VANCOUVER—The wealthiest people in British Columbia have so much money that the average gains they made on their existing wealth between 2012 and 2016 would be enough to buy over 150 detached homes.

Meanwhile, the net worth of a middle British Columbian family is less than a third of what one of those homes would cost, a new report published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has found. And the disparity is getting bigger and bigger.

All of the wealthiest 10 families in B.C. (James Pattison’s family, the Aquilini family, and the Gaglardi family top the list) have some investments in land or real estate, the report authored by CCPA–BC’s Public Finance Policy Analyst Alex Hemingway found.

The combined wealth of the top ten is $25 billion — the same as the combined wealth of the bottom 1.3 million British Columbians (more than a quarter of the province’s population).

One consequence of that is a decline in social trust — one effect of inequality economists have long noted.

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“When we look around western democracies today we see the rise of populism, decline in trust, our social fabric is fraying, even tearing you might say,” Hemingway said. “These extreme disparities are part of that story.”

“Certainly, there’s hard work that goes into those fortunes,” Heminway said in an interview Tuesday. “And there’s hard work that goes into those average households in B.C.”

Hemingway said that while many British Columbians worry about rising income inequality, not enough attention is paid to wealth inequality, where disparities are even higher.

The wealthiest British Columbians may make large salaries, but an increasing portion of their net worth comes from other sources like rising value of properties they own.

Hemingway said that gives policymakers a good reason to step in and attempt to narrow the gap.

“Almost all that increase (in property values) comes in the form of increase in the value of the land,” he said. “That’s value that’s created by all of us in the form of public investments, that’s wealth that’s being created publicly but is being amassed privately.”

The CCPA proposed a mix of tax measures the government could employ to redistribute some of that value, including things already in the works provincially like an empty homes tax, and a school tax on the most valuable homes.

Other recommendations were targeted at the federal government.

“Canada is the only country in the G7 without an inheritance tax,” Hemingway said. “Our recommendation has been for an inheritance tax that would only apply to inheritances over five million dollars. That’s 1.8 per cent of the population.”

Laird Cronk, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, said the province’s working people may be shocked and disappointed to learn the 10 wealthiest families in the province have, on average, 5,845 times the wealth of median-net-worth families. But, he said, they have bigger fish to fry.

“They’re not preoccupied thinking about wealthy people — they’re preoccupied about how to get food on the table,” Cronk said.

And redistributing some wealth to working people could be better for communities, he argued.

“Let’s face it — the folks that make from minimum wage to middle class, they spend money in their community,” he said.

Halena Seiferling, campaign organizer of Living Wage for Families, said in the budget her organization uses to calculate the minimum amount families need to get by, there’s very little room for saving — barely more than $200 per month set aside for emergencies.

“To that end I could see how families that are making the living wage or less are probably not going to be able to accumulate wealth any time soon,” she said.

WHAT DO THE WEALTHIEST B.C. FAMILIES OWN?

Name: James Pattison

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Net Worth: $5.7 billion

What they own: media brands, including advertising signage and a group of radio broadcasters, Save On Foods and Choices Markets as well as entertainment brands including the Guiness World Records and Great Wolf Lodge.

Name: Gargladi Family

Net Worth: $3.6 billion

What they own: Northland Properties. The large property company owns Sandman and Sutton Place hotels and runs a construction and land acquisition division.

Name: Aquilini Family

Net Worth: $3.3 billion

What they own: Real estate. A lot of it. Aquilini is a major property developer in B.C. It recently built the enormous Aquilini Centre rental buildings at Georgia St. and Expo Blvd. Aside from the skyscrapers seen in Vancouver’s skyline, perhaps the most famous Aquilini holding is the Vancouver Canucks hockey team.

Name: Lalji Family

Net Worth: $3.1 billion

What they own: Canadian Business reported that low-profile billionaires Amin and Mansoor Lalji, owners of the Larco Group of companies, own part of the Marriott Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in addition to the hotel holdings they’re known for in B.C. and Ontario. They also own Park Royal mall in West Vancouver.

Name: Dennis “Chip” Wilson

Net Worth: $2.9 billion

What they own: Wilson is best known as the founder of Lululemon. He remains its biggest shareholder but no longer manages the company. He helps run Hold it All, a company invested in apparel, private equity and Low Tide Properties (which focuses on building in neighbourhoods it calls “emerging.”)

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