On April 22nd the New York Times released a study that declared Canada’s middle class was better off than the middle class in the United States. Instantly a wrench was thrown into the plan of Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party’s belief that our middle class in Canada is struggling.
The New York Times reported that per capita income in Canada in 2010 was $18,700 or about $75,000 for a family of four after taxes which is the highest in the world. The study was based on analyzing 35 years’ worth of income data and comparing Canada with Norway, Netherlands, Britain, Germany, Sweden, France, Ireland, Spain and the U.S.
The study found that Canada’s median income grew by 19.7% from 2000-2010 compared to 0.3% growth in the U.S. Mr. Trudeau and the Liberal Party have a hard time defining who fits in their definition of middle class and while they’re struggling to define who they think the middle class is, our Government will continue to fight for hard working Canadians by developing and implementing tax cuts and programs that put more money back in their pockets.
In February Statistics Canada released a study showing the net worth of Canadian families rose 44.5% since 2005 and nearly 80% since 1999. The facts are not lining up to support the position Mr. Trudeau and his party is trying to sell to Canadians.
Andrew Coyne recently wrote in an article “the more the evidence piles up the more it discredits the thesis, popular in certain quarters of a struggling middle class”. The study confirms what the Liberal Leader didn’t want to hear, in Canada the middle class has never been as well off.
All of this is very problematic for the Leader of the Liberal Party, as he tries to convince himself and his party that our middle class is struggling. The data however paints a very different picture. Mr. Trudeau said he wanted to put forward evidence based policy, which seems to be the case only when the data supports his theories.
The global economy is still fragile and recovering, Canada is outpacing our partners and we are continuing to focus on our economic growth and long term prosperity. While Justin Trudeau is trying to figure out who the middle class is or just how the budget will magically balance itself, our Government will continue to put policies in place that will benefit Canadian families.
Please contact my Constituency office if you have any questions or concerns on any federally related matters, postage free, at: Bay #6A, 4612 - 50th Street, Ponoka, T4J 1S7; tel: 403-783-5530; toll free: 1-800-665-0865 or visit my web site: www.blainecalkinsmp.ca or on twitter at www.twitter.com/blainecalkinsmp