Ed Clark on income inequality

These days, the time-worn catch phrase "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" doesn't seem so hackneyed.

A recent study from OXFAM, the international charity working to end global poverty, shows that the richest 1% are likely to control more than one half of the world's total wealth by the year 2016. More than one billion people live on less than a $1.25 a day.

Here in Canada, a disquieting trend is taking root. In 2012, Statistics Canada reported that the wealthiest 10% of  Canadian families held almost half of the country's net worth. And a recent report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives showed that by noon on the second day of January -- the first working day of the year -- the average top CEO had already earned as much as the average Canadian worker makes all year long.

“The people who have been the beneficiaries of this significant shift in wealth and income have to seriously look at themselves and say, ‘Am I doing enough?'"Retired TD Bank President Ed Clark

If you find that alarming, so does Ed Clark. What might surprise you, is that Mr. Clark was one of those top-earning CEO's.  He retired in November from his position as President and CEO of TD Bank Group. Mr. Clark believes that the growing income gap in Canada is not only unfair, but corrosive to society as a whole. 

And he has a message for the rich: those who have great wealth must donate more of their money, to those in need. 

Ed Clark practices what he preaches. He has been lauded for his voluntary and philanthropic endeavours, which, along with his contributions to Canada's financial institutions, led to his being appointed to the Order of Canada in 2010. In 2011, he was given the "Outstanding Philanthropist" award by the Greater Toronto Area Association of Fundraising Professionals.