Canada’s richest 1% — the 246,000 privileged few whose average income is $405,000 — took almost a third of all growth in incomes in the fastest growing decade in this generation, 1997 to 2007.Think that’s normal? The last time the economy grew so fast was in the 1950s and 60s, when the richest 1% of Canadians took only 8% of all income growth.The richest 1% took almost a third of all growth in one of the slowest growing decades in recent history too, 1987 to 1997. This eclipses anything seen before in Canadian history, including the share of gains eaten up by the richest 1% in the Roaring Twenties.This is the result of a stunning reversal of long-term trends, from steady increases in equality during the post-war years to growing inequality over the past generation, in good times and bad.From the beginning of the Second World War to 1977, the income share of the richest 1% was cut almost in half, from 14% to 7.7%, as the gains from growth led to more people working and better paid jobs.