Health inequalities in Canada: Current discourses and implications for public health action

Abstract

Data concerning increasing economic inequality and its effects are increasingly becoming available in Canada. Warnings concerning the consequences of increasing economic inequality are primarily being raised within the social development sectors. The primary message is that economic inequality is creating poverty, a situation that should, on principle, be unacceptable to Canadians. The health effects of economic inequality and poverty are known to many public health professionals, but with few exceptions, public health responses are usually limited to the delivery of ameliorative programmes to those living in poverty. While federal, some provincial, and public health association documents include economic inequality as a determinant of health, discussions of the role that economic inequality plays in creating poverty, its impact upon community structures that support health, and the causes of increasing inequality are for the most part, isolated from public health discourse. Evidence of, and reasons for, resistance to such analyses and potential courses of action for addressing economic inequality and its health effects are presented.