Rich Canadians, Poor Canada

Measured by GDP, Canada is richer than ever before. But the country as a whole won't be better off until our politicians take decisive action.

Since the mid 1970s, the Canadian economy has grown by 135 per cent. We’ve never been richer, and by most people’s reckoning, that should make us happier. Certainly we have more stuff. Consider the proliferation of laptops, cellphones, iPods, and other electronic gadgetry, much of it unheard of only a few years ago, that is now deemed essential for a normal life.

Those riding the wave drive cars that grow ever bigger, sleeker, and faster, and live in houses that have expanded like balloons. The average new house is 135 per cent larger than its 1950s counterpart, but because household size has fallen from 3.7 to 2.6 people, floor space has trebled to 83 square metres (almost 900 square feet) per person.

But is society really that much better off? A 70 per cent increase in per capita GDP over the past 30 years masks the fact that most of the income gains have gone to the already wealthy. Income disparity has widened, and by some accounts, subjective well-being is actually in decline. Certainly our streets are meaner – there has been no change in the proportion of people living in poverty or in average unemployment rates, so the absolute numbers of unemployed, poor, and homeless have increased. The nation may be more money-rich, but we’ve created economic inequalities that make for greater social unrest and declining population health.

Meanwhile, everything from climate change to the structural transformations accompanying globalization adds to the insecurity ordinary people feel in their homes and neighbourhoods. And did I mention that despite rising GDP, our public infrastructure is literally eroding out from under us?

Part of the problem is the “market-friendly” policy environment that has emerged since the 1980s. This was ostensibly to enhance productivity, but the greater effect has been to diminish government, shrink the public sector, and make a pariah of taxes. Told often enough that “there’s no such thing as society” (Margaret Thatcher’s famous throw-away phrase), people, social creatures all, become alienated from that which actually makes them whole. Voter participation in a system that no longer serves their needs is in free fall, making democracy seem like a myth. It may be a glitzier world, but is it really a better one?

Politicians take note. You have been elected to govern, to serve the public, to act for the common good, but you seem to have abandoned your mission. It’s time to shape up. The next 50 years will be nothing like the last half-century. Ahead of us are dark days that will greatly try your leadership, and you are not prepared.

Let us see the policies we need developed, debated, and advanced to cope with everything from shifting global power dynamics to a climate in convulsion. Be prepared to regulate when necessary – two decades of deregulation have nearly wrecked the global economy and are currently wreaking havoc in the Gulf of Mexico. And don’t shy away from reopening the debate on taxation. Decisive action requires resources, and a well-informed public would welcome a fair system of raising the necessary revenues. More of society’s new-found wealth must be redirected from private accumulation to public works. Taxes are the means by which people pool their resources to achieve common goals. Taxes are necessary to do those things people cannot possibly achieve as individuals. If my city has a lousy public transit system, there’s nothing I can personally do to put more buses on the street; if addressing climate change requires a cap-and-trade system, I can’t implement it on my own.

Our society needs to face reality, and the reality is that we need to pull together as never before. The heavy lifting required to achieve a more equitable and sustainable society requires decisive government intervention on behalf of all of us.