Albertans are rich in wealth but poor in spirit, says the author of a recent study.

Armine Yalnizyan, an economist who studied the differences between Canada's rich and poor, found that the difference between rich and poor was growing fastest in Alberta. Yalnizyan also noted that Albertans are extremely competitive, and have a " law of the jungle" view of life.

It's this outlook of, `If you can get it, keep it. And if you're not getting it, then you're a loser,''' Ms. Yalnizyan said Thursday during a speech. Yalnizyan added that she did not hear that type of thinking in too many places in Canada.

Yalnizyan's report is for the Centre For Social Justice in Toronto. It uses Statistics Canada figures to look at growing income differences between Canada's rich and poor.

When Yalnizyan looked at the Alberta data, she discovered that while Alberta's economy is growing, the difference between the rich and poor is expanding more rapidly than anywhere else in Canada.

The difference is most noticeable in Calgary where the city's prosperity has meant more high-paying management jobs, but also more unstable and low-paying part-time work.

Yalnizyan feels that attitudes are as much to blame for this inequality as government spending cuts, a low minimum wage and the spread of part-time jobs. She argues that cultural expectations are one of the first factors shaping the way the labour market performs.

One example, she said, is Albertans' enthusiasm for tax cuts even though the province's health care and education systems are in bad shape, and need tax money to be improved.

"There's a kind of sky's-the-limit attitude. What's mine is mine. And the more disparate incomes get, the more accentuated these attitudes get, and more of a lottery mentality occurs.''

4. Who feels that attitudes are as much to blame for this inequality as government spending cuts, a low minimum wage and the spread of part-time jobs?