An indication of the depth of the economic crisis is the record number of personal bankruptcies recorded in 1996: 79,631 Canadians formally declared bankruptcy last year, up 2 per cent from the previous year. Consumer bankruptcies include any personal bankruptcy not mainly attributable to business dealings. Compared to the last thirty years, less than 2,000 people a year went bankrupt in the late 1960s; the number surpassed 10,000 in 1976, 20,000 in 1980, 30,000 in 1982, 40,000 in 1990 and 60,000 in 1991. 65,432 went bankrupt in 1995. Debtors' assets failed to cover their liabilities by $1.85-billion, up 23 per cent from 1995. In 1996, 14,229 business bankruptcies were recorded, up 7 per cent from 1995 and just 1 per cent short of their 1992 peak of 14,317. The dollar shortfall at $2.82-billion, was down 13 per cent from 1995 and 47 per cent from 1992. This shows that smaller businesses are going bankrupt and is also because the figures do not include filings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, the form of bankruptcy chosen by Eaton's amongst others. They also do not include the many cases in which creditors, such as landlords, banks and suppliers claim assets without pushing the company into bankruptcy. Shawgi Tell University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education [EMAIL PROTECTED]
