To the Editor,
Re: NDP turmoil rooted in party policy, Opinion, Jan. 27.
Good for Adrian Dix for addressing the polarization of wealth in Canada. The loss of wealth to the poorest class has resulted in a shocking rise in infant mortality, placing Canada just above Poland – 24th in the world when it used to be sixth – according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation.
A study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives revealed the richest one per cent of Canadians took almost a third of all income growth from 1997 to 2007, while StatsCan tells us that the poorest fifth of Canadians saw their earnings decline by 20.6 per cent.
The income equity of a nation is directly linked to mental health and drug use, physical health and life expectancy, obesity, educational performance, teen births, violence, imprisonment and punishment.
Guess that’s why Prime Minister Stephen Harper plans to pour billions of dollars into more prisons.
Madeline Bruce
Nanaimo
