Twenty years ago, the Mike Harris "Common Sense Revolution" stormed Ontario, waging a fight with the poor, with unions, and with the idea of government itself. What remains from that era in Ontario public policy and what needs fixing: this special publication by the CCPA-Ontario goes over the key moments of the "revolution" and looks at solutions moving forward.
Inequality and poverty
Thanks to community advocacy, low-income Manitobans will have more money to help pay their rent. Three years ago Make Poverty History Manitoba (MPHM) began building support for increasing shelter benefits to 75 per cent of median market rent. The provincial government responded and this July, low-income people will have better access to a safe and affordable place to live.
The wealth advantage for Canada’s affluent starts at young age. Did you know that the wealthiest Canadian families in their twenties have an average net worth of over $500,000—more than middle class families manage to save over a lifetime. If these millionaire babies stay at the top, they’ll spend the rest of their lifetime accumulating even greater wealth, leaving their middle class contemporaries behind in their gold dust.
OTTAWA—The wealth advantage for Canada’s affluent starts at a young age, says a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
This report draws on Statistics Canada’s Survey of Financial Security to examine the extent of wealth inequality in Canada. The major finding is that Canada’s wealth gap is big and growing — the wealthiest 10 per cent of families enjoy a net worth that’s millions more than families in the middle of the income spectrum — and that wealth advantage starts early in an affluent family’s life. Young affluent families in their twenties have a major wealth advantage: their net worth is already higher than middle class families in their fifties and sixties.
Kate McInturff, senior policy researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, gave a speech about women's poverty in Canada at an event hosted by the Canadian Women's Foundation, on June 9, 2015.
Social service schemes announced this week by the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives to encourage private childcare and introduce Social Impact Bonds soften the ground towards privatization. The assumption is that the private sector knows best how to fund and deliver public services. This is false – publicly delivered services are more efficient, accountable and in the long-term public interest.
This study uses the Canadian Living Wage Framework to calculate the living wage for Halifax. It takes into account major expenses as well as taxes and transfers for families raising young children in Halifax based on a 35 hour work week for 52 weeks. This calculation ensures a standard of living that promotes well-being and social inclusion for the diversity of families in our community, including single parent families and unattached individuals.
This report suggests that the federal budget’s claims regarding who would benefit from doubling the Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) annual contribution ceiling are erroneous. The analysis finds that the government's claims that raising the annual TFSA contribution ceiling from $5,500 to $10,000 would disproportionately benefit lower- and middle-income Canadians use misleading income groupings and excludes data to show a distributional impact that is directly opposite to the one it actually has.
The 2015 federal budget vehemently argued that raising the annual TFSA contribution ceiling from $5,500 to $10,000 would disproportionately benefit lower- and middle- income Canadians. But is that really the case? Find out what's fact and what's just spin in our handy infographic below.
Want to know more? Read our full analysis: The Number Games: Are the TFSA Odds Ever in Your Favour?