Facts about Canada

* 15.1% of children in Canada were living in poverty in 1989, the year MPs of all parties pledged to end child poverty by 2000. By 2006, the rate of child poverty had risen to 17.7% - almost 1.2 million children. Of the 753,458 Canadians who obtained food from a food bank in 2006, 41% were children.

* In 2005, the highest 20% of Canadian families owned 69.2% of the country's net worth, while the poorest 40% owned just 2.4%.

* In most Western European countries, low-paying jobs comprise between 8% and 12% of the total. In Canada, they now make up 21% of all jobs.

* With only 214 doctors per 100,000 people, Canada stands at 54th place in the world. A recent poll revealed that over 2 million Canadians have tried and failed to find a family doctor during the previous year. Canada now has about 33% fewer doctors per capita than other OECD countries.

* Canada's overall environmental performance is far behind other OECD countries, ranking 28th out of 30. A 2005 international study ranked Canada 126th among 141 countries in reducing its pollution leve. With just 0.5% of the world's population, Canada emits 2% of humanity's greenhouse gases.

* In social spending as a percentage of GDP, Canada is in 25th place among 30 major industrial nations.

* At the same time, Canada ranks only 109th in the world in voter turnout.

These numbers caught my eye in the latest CPPA Monitor magazine, and they're from Mel Hurtig's new book "The Truth About Canada".

Flying back to the Union

I'm leaving for Europe on Thursday. My first stop is Zürich, then Geneva and then Martigny in Switzerland. On Friday I'll play a live gig at V-SO Club in Martigny, and then on Saturday get on a train to Austria through all of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. My stop in Austria is Feldkirch, where I play another live gig on Saturday. Then train back to Geneva, and back to Toronto on Monday.

Meanwhile here in TO I'm feeling pretty good right now. Spring is here, I get to ride my bike again, and I like my new job. Things are on the up.