From Campaign 2000

Poverty Should Top First Ministers’ Agenda

Toronto, 10 Jan 08

Reducing poverty should lead the agenda of today’s First Ministers’ Meeting in Ottawa, says Campaign 2000, the national non-partisan coalition working to end child and family poverty. In an open letter, the coalition urged the First Ministers to use the meeting to take initial steps toward creating a national Poverty Reduction Strategy with targets and timetables.

“A First Ministers’ Meeting focused on the economy and labour force requirements should take a hard look at the fact that almost 12% of Canadians under 18 are living in poverty,” said Ann Decter, Campaign 2000 National Coordinator. “Meeting labour force needs means ensuring Canadian youth are prepared for the working world, not left behind in poverty.”

Campaign 2000’s letter tells the First Ministers that reducing poverty and maintaining a strong social safety net are good for national economies. Three of the five most economically competitive nations in the world have the lowest child poverty rates and strong social safety nets.

Employment Insurance coverage, on the table for the First Ministers, should be part of the national Poverty Reduction Strategy. “This is a self-funded program with huge surpluses that covers less than 40% of unemployed Canadians,” Ms. Decter explained. “The money is there, paid in by people who can’t collect when they need it. It’s hard to see the fairness of letting Canadians fall into poverty when they lose their jobs while money deducted from their paycheques sits in a surplus account.”

Polls continue to show that the vast majority of Canadians believe concrete government action can drastically reduce poverty. Momentum for poverty reduction is growing across Canada, with plans adopted in Quebec and Newfoundland & Labrador, and in development in Ontario and Nova Scotia.

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Contact: Ann Decter, National Coordinator, Campaign 2000 - - tel: (416) 595-9230 ext 228

Open Letter to the First Ministers: January 11, 2008

It Takes a Nation to Raise a Generation
- Report Card 2007. 11/26/07 - Full report in pdf.

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From the Canadian

No progress on redressing child poverty in more than two decades

Edited by Peggy Chan
   
Eighteen years after the 1989 all-party resolution of the House of Commons to end child poverty in Canada the rate is exactly the same, says a new report from Campaign 2000. Despite a growing economy, a soaring dollar and low unemployment, Statistics Canada data shows the after-tax child poverty rate is 11.7%, exactly where it was when all federal parties decided action was urgently needed.

The 2007 National Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada shows that 788,000 children live in poverty in Canada. A startling 41% of low-income children live in families with at least one parent working full-time all year yet do not earn enough to lift their families out of poverty. The risk of living in poverty is not the same for all children. Poverty hits children in racially discriminated against, First Nations and recent immigrant communities much more often.

“The report is called It Takes a Nation to Raise a Generation because we are calling on the federal government to step up to the plate with a comprehensive Poverty Reduction Strategy,” said Ann Decter, National Coordinator of Campaign 2000, releasing the document in Ottawa today. “The federal government has the fiscal resources if they don’t give them away in general, across the board tax cuts.”

“Canadians have been polled and they’ve said clearly: Close the poverty gap, that’s the country we want to live in. That’s what we expect of our federal government. I want to know my daughter’s classmates have enough to eat, every day. I want to know that no child will go homeless in Canada this winter. I want to see all First Nations children living safely beyond the entrapping cycle of poverty,” said Ms. Decter. “That’s what poverty reduction means.”

Ms. Decter pointed to polling that shows 85% of Canadians believe that if the government takes concrete action, poverty in Canada could be drastically reduced.

“Teachers know what poverty looks like,” commented Emily Noble, President of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, “they see children who are too hungry to settle down and learn, children who are living in homeless shelters, children who carry a burden of worry for their families. The Canadian Teachers’ Federation joins the call for political commitment to a national Poverty Reduction Strategy for Canada. Parents should be able to provide an adequate living standard for their children - working together, governments can ensure that is possible.”

“Support for poverty reduction is growing across the country,” Ms. Decter added. “Four provincial governments either have strategies in place or have committed to develop them. The federal Liberal Party has announced bold targets. Premiers of different political stripes are committing to comprehensive, long-term plans. The federal government can play a crucial role through a national Poverty Reduction Strategy.”

The report provides evidence that federal programs already in place can reduce poverty, and calls for more to be done. “We’re calling on the federal government to support poverty reduction by increasing the Canada Child Tax Benefit, increasing federal work tax credits, investing broadly in child care and affordable housing and supporting a targeted plan to address Aboriginal poverty,” said Dr. Adje Van de Sande of Carleton University.

“Federal savings from lower debt charges should be invested in poverty reduction,” said Ms. Decter. “Let’s not just get Canada out of debt, let’s get poverty out of Canada. That’s the vision of a great nation.”