Whose Boom? Wealth, Health and Inequality

<div class="flexinode-body flexinode-1"><div class="flexinode-textfield-2"><div class="form-item"> <label>Location: </label> Edmonton </div> </div><div class="flexinode-textarea-1"><div class="form-item"> <label>Description: </label> <p><strong>Whose Boom? Wealth, Health and Inequality</strong><br /><em>Featuring: Diana Gibson and Armine Yalnizyan</em></p><p>Wednesday, February 7, 7:30 pm<br />Lister Conference Centre, 87 Avenue and 116 Street<br />University of Alberta<br /></p><p>The news we hear from governments on the economic benefits coming from the fossil fuel industry is perpetually rosy. Certainly Alberta&#39;s GDP per capita is high - the highest in Canada. And it has been going up, as has Canada&#39;s overall GDP. Energy extraction has been largely responsible. However, it is less clear how much Alberta&#39;s citizens have benefited from this aggregate wealth. In spite of strongly rising GDP, family incomes have not risen significantly in over 20 years. Corporate Equity, on the other hand, has risen dramatically. This presentation will detail record corporate profits, describe the context of tax cuts and low royalty rates and look into where the money is going. It will place this wealth and capital flight into the context of growing inequalities and poverty in the province.</p><p><strong>Diana Gibson</strong><br />Diana Gibson is the Research Director for the Parkland Institute, a public policy research center based at the University of Alberta. She has an extensive background in social policy research and has engaged nationally and internationally on topics ranging from health care and education to energy and international trade agreements. Prior to joining the Parkland, Diana worked in labour relations for a number of years in Ontario, B.C. and Alberta. More recently, she conducted research for various community organizations, colleges, trade unions and the federal government.</p><p><strong>Armine Yalnizyan</strong><br />Ms. Yalnizyan is Research Associate at Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in Ottawa and has also returned to the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto as its Director of Research. In 1998 she authored a ground-breaking report, The Growing Gap, about income inequality in Canada. She has been co-chair of the Economy and Employment Committee of the National Action Committee on the Status of Woman. Ms. Yalnizyan is a member of the Progressive Economics Forum, a steering committee member of the Alternative Federal Budget, and a board member of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and of the Canadian Association of Business Economists. In 2002, Ms. Yalnizyan became the first recipient of the Atkinson Foundation Award for Economic Justice. She has also received the Morley Gunderson Prize. Ms. Yalnizyan&#39;s ability to offer fiscal and economic analysis as well as achievable strategies for action has earned her wide respect as a researcher, communicator and teacher.</p><p>This event is part of our conference, Forgotten Families, Globalization and the Health of Canadians, co-sponsored with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research being held Feb. 6-8. For more information visit our website at <a href="http://www.ualberta.ca/parkland/forgotten">http://www.ualberta.ca/parkland/forgotten</a>.</p><p>If you are interested in attending, you can register at the door tonight. Doors open at 6:30 pm.<a href="http://www.ualberta.ca/parkland"><br /></a></p> </div> </div></div>