Fun with figures

Number of people drawing Employment Insurance in Quebec and the four Atlantic provinces (combined population: 9.9 million): 286,000. Number drawing EI in Ontario and the four Western provinces (combined population: 22 million): 236,000. MORE FUN:

The top 5% of income earners pay almost 40% of the money Ottawa collects in personal income taxes, according to new information from Statistics Canada. The federal statistics agency recently released a study showing the upper 10% of income earners in 2002 -- those who were paid more $64,500 -- provided 52.6% of the federal government's revenue from personal incomes taxes, up from 46% in 1990. Further data provided to the National Post shows the proportion of income tax paid is skewed even more for the top half of that 10%. People who earned more than $82,700 in 2002 -- the top 5% -- put 39.1% of the personal income-tax revenues in federal coffers. In 1990, that 5% paid 32.2% of total income taxes.