| Canadian Census Reveals Growing Inequality, Shrinking Religion |
The rich are getting richer, and fewer Canadians are getting religion. That's the big picture according to the 2001 census data released by Statistics Canada in mid-May 2003. Behind this scenario, it's not hard to see the hidden hand of the neo-liberal agenda.
StatsCan divides income earners in the country into 10 groups, or deciles, for reporting purposes. The highest one-tenth of the population (those with income over $118,000 annually) saw a 14.6 per cent increase in their pre-tax family income over the ten year period of 1990 to 2000. The sixth to ninth highest deciles of income earners had increases in the two to six per cent range in the same period.
The poorest 10 per cent of Canadians saw their income rise by only $81 over the decade, or less than 1 per cent, while that of middle-income families increased by barely $167.
Income tax is supposed to even out some of the disparities, but according to Doug Norris, director general of Statistics Canada, the trends are similar when other studies of after-tax income are examined.
Incomes for all groups plunged during the recession of the early 1990s, then rose to the 1990 level by the end of the decade. The low-income rate for seniors fell to 16.8 per cent from 20.4 per cent over the ten years as more become eligible for the Canada Pension Plan and old-age supplements. But the child poverty rate stayed high at 18.4 per cent, the same as in 1990. For the children of immigrants, the child poverty rate is 33 per cent.
The fact is, the rich are getting richer, and poverty is growing, especially in the country*s biggest city, Toronto. There, the bottom 10 per cent of families have an average income of only $9,600, while the top tenth earn an average of $261,000 - the highest in Canada. That means that for every $1 earned at the bottom, those at the top made $27.30.
While rich and poor seem to be staying put, middle income families appear to be fleeing Toronto in growing numbers for the surrounding suburban regions of York, Peel, Durham and Halton. A disintegrating physical and social infrastructure in the big metropolis seems to be behind this flight.
Toronto has seen a dramatic increase in the number of part-time and casual jobs in the service industry, no increase in the minimum wage since 1995 and cutbacks in all support services for immigrant settlement, said Olivia Chow, who chairs the Toronto's community services committee. Almost a third of households in Toronto spend 30 per cent or more of income on housing.
Both the federal and Ontario provincial governments have got out of the business of building affordable or social housing. A growing army of thousands of homeless live on Toronto streets, and dozens die every year from exposure to the brutal elements.
Is there a brighter side to this dismal StatsCan picture? Perhaps.
The depredations of the neo-liberal capitalist agenda may be having a de-mystifying effect on society, taking a toll on the worship of all sorts of phantoms and idols. The fact is that fewer Canadians are getting religion.
According to the 2001 census, nearly 5 million Canadians, or 16 per cent, say they have "no religion" at all. That's up 4 per cent from the 1991 census.
Immigration has bolstered the number of Canadian Roman Catholics, now about 12.8 million. And the number of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs, and those calling themselves "Christian" (fundamentalists?), has doubled since 1991. But these groups remain in the minority in Canada, with Muslims, for example, at only 2 per cent of the population in 2001. The numbers in the mainline Protestant denominations have fallen by 8 per cent, continuing a long trend.
Those looking for signs may find a hopeful one in the fact that 40 per cent of those who say they have "no religion" are under 25 years of age. Is it a temporary category or a trend? Is Canada becoming a more secular society, or is there just less faith in institutions and less deference to authority?
Either way, it seems the neo-liberal agenda of cutthroat capitalism is fostering less complacency and more critical thinking -- and creating the basis for greater political activism for fundamental social change.
The article above was written by Barry Weisleder.
|
