Oh. Wait. We sent Special Forces to Mali as well as an airplane. Oops. Steve forgot to mention that.
Stats Can released some data on income equality/inequality in Canada. The poor 1% only earns 10.6% of the Nations total income (2010) vs. the 12.1% they earned in 2006. This is interesting, but largely academic. However, what I do find interesting is the earnings that would put you in the 1%. Where an American 1 Percenter is probably making at least a few million a year (I can't back this up right now, but when you look at their numbers, their income inequality is staggering), $201,400 per year ($16,783 per month) in Canada puts you in the 1 Percent. Now, don't get me wrong, 200 grand a year is a healthy chunk of cash, but I figured it would require far more than that to beat out 99% of the country. The National Post of course has an interesting take on this. Surprisingly, they take it as an opportunity to poke fun at the Occupy movement. Is this news? Infotainment? Anyhow. I digress. What is interesting is that they manage to point out the median income of the 98%. $28,400 per year. Ouch. Anyhow. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for my take on how this proves we have a ridiculous Real Estate bubble.
Canada! Pillars of the World Economy! Banks made of granite! Oh. Wait. All downgraded due to our ridiculous housing/debt bubble. Just wait. Years of post recession praise of our banking? Yes. All thanks to the Conservatives. Followed by a precipitous decline thanks to the above mentioned issues? Whose fault is that going to be?
So, I heard on the news that the Conservatives are going to "open up a dialogue" with First Nations. But apparently "opening up a dialogue" means "we'll talk, but don't expect anything to change." Peter Van Loan even suggests that the bills that they have the biggest problem with (the two Omnibus Budgets) will actually make them some of the "greatest beneficiaries". This just seems like an amazing strategy. Somebody tells you that they have a real problem with something and you come back and tell them that they are mistaken and this will actually be really good for them.
Hey. You didn't think the Ashley Smith thing could get worse? Well, turns out they tried to buy the guards silence. After more-or-less firing them.
Which leads to... A 12-year-old girl gets thrown in adult jail for 11 days. No word in the article as to whether or not she is large for her age.
Two things from this story about Corporate Income Tax:
1 - Corporations pay lower tax rates than humans.
2 - Corporate tax cuts are not creating jobs.
Did you hear about Israel coercing Ethiopian Jews into accepting birth control? I think Stephen Harper is still drafting the memo that Canada is 100% in support of Israel's right to do this.
So, as I mentioned above, let's talk about Real Estate. This gets a bit number crazy. Let's look at what $201,400 yearly income means.
Yearly Salary - $201,400
After tax take home - $153,580 (plug it in here if you don't believe me)
Monthly take home pay - $12,798 per month
So, you're a fancy 1 percenter. You live in Vancouver. You deserve a big house, right? Chances are, your bank is going to give you a fat mortgage, but you're not greedy. You're going to buy the average Greater Vancouver house at the benchmark price. You get a lovely teardown for $904,000. Here's where it gets tricky as no two mortgages are the same. Let's assume a 15% down payment and let's assume a 5 Year, 3.5% fixed rate. Not too shabby. What does your mortgage look like?
Down payment - $135,600
Monthly payment - $3,900
So, you're paying $3,900 to live in the Greater Vancouver average detached house (trust me, this won't be a fancy place). That is over 30% of your income. According to some, anything over 36% is an unhealthy income/debt ratio. So. If you live in Vancouver. And you're in the top 1 percent of all income earners in the entire country. You can just afford to buy the average detached house. Which leads me to wonder about how all of these properties are paid for. Is Vancouver composed entirely of 1 percenters?
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