Justin Trudeau had a very good story to tell Canadians last week, but it was swallowed up by the black hole of the SNC-Lavalin scandal.

The exciting news is that poverty is not just in decline in this country, it's at an all-time low. And Trudeau's Liberals had a big hand in making it happen

These welcome accomplishments were revealed in a new Statistics Canada report that found the percentage of Canadians living below the official poverty line in 2017 had fallen to 9.5 per cent. That represented a precipitous decline from 2006, when 15.5 per cent of the population was considered poor.

Regrettably, this happy development was overshadowed by allegations of how Trudeau and his top aides had dealt with the criminal prosecution of Quebec construction giant SNC-Lavalin — and what former attorney general Jody Wilson -Raybould had to say about it all.

This is not to suggest the federal Liberals should not be held to account for their handling of this matter. But it is important for every Canadian concerned about the state of this nation to know what's happening with the Canadian economy and how the staggering wealth it generates is shared.

According to the findings in the Canadian Income Survey, 2017, the fruits of our collective labour are indeed being enjoyed more fully by more people than ever. Not only are fewer people overall living in poverty in this country, the number of poor seniors has dropped too. Best of all, child poverty rates have also plunged.

As recently as 2012, one million children in Canada —15 per cent of our young people — lived in poverty. By 2017, the percentage of children living in poverty had dropped to nine per cent. That figure translated into 622,000 young people.

Trudeau's Liberals can't take all the credit for this. Poverty has been trending downward since the 1990s. Recessions cause pain and, for a time, boost the ranks of the poor. They don't change our economy's trajectory. And Stephen Harper's Conservative government boosted child support long before Trudeau took power.

But it is indisputable that the Canada Child Benefit introduced by the Liberals in part in 2016 and in full the following year has greatly eased life for middle class families while lifting many poor ones out of poverty. Families are getting more help. Consequently, more are climbing up the economic ladder. And since 2016 this country has seen 825,000 fewer people living in poverty.

Of course, incomes also play a role. The news is heartening there, too. Median, after-tax income of Canadian families and unattached individuals rose 3.3 per cent to $59,800 in 2017 — an all-time high.

To be sure there is still plenty of room for improvement. Some 3.4 million Canadians remain in poverty, according to Statistics Canada. That's simply too many. Far too many children grow up poor. And this is happening in a country whose Parliament fondly vowed in 1989 to eradicate child poverty by 2000.

The fight against poverty, therefore, is far from over. But as Canadians consider how wealth can best be created as well as best enjoyed, they should look hard at this Statistics Canada snapshot. They should appreciate where we are today and remember how much we have grown in affluence in one or two lifetimes.

They should then consider how the mix of a market economy and reasoned government intervention have enabled today's prosperity. And whatever comes next in the SNC-Lavalin scandal, they should appreciate how well at least some of the current federal government's policies have worked.

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