapers.
Inequality and poverty
Canada likes to think of itself as the country that emerged from the financial crisis squeaky clean. Too bad it is abdicating a leadership role in creating a safer financial system going forward.The issue is bonuses paid to top executives in the financial sector. It looks like the Europeans and Americans are pushing for consensus at the upcoming G20 meetings to adopt limitations on these bonuses. But Canada is poised to be the spoiler.
HALIFAX - The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia released its ‘alternative budget’ today. The NS Alternative Budget Working Group, which is comprised of a coalition of academics and community representatives, developed an alternative budget that positions Nova Scotia to achieve greater social and economic equality, create a greener economy, and thus a more sustainable and healthy province.
There is growing concern about the level of violence in Winnipeg's North End. The media regularly feature headline reports about gun violence, and street gang activity has become a focus of attention in the effort to "get tough on crime." Against this backdrop, the authors met with six members of a North End street gang, who wanted to convey their experiences of living in the North End, their thoughts on the recent events that have occurred there, and their insights into what it will take to make meaningful change. Too often the voices of such men are not heard.
Only 9% of all Canadians were considered poor in 2007. It was the lowest rate of low income in 30 years. But that was before the recession hit last fall. We don’t yet have income data for 2008, but, if past experience is anything to go by, poverty rates will go up again as declining economic growth shows up in the numbers. And that’s bad news for women whose high rates of poverty remain unaddressed.
Regina — For the past thirty years, the richest in the province have secured the lion’s share of Saskatchewan’s economic growth, while those at the lower end of the income spectrum have made few or no gains over the same period. That is the conclusion of the Saskatchewan CCPA’s new report: Boom and Bust: The Growing Income Gap in Saskatchewan.