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Poor pay higher tax rate than rich in B.C.: study. Wealthy people in B.C. are paying a lower rate of provincial tax than the middle class and the poor when taxes like the HST are included in the calculation, according to a new study. Middle and low-income people are paying a greater share of their income in taxes thanks to levies like provincial health premiums, carbon taxes on gasoline, property taxes and the harmonized sales tax, according to research from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. "We've turned the tax system on its head," study co-author Seth Klein told CTV News.

"Most British Columbians expect that the wealthier you are, the more taxes you pay. In fact, in practice, what you have is the opposite. The wealthier you are, the lower your overall tax rate. " In 2010, the study found that higher earners pay a much lower rate of tax -- 11.2 per cent -- while middle-earners pay 12.8 per cent and the bottom earners pay the highest tax rate of all, at 14.1 per cent. "The middle class is getting squeezed," she said. Rising food prices: It’s no small potatoes. Food prices are flaring up in Canada. The cost of food picked up to 3.3 per cent in March, much higher than the 2.1-per-cent rate of food inflation a month earlier.

The price of food bought from stores rose 3.7 per cent -- the biggest increase in a year and a half. Factors driving food costs range from bad weather to rising energy prices. Prices for fresh vegetables jumped 18.6 per cent "as bad weather in Mexico and the southern United States reduced supply," Statistics Canada said Tuesday. The cost of meat rose 5 per cent "as beef and pork prices increased. Canadian companies including Metro and George Weston have said they expect prices to go up this year amid soaring commodity prices. Food is getting pricier almost everywhere.

Here are some of the items with notable year-over-year increases in March: Food prices fastest rise in 5 years is another blow for families. By Sean Poulter Updated: 10:24 GMT, 11 February 2011 The prices of a range of basic foods surged at the start of the year, showing the biggest monthly rise in more than five years. Bread, pasta, and packets and tins of food increased in cost by 2.7 per cent between December and January to reach an annual rate of 6.3 per cent, according to the British Retail Consortium. Overall, the annual rate of food inflation jumped from 4 per cent to 4.6 per cent, despite claims of supermarkets to be waging a new year price war.

This was the largest monthly increase in two years. The BRC claims its supermarket members are protecting shoppers against the worst effects of global commodity price rises. However, the trade body warned of ‘severe pressure’ that is likely to bring even bigger increases in the months ahead. Just last week, the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation said global food price rises were running at a record high.

Most Minimum Wage Earners Can't Afford Necessities of Life. TRNN Replay: Jeannette Wicks-Lim: A proposal to combine minimum wage and earned income tax credit policies to guarantee a decent living wage - Bio Jeannette Wicks-Lim completed her Ph.D. in economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2005. Wicks-Lim specializes in labor economics with an emphasis on the low-wage labor market and has an overlapping interest in the political economy of race. Her dissertation, Mandated wage floors and the wage structure: Analyzing the ripple effects of minimum and prevailing wage laws, is a study of the overall impact of mandated wage floors on wages.

Precis COMBINING MINIMUM WAGE AND EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT POLICIES TO GUARANTEE A DECENT LIVING STANDARD TO ALL U.S. Transcript PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. End of Transcript DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. Comments.