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. 
  
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