XPost: can.adiac.gen, can.arts.sf   
   From: istjohn@noemail.usa   
      
   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.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)