Two reports that surfaced this week are focused on the middle class, as are a horde of politicians.
Statistics Canada says Canadian families have never been wealthier, while another report compiled by Employment and Social Development Canada concludes wages have stagnated while personal debt levels are at record highs. It went as far as saying the Canadian dream is more myth than reality.
What explains the mixed messages on the fortunes of the middle? It appears to be land, and whether or not you own any.
The Stats Can conclusion factored in the value of Canadians' homes, whereas the other study looked mainly at income and whether it allows middle-class Canadians to get ahead.
The haves and have-nots are no longer necessarily divided by who was born with a silver spoon or who worked hard and sacrificed, but rather who bought real estate before the boom.
This divide is in especially clear focus here in the Lower Mainland, where today's "middle-class" wages will get you laughed out of a mortgage broker's office if you want a single-family home.
It's a big deal in a place where a generation ago, families bought homes and lived comfortable - if not opulent - lives on the earnings of a single income earner.
The standard of living most middle-class earners can expect their children to inherit today is not as good as the one their own parents handed to them.
That should concern all politicians whose fortunes are tied to the majority of Canadians who make up the sinking middle class.
