Get rich or Die tryin’

My name is Chris and I’m pissed off. And if you’ve been paying attention, you should be too. In the last few months, we Nova Scotians have seen our water bill increase by 19% and our electricity bill increase by 6% while we’re already paying the highest amount of taxes in Canada. These disturbing figures coupled with the fact that the average Canadian’s wages actually fell when you adjust for inflation is downright infuriating.

The rich truly are getting richer and they’re damned near rubbing it in our destitute faces. Take a look at Rob Bennett, president of Emera’s Nova Scotia Power subsidiary. In 2010 he received more than twice his $336,692 salary in benefits. Do you really expect us to believe that this bloated salary on top of their new $53.4 million building has nothing to do with rate increases? What’s even more maddening is the fact that the average top CEO in Canada makes 8.3 million dollars a year while the average Canadian makes $44,366. And most of the educated people I know working for large, multinational corporations aren’t even making that.

Log onto Job Bank and tell me if the strength of the Nova Scotia economy is apparent to you. What you’ll find are lots of $10 and $11 an hour jobs, probably without benefits, sick days or a pension. How are you supposed to save for retirement when you can barely put food on the table? Actually, forget about retirement…how about buying a house? The average house price in Halifax is $262,000 and rising. There’s a crystal clear and ever widening gap between the haves and the have nots and with the rising prices and stagnant job market, the middle class is painfully being eliminated.

At this rate, most new post-secondary graduates will come out of school with a huge debt to the federal government they will struggle to repay for years and years as they work meaningless jobs until they can squirrel enough pennies away to afford a starter house when they’re forty-five. But hey, it’s not so bad right? Skimp on the groceries for a few years and live off hot dogs and Mr. Noodles. Just try and forget that the former are cured with sodium nitrate which was proven to increase the risk of brain cancer and the latter has more salt then the Dead Sea. And instead of paying for cable, you can just download the latest episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians. I hear Kendra just turned 16 and is trying to get her driver’s license. Just try and forget that the US Government might come after you for violating SOPA and throw you in prison indefinitely, as per the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Then again, you don’t have to worry about that because pretty soon you won’t even be able to afford the internet. —Chris

This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 1, 2012.