Spiked by public attention to the Occupy phenomenon, 2011 was the year in which the issue of income and wealth inequality mainstreamed in Canada. Witness: Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney called the Occupy demonstrations "entirely constructive." Jeffrey Simpson, perhaps the land's top newspaper columnist, wrote about inequality. The Conference...

Recent images of the northern Ontario First Nation community in Attawapiskat illustrated the shocking reality that there are Canadians living in decrepit housing. However, while ramshackle housing is common in many Aboriginal communities, the crisis embodied by Attawapiskat is not isolated to the Aboriginal demographic, nor to remote communities.