Just a snapshot

First the good news.
The 2006 census data Statistics Canada released last Thursday showed the median income for families in Fort Frances jumped 15.3 percent to $75,934 since 2001 (when adjusted for inflation)—a whopping hike compared to a national increase of 3.7 percent and a provincial increase of just 1.4 percent over that same time frame.

There were other promising numbers, too. While women, on average, made just 71 percent of what men earned here, that figure was a mere 53 percent five years ago.
Meanwhile, the gap between rich and poor, which widened nationally, actually narrowed locally, with the bottom 20 percent seeing their median earnings rise 19.5 percent to $20,061 since 2001 while those in the top 20 percent saw their income fall by 2.2 percent to $82,247.
The news wasn’t all rosy, though. Those aged 25-34 had a median income of just $30,291, according to Statistics Canada, while senior citizens in Fort Frances earned only $25,146 on average.
And despite the narrower gap between rich and poor here, there’s still 7.2 percent of local families who fall into the low-income category defined as those which need to spend a high proportion of their income on basic necessities like food, shelter, and clothing.
It’s great to see the average family in Fort Frances has a lot more money in its wallets than in 2001, particularly when compared to others in the province and across the country, which has to bode well for the local economy.
Before we cheer too loudly, however, it’s important to remember the census data, while promising, is merely a snapshot from 2006—just as the forest industry was starting its latest tailspin—and may not reflect what’s happening today.
As such, we cannot be lulled into complacency that Fort Frances remains relatively insulated from the woes so many other Northwestern Ontario communities have faced. Rather, the task of improving our future is a never-ending one.