Responding in a recent interview to indications that the income gap in British Columbia is widening, our intrepid Finance Minister Kevin Falcon joked that Cuba has income equality because everyone is equally poor.

His lack of sympathy toward the plight of the poor and the working families of this province is, of course, both dismaying and revealing of the real political leanings of the B.C. Liberal party.

Sadly this is old news by now. What should be even more shocking to the citizens of this province is what seems to the total ignorance of this finance minister in the basics of economics.

Greater income inequality leads to greater social unrest and lower GDP. According to the World Bank, Sierra Leone, Nicaragua and Honduras can be counted among the nations with the greatest income disparity, while Denmark, Norway and Japan count among the nations with the lowest disparity.

While I realize that British Columbia has a long way to go to achieve Third World status, I hardly think even one step in that direction should be something for Falcon to celebrate.

Justine Semmens

Victoria