StatsCan study doesn’t sway Trudeau from worry about middle class

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau talks to reporters after attending his caucus meeting in on Parliament in Ottawa, Wednesday February 26, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is sticking with his assertion that the middle class is struggling with stagnant incomes and skyrocketing household debt, no matter what Statistics Canada says.

The agency released a study earlier this week that said families have become wealthier since 2005.

Employment Minister Jason Kenney says the study proves Trudeau is making things up.

But Trudeau says he’s looking at statistics going back to 1981 and the long-term trend is worrying.

He cites another report, prepared for the government last October by experts in Kenney’s department, which says middle-income earners saw their wages stagnate and debts mount between 1993 and 2007.

The report, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, concludes that the Canadian dream is more myth than a reality for the middle class, who are unlikely to move to higher income brackets.