Is Canada poorer than Alabama? New article in ‘The Economist’ stirs fierce debate in Parliament

During question period in the House of Commons on Thursday, Conservative MP Michael Chong shared some recently published data from financial publication “The Economist” that according to Chong, stated that “Canada is poorer than Alabama.” “(From) this week’s Economist: quote, ‘Were Canada’s ten provinces and three territories an American state, they would have gone from being slightly richer than Montana — America’s ninth poorest state — to being a bit worse off than Alabama, the fourth poorest,” Chong said. Liberal MP Terry Beech responded saying “The conservatives are very careful with the statistics they choose to share.”