How many of Canada’s wealthiest families would it take to equal the total net wealth of Canada’s bottom 40% of the population?  Each quintile of Canada’s total families equals 2.7 million families. So, the bottom two quintiles (a quintile is one-fifth) equal 5.4 million families. 

Extrapolating from two different years – 2005 for the bottom two quintiles and 2009 for Canada’s richest – I am making a major assumption.  It is that since the poorest Canadians have been getting poorer for some time, using 2005 statistics for the lower quintiles over-estimates their 2009 wealth.  So, if anything, I am erring on the side of the rich. 

So, if we use the 5.4 million lowest income families in Canada, how many of our richest Canadians (as reported by the Financial Post today) does it take to equal the wealth of those families?  Three.  That’s not a typo.  I didn’t leave off all the zeros.  The number is three.

The bottom two quintiles have total wealth of about $34 billion.  According to the Financial Post, the Thomson family is worth $21.99 billion.  James Arthur and John Irving are worth $7.28 billion.  Galen Weston is worth $6.47 billion.  At $35.7 billion, the three are worth a bit more than the poorest 5.4 million Canadian families.

We know that a growing gap between rich and poor is not good for society in general.  If people at the low end feel that they don’t have a real stake in society - that it’s rigged against them - the bonds of community break down and violence increases.  We have been moving in the wrong direction in wealth distribution for some time and we need to take a hard look at what’s not working.  It’s in the best interest of all of us.