XPost: soc.culture.canada, can.atlantic.general, can.general   
   XPost: can.politics, can.taxes, soc.culture.quebec   
   From: abc@a123.ca   
      
   Canada’s rich still getting richer: OECD   
      
   Eric Lam  Dec 5, 2011   
      
   The wage gap between the top and bottom income earners in Canada is   
   widening, largely due to tax policies, a new report from the Organization   
   for Economic Co-operation and Development said Monday.   
      
   The report found that the top 10% of Canadians in 2008 earned $103,500 on   
   average, 10 times higher than the bottom 10%, who made an average of   
   $10,260.   
      
   This is up from a ratio of 8 to 1 in the early 1990s.   
      
   The top 1% of Canadians, meanwhile, saw their share of the country’s   
   total income increase to 13.3% in 2007 from only 8.1% in 1980.   
      
   And the very richest of Canadians, the top 0.1%, had their share of   
   income more than double, to 5.3% from 2%.   
      
   The results suggest Canada needs to update its tax policies as taxes and   
   tax benefits in particular have become ineffective in wage   
   redistribution, the OECD said.   
      
   “The growing share of income going to top earners means that this group   
   now has a greater capacity to pay taxes,” the report said. “In this   
   context governments may re-examine the redistributive role of taxation to   
   ensure that wealthier individuals contribute their fair share.”   
      
   The top federal marginal income tax rates declined markedly in the past   
   30 years, falling to 29% in 2010 compared with 43% in 1981.   
      
   As well, tax benefits now only offset less than 40% of wage inequality,   
   compared with more than 70% before the mid-1990s.   
      
   “Taxes and benefits reduce inequality less in Canada than in most OECD   
   countries,” the report said. “Benefit rates fell and benefits became less   
   targeted. Changes in income tax rates played less of a role.”   
      
   Other factors driving this inequality include a rise in self-employment,   
   greater disparity in male wages (more women in the workforce helped   
   offset this) and low-wage workers losing hours at a greater pace than   
   higher-wage workers.   
      
   The report recommends creation of more and better-paying jobs through   
   investments in education at the childhood level as well as incentives for   
   workers and employers to encourage skills investments throughout working   
   life.   
      
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