It would be nice if Margaret Wente did what she's obliged
to do – that is, inform readers of the source of statistics used to reach her conclusions.
It seems particularly relevant to
uphold accepted standards when you’re slagging other media outlets (like the
Toronto Star) for claims “not supported by the facts”.
What facts support Ms. Wente when she writes,
“Since 1981, Canadians’ real personal disposable
income, per capita, has gone up nearly 50 per cent”?
In contrast, The Living Standards
Report of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (2011) states:
“Between 1981 and 2010… real
personal disposable income per capita rose 31.4 per cent”.
Any growth has been unequally shared. “Median
market income per household declined 7.6 per cent, while median total income
saw a moderate increase of 1.7 per cent…”
The report adds, “Since 1981, many dimensions of living
standards have not improved, in spite of a 52.6 % surge in gross domestic
product per capita….”
And since Ms. Wente’s overall argument is that compassion
and income equality are doing well specifically under Mr. Harper’s watch, it would
make more sense to look at figures since he came to office – rather than since
1981. Table 9B here
shows real disposable income in 1981 at $19,421. In 2006, when the Conservatives formed a
minority government, the number already stood at $24,006, so most of that
increase occurred under previous administrations. The
figures stop at 2010, before the majority Conservative government began
implementing expansive changes in legislation.
What does appear to have risen since Conservatives achieved majority is household debt. Given the barrage of reports (noting, for example, that “Canadians owe just over $1.63 for every $1 in disposable income they earn in a year”), it seems a bit unlikely that Canadians’ disposable income has increased as radically as Ms. Wente states - especially recently. Even for one cherry-picked marker, 30 percent would be nowhere near the 50 at which she pegs it (and little to no increase would seem to be attributable to Mr. Harper’s “compassionate” governance) Perhaps Ms. Wente has a different source of statistics for her "nearly 50 per cent" claim. A polite request for supporting figures was sent to The Globe. No response so far.
Update: I’m glad to see that The Globe has now updated
the claim with a link in the online version (though no source in the print version)
to a graph by Stephen Gordon, showing figures to 2013 (though it doesn’t
indicate the source of the original data).
Better, though questions remain.
In any case, it should be noted that a woman who, among
other
things, falsely
turned an unsuspecting student loan
recipient (borrowed, without acknowledging her source, from an American
blogger) into the “face” of the Occupy protests, presumes to lecture other
media outlets about proper ethical practices.
