Stop the Growing Gap: the Injustice of Income Inequality in Canada

In this week’s web feature, Jordan Stellingwerff asks the question: how can we measure poverty in Canada? Reading his feature made me think more closely about the perceptions that exist about poverty in Canada. While there is no standard method to measure poverty in Canada, it is possible to measure another factor that contributes to poverty and marginalization: income inequality. In 2004, it was estimated that the richest 10% of families in Canada earned 82 times more than the poorest 10%. And this week, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a report called Growing Unequal?  that assessed current levels of income inequality in developed countries. It found that the gap between the rich and the poor in Canada has widened significantly over the last ten years, and is greater than in most other developed countries.

The negative effects of income inequality have been well documented. Inequality can contribute to impoverishment and make it more difficult for people to rise out of poverty. Studies have also found a correlation between income inequality and higher overall mortality rates in wealthy countries. Clearly, greater equality benefits not only the poor, but everyone in society.

I have found that poverty in a wealthy country such as Canada is often viewed differently than poverty in low-income countries. There often exists the perception that, because we live in a country with bountiful resources, people who are poor must be so by choice, or must somehow deserve to be poor. The presence of great wealth in our country can make it more difficult to see poverty as a structural issue that has its roots in values which allow the injustice of inequality to continue.

Economic growth is important. However, it must benefit everyone in society and not just the wealthy few. We have the resources to ensure everyone lives free of poverty, but we are lacking the political willpower to do so. The provincial poverty reduction strategies that are being established in Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia are a significant step towards reducing poverty in Canada.

However, existing policies are not enough. A federal poverty reduction strategy - advocated for in our Envisioning Canada Without Poverty Campaign – would lift people up above the poverty line and bridge the growing divide between the rich and the poor. A taxation system in Canada based on principles of fairness and the common good would reduce inequality and ensure that no one is left behind. The establishment of a Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI) that provided income security for all would ensure that no one fell below a set level of income.

Poverty and inequality in Canada is an injustice against the God-given right of all people to live their lives in dignity, free from oppression and economic hardship. We must look beyond the individualism and materialism that dominates our culture today and create policies that contribute to the common good, promote justice, and create equality for all.