Canada’s Income Inequality Is Worth Protesting

Income inequality in the U.S. is at its highest since the Great Depression. In Canada, the gap between rich and the rest is growing even faster as confirmed by a Conference Board of Canada study published by the Globe and Mail last month.

While the problem persists (for low and middle earners), there isn’t enough data yet that explains why the gulf is growing so rapidly in Canada. Conveniently for the rich, while Canada needs to know more to help everyone else, the office of corporate-friendly Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper, wants to limit the gathering of data.

Fewer statistics will allow Mr. Harper to later claim he was unaware of the desperation faced by low earning Canadians, but isn’t it nice that we built billions of dollars worth of new prisons to house them, and changed our crime laws to keep them in longer if the poor got out of line?

First action: protect the rich (Photo: University of Saskatchewan via Flickr).

Today, large corporate firms are being portrayed as villains in western society through international “Occupy” protests. In Toronto, a timid demonstration is camped down the street from my apartment. While not all are protesting income inequality, it should become their sole focus because Canada has a serious and growing problem.

When U.S. banks and their intermediaries caused today’s global economic crisis by bamboozling investors and customers, people lost faith in the private sector. But some business leaders have spun the current climate as one created by unions and governments. There is no truth to that claim but people who knowingly sold bad debt for profit would try to sell anything. The prophetic Jarvis Cocker penned a song about these people a few years before the recent economic meltdown. The title starts with a feminine C-word.

Unlike the U.S., Canadian banking regulations enacted by a previous Liberal Party government kept the country afloat. Yet businesses still balk at the idea of compensating low to mid-level employees with competitive wages, particularly in non-unionized settings, so Canada’s wealth disparity is not a surprise.

Corporations, and the Prime Minister routinely attack unions and claim it’s difficult for companies to provide their workers with a livable wage because organized labour increases the cost of business. If this is true, why are executives making more than ever to stretch the already huge wealth gap? Shouldn’t they too suffer if things are so dire for business?

Some (not all) in Canada’s executive class don’t see any issues with an army of employees fighting over diminishing table scraps, while the six to eight figure earnings of the bigwigs continue unabated as they purchase large homes, expensive cars and private school education for their children. How else will we foster the next generation of wealthy liars and thieves to deceive and manipulate the public?

Western taxpayers paid dearly to finance these luxurious lifestyles through austerity measures when their governments could have created jobs instead. In Canada, like in most western countries, the money for job creation continues to be shifted to corporations through tax cuts. Firms that have no interest in stimulating the economy with new employment or by paying existing workers higher wages, are being rewarded with public money for increasing the gap between the rich and everyone else.

A democratic government’s role is to care for the vulnerable more than the comfortable. People would neither need nor want democracy if they were happy to allow the wealthy to rule. In Canada, we not only have the rich getting richer and the rest getting poorer, but a party and Prime Minister in power that’s poised to maintain this systemic inequality. This is worth protesting.

That Non-Inspirational Tale Of Mediocrity

Whenever a democratic movement comes about it usually attracts a contrarian view and the Occupy Wall Street critics have presented theirs. They are not unique and so far they are not particularly clever either.

Take for instance this cute letter a self-described “college senior” put on the web to become a viral hero to contrarians and anti-protesters. Put aside that the author’s actual existence hasn’t been verified, and many think it’s an orchestrated stunt from a public relations firm hired by the likes of billionaire Koch brothers who are well known for plotting fakes.

What we can know about this piece is that the author – if real – has little or no grasp of the issue at hand. Protesters are not looking for handouts, as the writer claims. Protesters are railing against the salaries of corporate executives that are constantly going up at a public expense, while jobs aren’t being created and working class wages are regularly going down. This is something even corporate-friendly Fox News acknowledges as a problem, but this author fails to understand.

What we also know of the writer, if this person exists, is that he is quite proud of his personal mediocrity.

For instance, he claims to have chosen “a moderately priced, in-state public university.” Sure, why target a reputable school when you can attend Backwoods U? It’s cheaper and that should be the only criteria for education, not quality, so you might get a job “making barely above minimum wage” as the author does. Ah, the charmed life.

It’s commendable that this supposed student started saving for school “at age 17” (just before university) and received “2 scholarships which cover 90% of (his) tuition.” The author could have done a great service by revealing the name of this incredibly generous and affordable U.S. public university, but he didn’t because it probably doesn’t exist.

I imagine the PR firm that wrote this diatribe struggled quite a bit here. After its interns failed to find a moderate, in-state public school (in at least 47 of 50 states) with the resources to dole out 90% tuition to students, the firm just half-assed the idea. They didn’t even mention the subject this pretend student is studying to earn a “3.8 GPA” in his make-believe institution. That might’ve led to more questions and contrarians are happier not to challenge irregularities that support their camp. Let’s assume he is majoring in wizardry because this school sounds magical.

The aggressive mediocrity then takes an intimate turn as the author(s) invite the reader into his tiny, cheap apartment. He says he doesn’t have a credit card. Pause there. Unless this fantasy tale also includes landlords that enjoy renting apartments to students who don’t have a credit rating or a decent income, he likely had a co-signer on his lease.

Something about no credit and low pay contradicts the “I expect nothing to be handed to me” line, while begging the question if his apartment’s co-signer wrote her full name on the signature line, or simply scrawled “mommy” before forking over first and last month’s rent so her little sunshine could play smug grown-up on the Internet.

It’s also stated that the author doesn’t have a new car, cable television, a smart phone and never – “even once a month” – eats out. The PR firm simply surrenders here by making him a hermit that doesn’t participate in the economy. At least many of the protesters are consumers. Wall Street would rather you bought something, commie.

While I’m convinced this viral hit was a stunt, if it does prove to be written by a single wizard, who exists as an academic genius, anonymously living under a rock without any modern comforts, it still doesn’t excuse the fact that this lecture is from a person with a poor grasp of issues, who admittedly doesn’t have many bills to pay – not because he is smart (but) – because he is too young to have various expenses that inevitably comes with age.

The author is only right about one thing, that he is not a part of the 99-percent. Most 99-percenters have a story that doesn’t require fabrication.

Thank You For Not Voting

On Thursday night untold thousands of Conservative voters in Ontario stayed home instead of performing their so-called democratic duty. Those who care about the future of the province ought to be glad, even grateful that they did.

There is little doubt that a decent Conservative turnout would have changed the outcome of Thursday’s strong Liberal Party minority result. However, the Conservatives offered little to its supporters, even for a group that already subscribes to neatly prepackaged outrage and unfounded fear about taxes, unions, gays and foreigners (actual Canadians).

(Photo: KCIvey via Flickr)

The reported under-50% turnout is not dire. Aside from the miserable Conservative campaign it’s entirely possible that voters are content and didn’t see the need to reinvent Ontario. Voting through inaction is perfectly legitimate in a democracy.

Consider the alternative. Conservatives wanted an angry base to turn up at polling stations across the province, seething over Premier Dalton McGuinty, while pulling the metaphorical lever wild-eyed and unmindful. Last time naive politics of anger was on display in Ontario, Rob Ford became Toronto’s mayor in the 2010 municipal election.

Acrimonious politicking doesn’t always work when the target is in the race. Premier McGuinty had a chance to defend himself and he stood by his record. That neutralized much of the anti-McGuinty passion.

Those carrying the flag for a progressive Toronto in 2010 didn’t have the luxury of defence. Outgoing mayor David Miller wasn’t there to stand by his record, and Mr. Ford, along with an army of out-of-town provincial Conservatives that volunteered for him by busloads were able to target faceless “leftists” and “elitists” as a vague enemy.

Polls show Toronto voters are experiencing a hangover after consuming the Ford-supplied fury of 2010. They were unlikely to repeat that mistake on Thursday.

Those worried about democratic participation should focus on the root cause of political inaction. In Canada’s case, it’s a growing population that fundamentally doesn’t understand how its own democracy works. This is likely happening across the board from new Canadians to those who trace their lineage back centuries.

At the federal level, some studies hold that most Canadians wrongly believe they elect their Prime Minister directly; know little of their own political history; and much of this ignorance was corroborated when Canadians’ poor understanding of Parliamentary powers was shockingly exposed during recent coalition, prorogation and contempt sagas.

The most responsible thing a willfully uninformed-on-issues electorate can do on the day of an election is to stay home. It’s a net positive for society.

Not So Conservative, You and I

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper proclaimed following his 2011 election victory that Canada has become more Conservative – in a big-C way – and that it was here to stay.

He was wrong.

Over the last week in Mr. Harper’s own beloved Alberta, a classic public education and health care loving, small-c Red Tory was selected to lead the Progressive Conservative Party and become that province’s next Premier.

A few days later, Prince Edward Island re-elected a second straight majority Liberal government.

On Tuesday, Manitoba lifted the NDP to its fourth majority in a row.

Dalton McGuinty (J.K. Warren via Flickr)

Then came Thursday night, the pièce de résistance, Liberal Dalton McGuinty returned to power as the Premier of Ontario for a third consecutive term, one seat shy of a majority.

Much like the Prime Minister’s menacing insistence on building expensive U.S.-style prisons and scaring Canadians about crime when all statistics show Canada is safer than ever, his calculations about Canadian society doesn’t add up either.

Canada hasn’t become more conservative in the sense the Prime Minister wishes.  His stated dream of a country that abandons universal programs such as health care and education seems unreachable now, particularly in the re-election of Mr. McGuinty in Canada’s largest province.

From Alberta to PEI, Canadians in the last seven days have shown they are not willing to sacrifice services for dubious promises of lower taxes. That should alarm Harper Conservatives, as that’s the only formula they offer to Canadians, who have asked in return, “tax cuts, and then what?” Conservatives like Mr. Harper and most recently Tim Hudak, don’t have an answer to that question. Given all that’s happened in the global economy, they wouldn’t dare play the tired and disastrous ‘free market’ card.

The Prime Minister and Mr. Hudak wrongly believed that the federal Conservative election triumph, and the earlier victory of anti-public service Toronto mayor Rob Ford, created a hard right wing momentum that would sweep the country. They believed their own hype, as the slang goes.

While Mr. Harper enjoys an untouchable majority in Ottawa, his ideological contemporaries are not so secure in local affairs.

Mayor Ford is spiraling down in public opinion. Torontonians, even in the suburbs where he received his greatest support, no longer believe the mayor’s false line that Toronto has “a spending problem, not a revenue problem.” 

Mr. Ford used that adage in a bid to cut taxes and reduce public services. Ontario Conservative leader Mr. Hudak attempted to borrow this rhetoric for his campaign against Mr. McGuinty’s government.

Clumsily, Mr. Hudak laid out a vision that offered platitudes about taxes, mixed with lots of uncertainty, and an asinine threat to cut jobs. 

At least we know after Thursday night when Mr. Hudak’s Conservatives were shut out in Toronto, that the city doesn’t have a big-C Conservative problem.

Mr. Hudak discovered Ontarians don’t mind taxes if they are receiving their health care and education; that they like working and earning a fair wage for their troubles. This is why Mr. McGuinty was put back in power, it’s also the reason centrist democrats, Liberals and Red Tories – not Harper ideologues – are still holding strong throughout Canada.

13 Easy Steps to Wall-Mount a Flatscreen TV at Your New Apartment

1. Look up the Operating Instructions guide for your TV on the internet to make sure that the base is removable and the type of bracket you will need to make it mountable.

2. Go to your local hardware store and purchase a power drill, a set of 3/8 drill bits and a stud finder.

3. If you are fortunate enough to have an electronics store right next to the hardware store (those of us within walking distance of Toronto’s Bay/Dundas corner truly have it all), purchase a wall-mount bracket.

4. Once you’ve brought this stuff home, have it all unopened and lying around the floor of your new bachelor apartment for several days, taking up much of what is already an extremely limited walking area.

5. After a few days, get curious and start opening the tools when hit with a sudden burst of handyman inspiration.

6. Consult your frat brothers about the best way to to operate with metal studs (though you are still not sure what that means).

7. Think back to those old days of shop class for confidence.

8. Quickly realize that you never did finish that birdhouse in Grade 7 and in subsequent years you took the following classes to escape shop class: home economics, introduction to keyboard (piano) and probably something else equally girlish.

9. Instead of feeling discouraged, go back on the internet to see how other people have accomplished this task. You’ve seen TVs mounted in homes of utterly useless people, they must have done it somehow.

10. Once you get a few ideas, go to Craigslist and look up your city.

11. Under the “services” section, look up someone who actually enjoys doing this shit and offer to pay that person money to do your work for you.

11 a. Do not mistake “services” for “erotic service.” A 5’2″ 104 lbs girl from Taipei who makes outbound visits from 10 p.m. onwards, may be good at mounting some things, but your television on a wall is not her specialty.

12. Return all those fancy tools you bought earlier to their appropriate store(s). You always knew epic handyman failure awaited you, so you kept your receipts. You may be useless, but you are smart.

13. Wait for the real handyman you contacted to arrive. Once TV is mounted on wall, pop Four Weddings and a Funeral into the DVD player and enjoy the stuttering wit of Hugh Grant in all its glory, while feeling content that you know your place in life, and knowing is half the battle.