Provincial and Territorial Anti-Poverty Strategies and Poverty Reduction

The Poverty Reduction Strategy is a Government-wide approach to transform Newfoundland and Labrador from a province with the most poverty to one with the least over a ten year period. The strategy includes initiatives and programs which target the groups most vulnerable to poverty.
- includes * Poverty Reduction Initiatives * Guiding Principles * Documents and News Releases * Partner Departments and Agencies
Source:

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(PDF - 4MB, 76 pages)
December 2009

May 25, 2009
From the :

(PDF - 652K, 49 pages)
By Fran Locke with Penelope Rowe, Community Services Council Newfoundland and Labrador

Source:

Social Development Report Series, 2009

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For a good objective summary of Newfoundland and Labrador's Poverty Reduction Strategy, see:

October 2007
Source:

(Government of Canada)

The rest of the NL links below are in reverse chronological order.

Newfoundland and Labrador Budget 2010

March 29, 2010
"(...)Investments in Poverty Reduction:
* Total investment of $134 million this year, a total of $482.7 million since 2006.
* $2.5 million to increase the income thresholds under the Newfoundland and Labrador Prescription Drug Program Access Plan, a total investment of $139.6 million.
* $310,000 to enhance the Family Justice Services Division.
* $519,000 for the continuation of the Family Violence Intervention Court.
* $2.4 million in funding for the Supportive Living Community Partnership Initiative, doubling the amount of $1.2 million provided last year.
* $125,000 to provide community-based supports for Inuit women in Labrador to receive guidance on how to make the most of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the Aboriginal Training Initiative, Victim Services and emerging economic activities.
* $100,000 in sustaining funding for the Newfoundland Aboriginal Women’s Network.
* Investment of $6.8 million this year in the federal-provincial Affordable Housing Program to build an additional 230 rental housing units for seniors, persons with disabilities and persons requiring supportive services.
* $17.6 million and leveraging additional federal funds to modernize more than 2,300 housing units.
* An additional $1.4 million to raise the Housing Corporation’s annual maintenance budget to $10.2 million.
* Providing $1.2 million to raise the heating allowance for the Housing Corporation’s low-income tenants.
* $70,000 in additional funding for transitional employment support services for victims of violence and $44,000 in additional funding for Women’s Centres.
* $200,000 for the continuation of the Home Heating Oil Tank Storage Replacement Assistance Program."
Source:

March 29, 2010

[ ]

Source:

Newfoundland and Labrador
Market Basket Measure (NLMBM)
Thanks to an anonymous newsletter subscriber for pointing out that Newfoundland and Labrador's new customized Market Basket Measure doesn't appear on the Antipoverty Links page of this website. In my haste to share the link to the (PDF - 4MB, 76 pages, December 2009) in last week's Canadian Social Research Newsletter, I skimmed past the section on the NLMBM in that report. According to my subscriber's email, "... NL has developed their own variation on the market basket measure, the NLMBM, which uses tax data rather than surveys, and therefore purports to capture the entire population. They've also developed a NLMBM of Housing Affordability. Part of what's interesting is that they've got gender analysis embedded in the NLMBM data that's being developed - not a claim that can be made about any of the other poverty measures."

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In the 2006 Action Plan:
[ (PDF file - 1.6MB, 60 pages), 2006]
...a commitment was made to improve capacity to measure and track progress in poverty reduction.
[Excerpts] A major innovation has been the development of the Newfoundland and Labrador Market Basket Measure (NLMBM). This new measure uses a similar approach to the federal government's Market Basket Measure (MBM). Like the MBM, it compares the incomes of families to the cost of a basket of goods and services necessary to live a productive and socially inclusive life. Unlike the MBM and all other available measures of low-income that use surveys to estimate low-income levels, the NLMBM uses tax-filer data and other sources to provide more accurate income and expense information for all tax-filers. This allows for the reporting of low-income levels in communities and neighbourhoods, as well as results for other subgroups such as different age groups or family types. This is important because it allows for the tracking of progress for different parts of the province as well as for different vulnerable groups so that it can be ensured that PRS is working for all. The NLMBM is available on Community Accounts [ ]

The NLMBM is developed and maintained by the .
In future years, NLMBM depth, persistence and other indicators of low income will be reported as they become available.

NOTE: For more info on the NLMBM, see Appendix II of the (PDF - 4MB, 76 pages, December 2009) or
request information from

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MAY ) UPDATE:

The N&L Market Basket Measure was released in January 2010 into the Community Accounts [ ] data. On the Community Accounts page, the NL MBM shows as the “Incidence of Low Income” under the “Income, Consumption & Leisure” accounts. For most geographies it can be broken down by family type. Currently available for 2005.

Newfoundland and Labrador Market Basket Measure Maps are presented by Rural Secretariat Region. These maps show incidence of low income for communities by Rural Secretariat Region. They also display a Remoteness Index which is a spacial measurement of access to essential government and community services.

Related link:

The Poverty Reduction Strategy is a Government-wide approach to transform Newfoundland and Labrador from a province with the most poverty to one with the least over a ten year period. The strategy includes initiatives and programs which target the groups most vulnerable to poverty.
- includes * Poverty Reduction Initiatives * Guiding Principles * Documents and News Releases * Partner Departments and Agencies
Source:

News Release
December 14, 2009
Newfoundland and Labrador has realized significant improvement in the overall level of poverty since 2003. In fact, Newfoundland and Labrador has moved from being a province with one of the highest levels of poverty in Canada to the province with the third lowest level. Today, the Honourable Susan Sullivan, Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment and lead Minister for the Poverty Reduction Strategy, released Empowering People - Engaging Community - Enabling Success: First Progress Report on the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. This document demonstrates that through the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the Williams Government is meeting its commitment to prevent, reduce and alleviate poverty in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Complete report:

(PDF - 4MB, 76 pages)
December 2009
This report provides a summary of progress achieved towards meeting the goals and objectives of the 2006-10 Poverty Reduction Strategy Action Plan:
1. Progress towards improved access to and coordination of services for people with low income
2. Progress towards a stronger social safety net
3. Progress towards improved earned incomes
4. Progress towards an increased emphasis on early childhood development
5. Progress towards a better educated population

Source:

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Related media reports (Dec. 14-15/09)

Province Making Progress on Reducing Poverty: Report

N.L. report on poverty says there are 30,000 fewer poor people in province

Report indicates province winning in fight against poverty

Poverty down in Newfoundland and Labrador

N.L. poverty levels down significantly: report

[ Thanks to Jennefer Laidley of the for finding and sharing these links. ]

(HTML)
Latest update: October 2009
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Programs and Services for Individuals and Families Guidebook is an initiative of the Poverty Reduction Strategy. (...)
The Guidebook provides access to basic information such as a program’s name and purpose, a telephone number, and in some cases, an email or related web site address.
Information is divided into eight general headings:
* Financial Help
* Housing, Shelter and Home Supports
* Education and Learning
* Employment (Job) Help
* Medical, Health and Wellness
* Justice Help
* Culture and Recreation
* Government of Canada Information
NOTE : You have to scroll down to access links to alternate formats such as PDF (regular and large type), Microsoft Word, spoken word audio, print and Braille.

April 9, 2009
The Williams Government has increased basic income support benefits by $4.3 million annually. This increase, effective April 1, is part of Budget 2009’s $132.2 million investment in poverty reduction initiatives and is in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). In March 2006, the Provincial Government announced it would tie income support rates to the CPI to ensure that cost of living increases are factored into the amount an individual or family receives through basic income support benefits. In doing so, Newfoundland and Labrador became one of only two provinces in Canada at the time to link its income support rates to cost of living increases.
Source:

March 26, 2009
News Release
The Williams Government continues to stand strong and lead the way in its fight against poverty by investing $132.2 million in Budget 2009 to help individuals and families with low incomes. The 18 new significant initiatives announced today will help realize the provincial Poverty Reduction Strategy’s commitment of becoming the jurisdiction with the lowest poverty rates in Canada by 2014.
Source:

November 13, 2008
Over the past month, the Provincial Government hosted consultations on the poverty reduction strategy across the province. There were 32 public and community roundtable stakeholder sessions held. Local residents and community group leaders attended the sessions and provided a significant contribution of their time and thoughtful insight in support of the further advancement of the Poverty Reduction Strategy. This marks the end of this phase of the consultations. However, consultation submissions are being accepted up to December 15, 2008. All residents are encouraged to share their views by calling or going to
Source:
Human Resources, Labour and Employment

October 16, 2008
The Provincial Government is planning a series of public consultations to strengthen its Poverty Reduction Strategy. This will include a series of public sessions, round tables, focus groups, and a website. These consultations are designed to engage individuals living in poverty, the community and the general public in a dialogue on the strategy’s themes, goals and objectives. (...) The Provincial Government will hold public consultation sessions and roundtables in 15 communities across the nine rural secretariat regions of the province. Individuals and groups can also provide their feedback and views. [click the link above for other means of providing input into the consultation]
The deadline for consultation submissions is December 15, 2008.

In 2006, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador released (PDF file - 1.6MB, 60 pages). This Action Plan was developed with input from community-based organizations, business, labour and people living in and vulnerable to poverty. The Poverty Reduction Strategy outlines Government’s plan to transform Newfoundland and Labrador from a province with the most poverty to one with the least, within 10 years. Over three budget cycles, and on an ongoing yearly basis, the Provincial Government is investing over $100 million in initiatives aimed to prevent, reduce and alleviate poverty. The Provincial Government has also improved many programs and services. The Provincial Government is now planning for the next phase of the strategy.
- incl. links to more info on:
* Understanding Poverty * Role for the Provincial Government * * Key Themes * Review of Goals and Objectives * Questions for Consideration * Participate in the Consultation Process * * Annex 1 - Groups Helped by Poverty Reduction Strategy * Annex 2 - Description of Poverty Reduction Strategy Initiatives

(PDF - 792K, 36 pages)

Source:

[ Govt. of Newfoundland and Labrador ]

News Release
July 7, 2008
The Provincial Government is moving forward with a series of investments to improve social benefits and improve equality for individuals and families. Effective July 1, an additional $2 million in benefits under the Poverty Reduction Strategy are being provided to strengthen the social safety net. In Budget 2008, the Provincial Government announced an investment of $12 million in new poverty reduction initiatives. That brings the total ongoing annual investment in poverty reduction to more than $100 million.
Source:

The Williams Government continues to act on its commitment to alleviate, prevent and reduce poverty in the province with new measures that focus on improving earned incomes, strengthening the social safety net and supporting youth at risk. Budget 2008 provides an additional $9.6 million in new Poverty Reduction Strategy initiatives and this funding is in addition to the $2.4 million announced April 1 to index basic income support rates. That brings the total investment in the current fiscal year to $12 million and once fully implemented in 2009-10, the Provincial Government’s annual investment in poverty reduction will be more than $100 million.
Source:
- links to 11 news releases related to Budget 2008
[ April 29, 2008 ]

April 1, 2008
In accordance with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), effective today April 1, the Williams Government, as part of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), is increasing basic income support benefits by $2.4 million annually. (...) The PRS is focused on reducing, alleviating and preventing poverty in the province. Over a 10-year period, Newfoundland and Labrador intends to move from the jurisdiction with the highest poverty rates to one with the lowest in Canada.

News Release
March 31, 2008
The Provincial Government has amended regulations to support improvements to the tax system for individuals with low incomes, and people with disabilities and their families by exempting both the federal Working Income Tax Benefit and the Registered Disability Saving Plan from the calculation of Income Support benefits. The two exemptions are effective April 1, 2008.

June 14, 2007
News Release
The Honourable Shawn Skinner, Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment, said he is disappointed with claims by the Opposition that government is failing in the fight against poverty in our province.

March 30, 2007
Effective April 1, government will fulfill another key commitment to poverty reduction by providing an additional $3 million annually to further increase basic income support. This will be accomplished by tying the basic income support rate to the provincial consumer price index (CPI) which means an increase of 1.8 per cent.

(including a summary of strategy development workshops held in the fall of 2005, the background report and workbook and a link to the Action Plan itself (copied immediately below).

, June 2006 (PDF file - 1.6MB, 60 pages)
The final report
"The (PDF file - 266K, p. 22) affirmed Government’s Blueprint commitment to transform Newfoundland and Labrador over a ten-year period from a province with the most poverty to a province with the least poverty."

(2005)

- links to dozens of news releases on the Poverty Reduction Strategy from 2005 to 2008

News Release
May 26, 2006
Paul Shelley, Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment, is pleased to announce the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has decided that Income Support (social assistance) payments will not be affected by the introduction of the new federal Universal Child Care Benefit. (...) The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is developing an integrated poverty reduction strategy. to help people move ahead and break the cycle of poverty. (...) The full strategy will be released later this spring.

*
March 29, 2006
News Release
Budget 2006 will make major investments in a broad range of programs and services that will help the working poor, youth-at-risk, and families with low incomes, says Paul Shelley, Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment, and the lead minister for government’s poverty reduction strategy.
[*NOTE: as part of its increased supports to people in need, the provincial govt. will start indexing welfare benefit levels as of 2007-08; rates will be tied to the Newfoundland and Labrador Consumer Price Index. Québec is the only other Canadian jurisdiction that indexes its rates every year based on the prevailing rate of inflation. This is a sound policy that prevents households receiving welfare from falling further behind because of ongoing increases in the cost of living. Congratulations, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, on this progressive social policy!]

March 30, 2006

(part of )
Departments of Human Resources, Labour and Employment, Health and Community Services and Education
- includes a backgrounder with more detailed info
"The Williams government is removing barriers to employment and providing assistance to those who need it most through a sweeping investment in initiatives designed to combat poverty, announced Paul Shelley, Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment, and the lead minister for government’s poverty reduction strategy. Budget 2006 outlines government’s integrated approach to poverty reduction, unveiling investments of over $30.5 million in 2006-07 and $62 million annually to support an expanded eligibility for the prescription drug program, the elimination of school fees, increases to income support programs, and enhanced Adult Basic Education (ABE) offerings. This initial phase of the poverty reduction strategy is a strong basis for meeting government’s pledge to significantly reduce poverty in Newfoundland and Labrador."

26 October 2007
Source:

(Government of Canada)

News Release
December 20, 2005
"A report on what was heard in workshops about poverty across Newfoundland and Labrador illustrates how broad and complex the challenge of reducing poverty is, says Paul Shelley, Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment. (...) In the 2005 Speech from the Throne and Budget, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador committed to develop a comprehensive, government-wide poverty reduction strategy. Funding of $200,000 was committed in March 2005 to develop this strategy. The consultants’ report on workshops held this summer is one component of this work."

Complete report:

(241K, 61 pages)
October 2005
Prepared by management consultants Goss Gilroy Inc.

Related links:

The National Council of Welfare (NCW) is an arm's length advisory body to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development on matters of concern to low-income Canadians.

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From the
PEI Advisory Council
on the Status of Women:

(PDF - 403K, 20 pages)
June 2009
During the 2007 election, the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women introduced its plan for an Equality Report Card for PEI, and in June 2008, we published the first, pilot report. The Equality Report Card is a process to assess our Province’s progress towards women’s equality goals.
(...)
We urge the government to consult and collaborate with community-based organizations to develop a Poverty Reduction Strategy like those in other provinces. We see the three priority areas below as key elements of Poverty Reduction:
* Improvements to the Employment Standards Act * Investment in affordable, accessible, appropriate housing (incl. housing for seniors and persons with disabilities * Increase direct allowances to social services recipients to
cover all of their basic needs.
(...)
There has been no action towards the promised Poverty Reduction Strategy to consider how we are doing across the province and across departments to assist people who live in poverty. There is no political will to name the problem of poverty and to provide poverty reduction initiatives. The full-time position in government that is meant to be dedicated to Poverty Reduction has been vacant for over a year.

Source:

The PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women was established to advise the Minister Responsible with respect to matters relating to the status of women, the development of public awareness regarding issues affecting women, and the promotion of change in attitudes within the community in order that women may enjoy an equality of opportunity.
[ Related Press Release : - June 16, 2009 ]

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May 25, 2009
New resource from the :

Prince Edward Island:
(PDF - 401K, 34 pages)
By Kathleen Flanagan

Source:

Social Development Report Series, 2009
[ ]

Also from CCSD :

(PDF - 341K, 29 pages)
By David I. Hay, Information Partnership

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February 24, 2009
By Jim Day
Talk is cheap when poverty eradication is on the table.
Yet Mary Boyd, one of the province’s most determined social advocates, liked what she heard from those in power last week.
Premier Robert Ghiz and Health and Social Services and Seniors Minister Doug Currie made a brief appearance Thursday at a workshop held by Island organizations Poverty Bites and the MacKillop Centre for Social Justice aimed at renewing efforts for action on the seemingly insurmountable goal of eliminating poverty in P.E.I.
Ghiz urged the group to not let up on government in pushing for change.
“It is important to stay at the forefront of issues,” he told the gathering that consisted of many people Boyd described as the voice of those suffering in poverty.
Source:

[GO BACK TO THE TOP OF THIS PAGE]

Nova Scotia Poverty Reduction Strategy

April 2009
The Nova Scotia government released its Poverty Reduction Strategy on April 3, 2009.
The strategy provides a framework for addressing the needs of those most vulnerable and those at risk of falling into poverty, while promoting the prosperity necessary for Nova Scotia to grow. The vision for 2020: to break the cycle of poverty by creating opportunities for all Nova Scotians to participate in the prosperity of the province and enjoy a better standard of living.

The three main goals of the strategy are:
1. Enable and reward work
2. Improve supports for those in need
3. Focus on our children
4. Collaborate and coordinate

News release
April 3, 2009
Training low-skilled workers, increasing affordable housing and improving benefits for low-income families are the focus of Nova Scotia's $155 million Poverty Reduction Strategy. Community Services Minister Chris d'Entremont and Labour and Workforce Development Minister Mark Parent introduced the strategy today, April 3, in Kentville. It responds to a series of recommendations from the Poverty Reduction Working Group, which was mandated through legislation supported by all three parties.

(PDF - 1.4MB, 45 pages)
- April 2009

- includes a brief overview of the 16-month process that preceded the release of the Poverty Reduction Strategy in April 2009, along with links to the Poverty Reduction Working Group Report, the Poverty questionnaire results and a news release on the Working Group's recommendations.

- includes links (down the right-hand margin of the page) to audio commentary on the Poverty Reduction Strategy by both ministers responsible.

Source:

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The links below are in reverse chronological order.

(PDF - 214K, 23 pages)
November 2009
While Nova Scotia remains within the group of provinces with lower rates of child poverty, policymakers and elected representatives (those with the power to legislate the end of poverty) must act quickly and decisively to expand the progress achieved in recent years. Specific, targeted policies are needed to ensure that poverty rates and gaps are The Nova Scotia Child Poverty Report Card 2009 Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives–Nova Scotia 18 reduced for particular groups where there is greater risk of children and their families being exposed to poverty and the potential harm it carries. Most notably, income assistance rates need to be increased to a level that will provide families with children, who depend on welfare income, an annual income that will raise families out of poverty.

Press Release
November 23, 2009
HALIFAX, NS - Nova Scotia Child Poverty Report Cards have recorded changes in child poverty since 1999. Each annual card has tracked progress on the government of Canada’s 1989 promise to end child poverty. The report released today, by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Nova Scotia, is the tenth card, and is being released on the 20th anniversary of Canada’s promise to eliminate poverty by the year 2000.

Source:

[ ]

Related link:

By Katherine Reed
July 10, 2008
The Working Group on Poverty Reduction appointed by the province last December released its draft report recently and immediately invoked the ire of activists by insisting on waiting for a year to actually take action. In a July 1 article in The Chronicle Herald, Wayne McNaughton, co-chair of Community Action on Homelessness, pointedly asked why this was the case and why the government was not ready with costed-out proposals to respond to the report. Why indeed? The measures required to meaningfully address poverty in Nova Scotia are substantial and would only come about as a result of a massive change of attitude and approach. I wonder if anyone has the stomach for it, frankly.
Source:
(Halifax)

-----------------------------------------

From the :

News Release
March 5, 2008
The province is inviting the public to share ideas on how to best tackle poverty in Nova Scotia. People are encouraged to fill out a questionnaire on what types of actions can be taken to reduce poverty. The public consultations will help government develop a long-term poverty-reduction strategy for Nova Scotia. The initiative is being co-led by the departments of Community Services and Environment and Labour, in co-operation with a poverty-reduction strategy working group. The group, made up of organizations with diverse interests, will make recommendations on strategy content and implementation.

There are three ways the public can share comments:
-- Fill out a short questionnaire at .
-- Fill out the questionnaire at any provincial government building, Department of Community Services office or Access Nova Scotia location.
-- Request a questionnaire or share thoughts by calling, toll-free, .

In November, the first phase of consultations was held with representatives from a diverse range of provincial organizations interested in the fight against poverty. The questionnaire is phase two of the consultations. The public's comments will be added to information gathered from consultations across government on a variety of issues that affect poverty.

NOTE : The consultation ended in March, 2008.

A request for input on how to tackle poverty in Nova Scotia
[ ]

Research and statistics about poverty in Nova Scotia, including:.
* How is poverty measured in Canada? * What is the low-income cut-off (LICO)? * In Nova Scotia, how many people live in low-income? What about children? * How do Nova Scotia's low-income statistics compare with the rest of Canada? * What are some characteristics of Nova Scotia's low-income population? * Where does Nova Scotia's low-income population live? * Is there any way to tell how poor low-income Nova Scotians are? * Social Trends in Nova Scotia - 2007 * Statistical Links

Related links:

December 3, 2007

November 30, 2007

October 10, 2007
(starting November 1)
The provincial government will hold a series of consultations this fall designed to get the community's input on how to best tackle poverty in Nova Scotia. The consultations will be part of the government's development of a poverty strategy for Nova Scotia. The initiative will be co-led by the departments of Community Services and Environment and Labour.
Source:

October 15, 2007
Many Nova Scotians would agree that the province needs a comprehensive anti-poverty strategy, especially to improve the lot of the 19,000 children living below what’s conventionally regarded as the poverty line. But now that the government is promising to develop, one the question is how sincere the Tories are and when we might see such a thing implemented.
The government is planning a two-day consultation with anti-poverty groups and other experts for Nov. 1 and 2, after which a public consultation is planned as well. The government has been studying anti-poverty strategies in jurisdictions such as Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Ireland.
Source:

(PDF - 351K, 38 pages)
October 17, 2007
"(...) The framework includes the context, key concepts and strategies that will be necessary to reduce poverty in Nova Scotia."
Source:

- Go to the Nova Scotia Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/nsbkmrk.htm

[GO BACK TO THE TOP OF THIS PAGE]

Bringing the Pieces Together: New Brunswick's poverty reduction plan

NOTEL: Newer content is added below this yellow box.

November 2009
Background information on the NB government poverty reduction plan

The Plan:

(PDF - 100K, 5 pages)
November 13, 2009
By 2015, New Brunswick will have reduced income poverty by 25% and deep income poverty by 50%, and will have made significant progress in achieving sustained economic and social inclusion.
Other changes include an increase in the minimum wage, stable funding for homeless shelters, protection for roomers and boarders, and more....

The three phases of development
of New Brunswick's poverty reduction plan:

- was completed on March 31, 2009.
- incl. links to the What Was Said Report entitled "A Choir of Voices" and summaries of the input received at the regional sessions.
took place during the spring of 2009.
was held on November 12 and 13 in Saint John.
- incl. release of "Overcoming Poverty Together", New Brunswick's first-ever poverty reduction plan.

Related links:

News Release
November 13, 2009
SAINT JOHN (CNB) - The 50 participants attending the Final Forum on Poverty today adopted the first-ever poverty reduction plan for the province. Overcoming Poverty Together: The New Brunswick Economic and Social Inclusion Plan aims to reduce income poverty in the province by 25 per cent and deep income poverty by 50 per cent by 2015. "What has been agreed to here today is exceptional, and it will put us on the right path to achieving our poverty-reduction goals and helping thousands of New Brunswickers be more self-sufficient," said Premier Shawn Graham.

Source:

[The links below are in reverse chronological order.]

June 1st, 2010
[Minister of Social Development ] Kelly Lamrock's recent response to a request that New Brunswick implement a catastrophic drug cost insurance plan shows that either he doesn't understand why such a plan is required or he is purposefully misleading the public. This insurance plan isn't required for the poor; it's something everyone needs. (...) The strong endorsement made in the report of the Romanow Commission in 2002 that such a plan be developed in Canada was followed in 2003 by a commitment from the federal and provincial governments that a national program would be established. All provinces except New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have implemented such a plan. (...) Minister Lamrock wants to consult with the stakeholders. He wants to engage businesspeople and health officials. It will be part of the poverty-reduction strategy.
Source:
(New Brunswick)

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Recent releases from
The Common Front for Social Justice Inc.:

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Recherchistes francophones:
Sur la version française du site Web du
,
...vous trouverez les liens vers la version française de chacun
des textes ci-dessous ainsi qu'à d'autres textes du Front commun.
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April 14, 2010
The surprise announcement that this Friday will see the end of this Legislature session means that several bills now awaiting the attention of legislators will be rammed through without much debate. One of these is Bill 39, the Economic and Social Inclusion Act. This is the bill that gives legs to the government's poverty reduction plan announced several months ago. The Conservatives participated in and endorsed the plan so there is a good chance this bill will see swift passage. It is also one that hasn't received much scrutiny precisely because the Official Opposition was part of the process that developed it.
Source:

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April 14, 2010
Proposed provincial legislation to create a new Crown corporation to administer the Poverty Reduction Plan of government needs to be amended to recognize both official languages and better represent the plight of New Brunswick's poor, says the New Brunswick Common Front for Social Justice co-chairman. In a statement, Linda McCaustlin said Bill 39, to create the New Brunswick Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation, should also change the make-up of its proposed board of directors in order to eliminate any possible political influence.
Source:

Related link:

(PDF - 58K, 2 pages)
News Release
April 7, 2010
(...) There has to be real representation of people currently living in poverty, the process has to be open and language of service needs to be included in the new proposed Bill 39, Economic and Social Inclusion Act...

Source:

The Common Front for Social Justice is fighting to build a more human society based on the respect and dignity of all. We want a New Brunswick without poverty. We want a society which give each and everyone a decent living, in particular by having a minimum wage and social income on which citizens can to live on and not just exist

More recent letters, commentaries
and articles by the Common Front for Social Justice:

(PDF - 98K) - brochure, April 2010

(PDF - 151K) - March 2010

(PDF - 88K) - editorial by Ed Finn

(PDF - 1.3MB) - Auréa Cormier, October 17, 2009

(PDF - 82K) - commentary by Ysabel Provencher, PhD, Université Laval

(PDF - 3.5MB) - The Greater Moncton Homelessness Steering Committee

(53K) - Jean-Claude Basque, March 2010

(PDF - 10K) - for The Daily Gleaner, March 3, 2010.

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For earlier releases from the Common Front for Social Justice,
scroll down to the next yellow box on this page.

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Media coverage:

Montreal
By T'cha Dunlevy
June 7, 2010
Aubin Boudreau, Director General of The Shelter Acceuil Bonneau, closes his eyes and pauses for a moment to collect his emotions. Boudreau was speaking to the press concerning the provincial governments underfunding of homeless shelters that will require the Acceuil Bonneau to close on Monday, in Montreal Sunday, June 6, 2010. On the day that a Montreal homeless shelter announced it would close its doors for a day to decry a lack of funds, the Quebec government announced its $7-billion action plan to improve the conditions of people living in poverty through 2015. Accueil Bonneau will shut down today - as a symbolic gesture - for the first time in its 133-year history. Sam Hamad, the minister of employment and social solidarity, addressed the issue briefly yesterday in a press conference with Minister of Social Services Lise Thériault. However, he focused on his party's anti-poverty plan, which includes housing proposals and tax credits.
Source:

Also from The Gazette:

By Jan Ravensbergen
June 10, 2010
MONTREAL - A media report that the Quebec government has developed plans to chop $121 a month in social-assistance supplements received by 11,000 single mothers with pre-schoolers drew sharp condemnation Thursday from a spectrum of welfare-rights advocacy groups. It also triggered a government assertion in Quebec City that while no decision has yet been made, various unspecified "scenarios" are being studied. Other classes of welfare recipients considered able to work, including two-parent families and individuals age 55 or more, are also being targeted for cutbacks - apparently packaged with incentives for participation in job training, according to the report. []

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June 7, 2010
In protest of what it calls a lack of government funding for Quebec's poor and homeless, Accueil Bonneau is closing its doors for 24 hours Monday, despite the government's announcement Sunday of a $7-billion plan to fight poverty.The plan includes a tax credit, working incentive cash and funds to mobilize groups to fight poverty, explained Employment Minister Sam Hamad. While the Quebec government announced Sunday actions it plans to take to alleviate poverty, including putting forth the sum over the next five years, protestors from homeless shelter Accueil Bonneau said they weren't satisfied.
Source:

By Gilean Watts
April 7, 2010
Shawn Graham’s Poverty Reduction Plan only benefits a very small number of welfare recipients, says a leading provincial poverty advocacy group.
“If you listen to the media it seems that the Poverty Reduction Plan was a real good thing, but if you look at it and analyze between the lines then you start wondering if it’s really not all that rosy,” said Auréa Cormier of the New Brunswick Common Front for Social Justice at a public discussion at St. Thomas University last Thursday. According to Cormier, 97 per cent of welfare recipients will not be affected by the province’s Poverty Reduction Plan, which was introduced in November. The three per cent that will benefit are those in the interim assistance program, which provides money to employed welfare recipients.
Source:

---

April 14, 2010
The surprise announcement that this Friday will see the end of this Legislature session means that several bills now awaiting the attention of legislators will be rammed through without much debate. One of these is Bill 39, the Economic and Social Inclusion Act. This is the bill that gives legs to the government's poverty reduction plan announced several months ago. The Conservatives participated in and endorsed the plan so there is a good chance this bill will see swift passage. It is also one that hasn't received much scrutiny precisely because the Official Opposition was part of the process that developed it.
Source:

---

April 14, 2010
Proposed provincial legislation to create a new Crown corporation to administer the Poverty Reduction Plan of government needs to be amended to recognize both official languages and better represent the plight of New Brunswick's poor, says the New Brunswick Common Front for Social Justice co-chairman. In a statement, Linda McCaustlin said Bill 39, to create the New Brunswick Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation, should also change the make-up of its proposed board of directors in order to eliminate any possible political influence.
Source:

---

News Release
Feb. 19, 2010
FREDERICTON (CNB) - Legislation introduced today will implement the province's poverty reduction plan and ensure the delivery of poverty initiatives at the community level. Social Development Minister Kelly Lamrock introduced the Economic and Social Inclusion Act in the legislative assembly.

The Legislation:

The Economic and Social Inclusion Act will serve as the legislative framework to implement New Brunswick's poverty reduction plan (see "The Plan", below).
(...) Specifically, the act will:
* establish the New Brunswick Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation, a Crown corporation to monitor and advance the plan;
* provide for the establishment of community inclusion networks; and
* provide for the establishment of a co-ordination unit to provide support for the board and the community inclusion networks.

The Plan:

(PDF - 100K, 5 pages)
November 13, 2009
By 2015, New Brunswick will have reduced income poverty by 25% and deep income poverty by 50%, and will have made significant progress in achieving sustained economic and social inclusion

Source:

Related links:

February 17, 2010
The New Brunswick government has stopped penalizing social assistance recipients who have roommates. It has eliminated a decades-old policy that clawed back the benefits of low-income clients who live with someone else to pool their financial resources, Social Development Minister Kelly Lamrock announced Wednesday.
Source:

---

New Brunswick may well provide the bold
leadership in social policy that this country so urgently requires
By Ken Battle, Sherri Torjman and Michael Mendelson
February 26, 2010
(...) As Ottawa continues to bury its head in the snow, the initiative for tackling the long-lamented scourge of poverty has shifted to the provinces. Quebec and Newfoundland were first out of the gate with provincial poverty-reduction plans; several other provinces have been introducing their own campaigns. The way to break down the welfare wall is to extend income supports and services traditionally reserved for those on welfare to the working poor – Canada's forgotten poor. New Brunswick, which is taking important steps to do exactly this in its ambitious reform, may well provide the bold leadership in social policy that this country so urgently requires.
Source:

Related link:

[The co-authors of this article are president, vice-president and
senior scholar, respectively, of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy.]
The Caledon Institute of Social Policy does rigorous, high-quality research and analysis; seeks to inform and influence public opinion and to foster public discussion on poverty and social policy; and develops and promotes concrete, practicable proposals for the reform of social programs at all levels of government and of social benefits provided by employers and the voluntary sector.

Also from Caledon:

(PDF - 42K, 9 pages)
February 2010
By Anne Makhoul
Between October 2008 and November 2009, the New Brunswick government embarked on a three-stage public engagement process in order to design an economic and social inclusion plan. Its goal was to ensure that all sectors of New Brunswick society, including business, community nonprofit organizations and citizens, would share responsibility with the government for creating new opportunities for residents. Together they will implement action in three areas: Being (meeting basic needs), Becoming (life-long learning and skills acquisition) and Belonging (community participation).
---

Recent releases from
The Common Front for Social Justice Inc.:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recherchistes francophones:
Sur la version française du site Web du
,
...vous trouverez les liens vers la version française de chacun
des textes ci-dessous ainsi qu'à d'autres textes du Front commun.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(PDF - 1.6MB, 28 pages)
Analysis by the Common Front for Social Justice
[Powerpoint presentation]
February 2010
NOTE: This is an analysis of the poverty situation and the New Brunswick Government's poverty reduction plan; the provincial budget is mentioned in some bullet points on p. 26.
"... budget offers no relief for those most in need"
"For 97% of social assistance, there will be no changes in rate until April 2011 or possibly later."

---

Reading between the lines of “Overcoming Poverty Together –
The New Brunswick Economic and Social Inclusion Plan” (PDF - 373K, 11 pages)
January 2010
(PDF - 373K, 11 pages)
(PDF - 241K, 5 pages)
The purpose of this document is to express the concerns that the CFSJ has regarding the released document entitled Overcoming Poverty Together – The New Brunswick Economic and Social Inclusion Plan (hereafter called the Plan). Our analysis will address the following issues:
1) Who was left out of the plan?;
2) Limits to employability not considered;
3) Delivery structure and possible consequences;
4) Financial support towards the Plan, and
5) Missing elements.

---

NB Media Co-op
January 8, 2010

---

(PDF - 32K, 1 page)
January 2010
As of April 1, 2011*, assuming the other Atlantic provinces stay the same, NB workers will make 11¢ per hour more than the average minimum wage of all Atlantic provinces.
[*the English PDF file says April 2010 but this is incorrect. The has the correct date.]
[ One of the elements of the provincial poverty reduction plan (see below) is to raise the minimum wage to the Atlantic average by September 1st, 2011 and adjust for inflation annually thereafter. The Common Front argues that this is a good thing for full-time workers, but many of New Brunswick's poor households work part-time, thus reducing the impact of the increase on the target population. ]

---

December 2009
- evaluation of nine crucial issues that have a direct impact on people living in poverty

Source:
(CFSJ)
The Common Front for Social Justice is fighting to build a more human society based on the respect and dignity of all. We want a New Brunswick without poverty. We want a society which give each and everyone a decent living, in particular by having a minimum wage and social income on which citizens can to live on and not just exist.

---

Related links:

(PDF - 100K, 5 pages)
PDF file dated November 17, 2009
By 2015, New Brunswick will have reduced income poverty by 25% and deep income poverty by 50%, and will have made significant progress in achieving sustained economic and social inclusion.
Source:

---

January 16, 2010
By Greg Mulock
With a new year underway, a provincial advocacy group says the poor in New Brunswick are possibly worse off than they were at the outset of 2009. "The Common Front for Social Justice analyzed different actions taken in 2009 to reduce poverty," said a news release. "It realized the situation for people living in poverty has not changed. On some level it even deteriorated, especially for recipients on social assistance."
Source:
(New Brunswick)

---

(PDF - 445K, 12 pages)
November 2009
In November 2009, New Brunswick joined the ranks of provinces that have adopted comprehensive poverty reduction strategies. has set a target of reducing income poverty by 25% and deep income poverty by 50% by the year 2015.

Version française:
(PDF - 456Ko., 12 pages)
Novembre 2009

Source:

Related link:

(PDF - 63K, 2 pages)
We should be hard-headed about poverty in New Brunswick – “hard-headed” as in focussed and scientific about finding and doing what works to eliminate poverty. Some current poverty programs, here and in other jurisdictions, may have the effect of keeping people poor, for all the care that goes into what gets called a “poverty program”. What is worse, effective programs may be undone by other initiatives, given the lack of coordination and of monitoring.
From the column by Ginette Petitpas-Taylor
Former Chairperson of the

in the , July 17, 2008.

[GO BACK TO THE TOP OF THIS PAGE]

Québec : National Strategy to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion

With its National Strategy to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion, under the theme, “The Will to Act, The Strength to Succeed”, the Québec government intends to progressively transform Québec, over a ten-year period, into one of the industrialized societies with the least poverty.
- incl. links to: * Summary of consultation process * Bill * Parliamentary committee * Useful links * Policy statement * Summary of policy statement * Report on government action

Source:
(English home page)

______________________________________________________

AVIS aux rechersistes francophones:
Vous trouverez les liens ci-dessous en français sur la page
de liens du Québec pour francophones:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qcbkmrk.htm

______________________________________________________

News Release
June 6th, 2010
Today, Sam Hamad, Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity and Minister of Labour, and Lise Thériault, Minister for Social Services, unveiled the Government Action Plan for Solidarity and Social Inclusion : Québec’s Combat Against Poverty, which comes with total investments of nearly $7 billion. The Ministers were accompanied by the President of the Centre d’étude sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale (CEPE), Alain Noël, and by the Chair of the Comité consultatif de lutte contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale (CCLP), Damien Arsenault.

This action plan builds on a number of measures (e.g. Child Assistance and the Work Premium) introduced under the first Action Plan covering , and adds other structuring measures such as the Solidarity Tax Credit and an increase in funding ($115 million) for the Fonds québécois d’initiatives sociales (FQIS), which will enhance support for local, regional and Aboriginal anti-poverty projects.

________________

The Plan:
(English documents)

This second action plans builds on existing initiatives and was also inspired by the ideas expressed by the nearly 2,500 individuals and Québec and regional organizations consulted during the Rendez-vous de la solidarité.

Brief overview of the original Action Plan, which "brought together a slate of measures worth $4.5 billion over the past six years[ending in 2010]."
* scroll to the bottom of that page to find links to the key reports on the initial Action Plan, including the 2004 Plan itself in great detail and annual reports for each year starting in June 2005

Final report of the
first Action Plan:

(PDF file., 233K, 50 pages)
February 2010
Table of contets:
INTRODUCTION
QUÉBEC’S APPROACH TO COMBATING POVERTY
UPDATE ON THE VARIOUS MEASURES
* Improve the lives of people living in poverty
* Increase the income of individuals and families
* Measures for groups at risk of persistent poverty
* Better housing
* Better living conditions for individuals and families
* Prevent poverty and social exclusion by developing people’s potential
* Support for parents and early childhood
* School success and persistence
* Measures for young people under age 25
* Support for initiatives to promote seniors’ social participation
* Involve society as a whole
* Ensure consistent, coherent efforts
* Additional efforts
CONVINCING RESULTS AND A CHANGING SITUATION
* Low income rates using the Market Basket Measure
* Work and employment
* Improving disposable income
* Variations in the social aid rate since 2003
* Interprovincial comparison of households receiving last-resort financial assistance
TOWARD A SECOND GOVERNMENT ACTION PLAN TO COMBAT POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION
CONCLUSION

________________

Complete text of the
Action Plan
(French only):

(French only, Fichier PDF., 2,72 Mo, 52 pages)

________________

Action Plan Investments
(French only):

Communiqué
Le 6 juin 2010
Québec annonce un Plan d'action de près de 7 G$ pour améliorer les conditions de vie des personnes en situation de pauvreté.

(French only) (Fichier PDF., 17 ko, 1 page)

- Près de 7 milliards de dollars sur cinq ans, alloués selon quatre orientations:
1. Renforcer la solidarité en rapprochant les décisions des milieux locaux et régionaux
2. Valoriser le travail et favoriser l’autonomie des personnes.
3. Soutenir le revenu des personnes défavorisées.
4. Améliorer les conditions de vie des personnes et des familles à faible revenu.

________________________________

Related links to resources in English
from the Québec Government:

(solidarity consultations)
In order to take into account the experience and knowledge of as many people as possible in drafting the Government Action Plan for Solidarity and Social Inclusion, consultations, collectively called Rendez vous de la solidarité, were organized. In all, nearly 2,500 citizens and groups from all sectors of society had the opportunity to exchange viewpoints and express themselves.

Click the link above for more information on the Rendez vous initiative, including the province-wide and regional meetings with groups and individuals, focus groups, discussions with representatives of Aboriginal groups and an online citizen consultation.

Source (QC govt departments):
*
*

________________

Media coverage:

Also from The Gazette:

---

Quebec Budget

(PDF - 1.3MB, 204 pages)
"(...) 6.1 Plan to combat poverty
In the coming months, the Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity will unveil the new government action plan to combat poverty and social exclusion. To support that initiative, the Budget provides for an additional investment of $1.3 billion for the next five years..."

- includes a table showing annual investments to combat poverty over the next five years under each of several new measures:
* introduction of a Solidarity Tax Credit to provide for compensation for planned tax increases
* additional funding to the Fonds québécois d’initiatives sociales (social initiatives fund), to bolster collaborative intervention by the various organizations involved
* 3,000 new social housing throughout Quebec plus 340 new dwellings in Nunavik
* new measures to help seniors with the cost of home supports
Source:

March 30, 2010
[ (English home page) ]

----------------------------

May 25, 2009
New resource from the :

Quebec
(The English version of this report is forthcoming)
Version française
(PDF - 444K, 48 pages)

Source:

Social Development Report Series, 2009
[ ]

Also from CCSD :

(PDF - 341K, 29 pages)
By David I. Hay, Information Partnership

---

NOTE: for a good objective summary of Quebec's ten-year National Strategy to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion, see:

[ ]
October 2007
Source:

(Government of Canada)

----------------------------

, R.S.Q., chapter L-7
Québec is the only Canadian jurisdiction to enshrine its anti-poverty strategy in legislation (passed in December 2002).
As noted above, the goal of the strategy is to make Québec one of the industrialized societies with the least poverty within ten years, by 2013.

Among its many provisions, the statute establishes two related entities: a multisectoral advisory body to oversee the implementation of the Action Plan and an "observatory" where information on poverty and social exclusion is collected and disseminated. These two entities are discussed below.

(Advisory committee in the strategy against poverty, set up under the National Strategy)
- incl. links to : Comité consultatif (About) - Initiatives to combat poverty and social exclusion - Feedback - Press releases - Publications - Useful links
---
NOTE: The Comité consultatif is a public body whose role is to advise the Québec Minister responsible for the application of the Action Plan to combat poverty and social exclusion. This mission is not unlike that of the at the federal government level with respect to the Minister responsible for Human Resources and Social Development Canada, that is, to represent the interests of all Canadians in offering counsel to the HRSDC Minister in all matters relating to social development. Both the Comité consultatif and the NCW carry out evaluations and other studies, and they present their views and and recommendations directly to the Minister responsible and also to the public. Both groups also monitor the social policies of their respective governments with a special focus on the impacts of new policies on the incidence of poverty and social exclusion.

(CEPE)
(Centre for the study of poverty and exclusion)
The Centre d’étude sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion is an observation, research and discussion centre entrusted with providing reliable and rigourous information, notably of a statistical nature, on poverty and social exclusion issues. Created within the context of the Act to combat poverty and social exclusion, the CEPE acts under the aegis of the Ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MESS) and is managed in collaboration with a steering committee composed of members working in the academic research or government sector, or working with people who are experiencing poverty or social exclusion.
- incl. links to:
* Introduction to the CEPE * Statistics * Research activities * Publications * Lexicon * Useful links

Recent release from CEPE:

(PDF - 311K, 80 pages)
Centre d’étude sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion
2009
One of the mandates of the Centre d’étude sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion is to propose, to the minister of Emploi et Solidarité sociale, measures and indicators of poverty, inequality and social exclusion to measure progress in Québec in the implementation of the Act to combat poverty and social exclusion. This advice is a first proposition in that direction.
[ ]
Source:
(English home page)
The Centre d’étude sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion (CEPE) is an observation, research and discussion centre entrusted with providing reliable and rigourous information, notably of a statistical nature, on poverty and social exclusion issues. (...) One of the main mandates of the CEPE is to develop and recommend to the Minister a series of indicators to be used in measuring poverty and social exclusion and social and economic disparities, as well as other indicators of poverty.

- English page
[Consultative Committee on the Strategy to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion]
"...The primary role of this committee is to advise the Government of Québec on the actions implemented under the National Strategy to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion."

Key Reports

Annual Progress Reports on the Government Action Plan to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion:

(PDF file - 605K, 47 pages)
June 2005

(PDF file - 965K, 38 pages)
October 2006

(PDF file - 869K, 32 pages)
--- (PDF file - 281K, 2 pages)
October 2007

( French only --- PDF file., 1,25MB, 39 pages)
October 2008

Final report of the
first Action Plan:

Related links:

April 3, 2008
By Kristy Rich
QUEBEC CITY - The Quebec government must do more to protect the buying power of the poor from the rising costs of living, says a government advisory commitee created to ensure the government is respecting its Anti-Poverty Law. Though the cost of electricity and public transit are increasing, committee Chair Tommy Kulcyzk says the government has not fully indexed welfare payments.(..) The report's 11 recommendations include compensating welfare recipients for the cost of increasing tariffs by comparative increases in their sales tax refund; and cutting the cost of public transit fares in half over the next decade.
Source:
(Montreal AM radio)

Today, April 3, 2008, in Montréal, the chair of the Comité consultatif de lutte contre la pauvreté et l'exclusion sociale, Mr. Tommy Kulczyk, addressed the repercussions of rate increases on the living conditions of low-income individuals with the release of the advisory committee’s first recommendation. The committee illustrates how rate increases on basic commodities like heating, electricity and transportation compromise the ability of the impoverished and socially excluded to integrate society. These increases contribute to social exclusion by forcing these people to spend too much of their meagre resources on basic commodities and increasing their isolation.
The members of the advisory committee feel there is an urgent need to act on a situation that is creating a breach in the efforts made by Québec to fight poverty and social exclusion. The committee has drawn up eleven unifying recommendations comprising short-, medium- and long-term actions that are fully sustainable in approach.

Source:
- (English home page)
[Consultative Committee on the Strategy to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion]

Recent CEPE reports:

February 7, 2008
Report on low incomes in Québec
This document describes poverty trends in recent years and the proportion of low-income family units among Quebecers, the gap between their income and low-income thresholds, the duration of their situation, and their main sociodemographic and economic characteristics. More detailed information is provided about unattached persons and last-resort financial assistance recipients.
(PDF, 94 ko) (French)

February 7, 2008

You can now consult the new Other Documents section, which comprises a number of documents that are considered to provide important information for understanding poverty-related phenomena.

February 7, 2008
Strategic plan for anti-poverty research and knowledge transfer
The purpose of this strategy is to increase research efforts aimed at a fuller understanding of the problem of poverty and to contribute to producing lasting solutions. The strategy insists on the importance of knowledge transfer and appropriation and the need to make research results known and easy to access.

Related reports:

-------------------------------------

(PDF - 316Ko, 9 pages)
[Available in French only]
Alain Noël, PhD
Université de Montréal
Le 17 avril 2008
« (...) Collectivement, nous devrons également garder à l'esprit que pour éradiquer la pauvreté, il ne suffit pas de miser sur la croissance économique et sur l'emploi.
Il faut aussi redistribuer le revenu. »
Source:

[ ]

NOTE to Anglophones:

In his April 17 presentation, Éliminer la pauvreté : ce que peuvent faire les gouvernements (What governments can do to eliminate poverty), Political Science Professor Alain Noël offers some interesting insights into poverty reduction/elimination in other countries and in Canada, with a special focus on Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador, the two provinces that already have a poverty reduction strategy in place. He also speaks about the recent resurgence of public interest in poverty reduction in Canada and on the world scene, and he suggests that the federal government needs to step up to the plate in terms of its poverty reduction efforts in areas such as Employment Insurance, income security for Canada's seniors, equalization, taxation and Aboriginal people.

(PDF - 316K, 9 pages) is available in French only.

Source:
(English home page)
NOTE: click the link above to access 46 presentations in the Breakfast on the Hill series, going right back to 1996.
[ ]

From the
[ ]

May 28, 2004
Commentary (13 pages)
by Alain Noël
"For the time being, it is probably good to praise an effort that was not expected and that appears, in many ways, well intentioned and valuable. From now on, however, the combat will have to continue, not only against poverty and social exclusion, but also against prejudices and a perennial lack of vision."
- assessment of the Charest government's action plan against poverty and social exclusion in Quebec (which was released on April 2) by Alain Noël, who prepared an essay on the original anti-poverty law late in 2002 (see the link below)
- comprehensive, detailed info on the new action plan, including welfare reforms taking effect over the coming year
[Click on the link above , then (on the next page), on the word "Download" under the author's name to open the document in PDF format]

A Law Against Poverty: Quebec’s New Approach to Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion
by Alain Noël
December 2002
(PDF file - 554 K, 11 pages)
"On December 13, 2002, the National Assembly in Quebec unanimously adopted a law to “combat poverty and social exclusion.” Bill 112 is a framework law that includes a National Strategy to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion, a fund to support social initiatives, an “Observatory,” and an Advisory Committee on the Prevention of Poverty and Social Exclusion. This new law is unique in North America, and it constitutes a significant political innovation, if only because it makes poverty reduction an explicit and central policy priority. The bill is also the result of a remarkable process of collective action and public deliberation."

From the

The Collective is a Quebec non-governmental organization whose aim is to promote a law that would eradicate poverty in the province. Visit the Collective's site to see the draft law to eliminate poverty.
[NOTE: the is more complete and current]

April 18, 2004
"Social activists outside Québec will have been impressed by the Action Plan and by the impact of the Act to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion that mandated its publication. How could it have ever happened without such a law that a right-wing government invests, during its first year in office, the better part of $2.5 billion in direct improvements to the revenues of people living in poverty ?"

From the (CCSD):

"An excellent article by Camil Bouchard and Marie-France Raynault on Quebec’s ground-breaking anti-poverty law recently appeared in Le Devoir."
January 22, 2003

June 2002
"On June 12, the Government of Quebec tabled a bill in the National Assembly aimed at establishing a strategy for poverty reduction in the province. This is a major step as Quebec takes the lead in putting poverty back on the public (and legislative) agenda."
- incl. links to five key documents

- Rendez-vous à la page de liens de recherche sociale au Québec: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qcbkmrk.htm

[GO BACK TO THE TOP OF THIS PAGE]

Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy

The two main portals to information about Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy are the government stream and the NGO stream, and you can access both of those by clicking on the links below, or you can scroll down the page for links to content from those and other related sites.

(Government of Ontario)
- incl. links to :
* Why It Matters * What's Happening Now * Where We Want to Be * Research * Meet the Team * Chair's Update (Deb Matthews) * Ontario Child Benefit * Ontario Disability Support Program * Ontario Works Program

---

- "To monitor and inform on cross-Ontario activity on the poverty reduction agenda"
Poverty Watch Ontario is keeping an eye on the provincial poverty reduction consultations and poverty reduction events in Ontario.
Poverty Watch Ontario is a joint venture of the , , and the .
[ - links to websites and reports ]

______________________________________________________________________________________________

The links below are, for the most part, organized in reverse chronological order, with the most recent additions at the top.
______________________________________________________________________________________________

May 20, 2010
The Ontario government is replacing the Special Diet Allowance Program with a new nutritional supplement program. As it designs this new program, the government must ensure that it is not viewed in isolation from other aspects of the social assistance system and the problems that people who rely on it experience on a regular basis. (...) Recognizing that the new program will be created before the [Social Assistance] Review can take place, we urge the Ontario government to use the following five principles as guideposts for the development of an “Ontario Nutritional Supplement”:
1. CLEAR POLICY OBJECTIVE
2. ACCESSIBILITY, ADEQUACY, AND EQUITY
*** Genuine accessibility to the program
*** Adequate levels of support
*** Regular adjustments to keep up with rising costs
*** Equity. This includes ensuring that all people on social assistance who have health challenges are given financial support appropriate to their needs.
3. MEETING THE NEED
4. RESPONSIBILITY FOR CURRENT RECIPIENTS
5. TAKE THE TIME TO GET IT RIGHT

TAKE ACTION!
Help us make sure the new Ontario Nutritional Supplement meets the test by:
1. Showing your support for these Five Principles by endorsing them online at
Endorse as an individual or get your organization to endorse.

2. Sending an email to the government to show your support, using 25 in 5’s automatic email at
Your email will go to Minister Deb Matthews, Minister of Health, who is responsible for setting up the new Nutritional Supplement program. It will also go to Laurel Broten, Minister Responsible for Poverty Reduction, and Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance.

3. Sharing your support for these Five Principles with your MPP.
You can find out who your MPP is by going to
After finding the name of your riding, click on “information about your MPP”.

4. Telling your story about the benefit you’ve had from being on Special Diet, by going to
Share what it will mean to you if the provincial government’s new Nutritional Supplement program doesn’t meet the Five Principles test. If you work with people currently receiving Special Diet, please tell them about this opportunity to tell their story.

---

Posted to the 25 in 5 website May 17, 2010
On April 29, Michael Creek and Greg deGroot-Maggetti of 25 in 5 wrote to the Premier about the cancellation of the Special Diet Allowance (see below), which will have an impact on several thousand OW and ODSP recipients, and the 1% increase to social assistance rates, which falls short of the inflation rate. Predictably, the reply from the Premier (dated May 6) follows the dog-eared template that many advocacy groups know so well from past experience:
1. Thank you for your valuable feedback regarding [insert name of issue] in Ontario.
2. List McGuinty government's accomplishments in the area of [insert name of issue].
3. Reiteration of McGuinty government's firm commitment to reform and improve [insert name of issue].
4. Redirect letter/request to the Minister responsible for [insert name of issue] for further processing (read possible delay).

The letter from 25 in 5 to
Premier McGuinty:

Budget Decisions on Social Assistance Call Commitment into Question
April 29, 2010

Source:

25 in 5 is a multi-sectoral network comprised of more than 100 provincial and Toronto-based organizations and individuals working on eliminating poverty.

2010 Ontario Budget - March 25, 2010

- one per cent increase in adult basic-needs allowances and maximum shelter allowances in Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program in the fall of 2010.
- Special Diet Allowance - being phased out and replaced by a new nutritional supplement program to be administered by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
- Ontario commits $63.5 million a year permanently in the area of child care, to fill the gap left by the federal government (since the termination of the Early Learning and Child Care Agreement).
- provincial minimum wage will rise to $10.25/hour on March 31, 2010.
- $11.8 billion in tax relief for people over three to enhance ongoing sales and property tax relief, cut personal income taxes and help Ontarians adjust to the transition to the Harmonized Sales Tax
NOTE: the remainder of the highlights page is an overview of poverty reduction measures announced since the previous Ontario budget, such as the Social Assistance Review Advisory Council, new housing infrastructure initiatives, increased funding for the Youth Opportunities Strategy, improvements to dental services for kids in low-income families, full-day learning for four- and five-year olds, and more...

Source:
(main budget page)
March 25, 2010

NOTE: For a large collection of links to analysis and critique of the 2010 Ontario budget by a number of NGOs, see:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets_2010.htm#on

March 15, 2010
By Carol Goar
"(...) As budget day approaches, anti-poverty groups aren't expecting much. They know times are tough. They know education, not poverty reduction, is McGuinty's priority. They know the poor are always told to wait when there is a deficit. They'd like to trust the premier. But all the harbingers look bleak.
Source:

Ontario 2010 Pre-Budget Consultations

(PDF - 51K, 8 pages)
Submitted by: Social Planning Toronto
February 3, 2010
In this submission, we focus on initiatives that will promote economic recovery and advance the provincial government’s commitment on poverty reduction.

Source:

Social Planning Toronto (SPT; formerly the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto) is a nonprofit community organization engaged in research, policy analysis, community development and civic engagement aimed at improving the quality of life of Toronto residents. SPT’s work focuses on poverty reduction with an emphasis on income security, good jobs, affordable housing and strong public education.

Related links:
(links to presentations to Committee by SPT and other groups in January/February 2010)

This link gives you access to all transcripts of this Committee right back to 2007, including (but not limited to) pre-budget consultations that preceded the Ontario Budgets from 2007 to the upcoming 2010 budget expected late in March. The top seven links in the right-hand column are all 2010 pre-budget consultation transcripts.
Source:

RESEARCH TIP:
I highly recommend government pre-budget consultation websites as a rich source of information on Canadian social programs in an economic and fiscal context.
I'm using Ontario as an example here, but every jurisdiction in Canada has a pre-budget process in place for organizations and people to make their pitch about the best way to allocate budget dollars. There's usually a link to the pre-budget process on the main budget page for each province/territory.

If you click the Ontario "Committee Transcripts" link above, you'll note (on the next page, at the top of the right-hand column) links to seven transcripts of submissions made to the Committee by interested organizations and individuals. You'll have to click on the link for each transcript to see a list of the groups and people whose presentations are included in that day's transcript. The seven transcripts cover the Committee hearings from January 25 to February 3 (2010), and they include presentations from a wide range of intervenors, from the National Citizens' Coalition and social advocacy groups, to municipal councils and labour unions. If you've read this far, I think you'll want to check all seven daily transcripts for compelling presentations (and a wealth of program information) by the ODSP Action Coalition, the Ottawa Poverty Reduction Network, the Wellesley Institute, the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction, Ontario Campaign 2000, Social Planning Toronto, the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, the Income Security Advocacy Centre, and many more...

[ Use the same technique to find pre-budget submissions for any jurisdiction by any organization that has a presence on the Internet. It's a slow and cumbersome process, but it offers insights into our social programs and our social policies that you often can't find elsewhere...]

__________________________________________

Another submission to the
Standing Committee on Finance & Economic Affairs:

(PDF - 168K, 7 pages)
Submission to Standing Committee on Finance & Economic Affairs
February 1, 2010
(...) What we know from this past recession is that we are all vulnerable. Every child is vulnerable, every middle class job is vulnerable, every household is vulnerable, and every community is vulnerable. But strategic solutions are at hand. Some solutions require immediate investments to
protect the vulnerable and stimulate the economy by keeping and creating good jobs; others require simple rule changes to ensure the Premier meets his government's priority of providing the best public services for Ontario's vulnerable.
Source:

25-in-5: Network for Poverty Reduction is a multi-sectoral network comprised of more than 100 provincial and Toronto-based organizations and individuals working on eliminating poverty. (...) We are asking our government for a plan to reduce Ontario poverty levels by 25% in 5 years and by 50% before 2018.

- Go to the 2010 Canadian Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets_2010.htm

The City of Ottawa's
Poverty Reduction Strategy

(PDF - 1.9MB, 83 pages)
Undated (PDF file date: December 11, 2009)
Ottawa's initiative builds on the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy and expands the target group to include individuals, families and children living on low income. The focus of Ottawa's Strategy is to implement local initiatives that reduce poverty, promote awareness and complement existing activities in the community.The report presents 3 Strategic Priorities and 16 Recommendations, including concrete, local actions that can be achieved and measured within a two-year timeframe. Beginning in 2010, Phase II of the Strategy will implement the recommendations and monitor progress by developing measures and tracking outcomes.
Source:

Note : Report to be presented to Community and Protective Services Committee and Council
21 January 2010
By Steve Kanellakos, Deputy City Manager (City Operations)
[ version française :
]

Related links:
…….. something left over at the end of the month (PDF - 167K, 48 pages)
Report from the Community Poverty Reduction Strategy Forum
held on June 25, 2008
at Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa.
Prepared by the Ottawa Poverty Reduction Network
for the Ontario Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction
chaired by the Hon. Deb Matthews.

September 28, 2009
Source:

The Ottawa Poverty Reduction Network is a group of community organizations and anti-poverty advocates that
came together in early 2008 to support the participation of low income individuals in the development of
Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy.

McGuinty Government Releases First Annual Report
News Release
December 2, 2009
Ontario is delivering on its poverty reduction strategy by making historic investments in low-income families during challenging economic times. The first annual report on the Breaking the Cycle strategy released today highlights three pillars that the government has delivered on:
* Accelerating the Ontario Child Benefit
* Moving forward with full-day learning for four and five year olds
* Tax fairness for low-income families

Complete report:

Breaking the Cycle: The First Year
Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy, 2009 Annual Report

(1.2MB, 23 pages)

Related link:

December 2, 2009
A 'deprivation index' is a list of items or activities considered necessary to have an adequate standard of living, but those who are poor are unlikely to be able to afford. The items in a deprivation index are not a comprehensive list of basic needs since in a wealthy society such as Ontario most households, even the poor, are likely to have most of the basic necessities. The items in the index are intended to distinguish the poor from the non-poor. According to research, the items in Ontario's index are all widely seen by Ontarians as being necessary for a household to have a standard of living above the poverty level. (...) Ontario's deprivation index was developed through a unique partnership with the Ontario government, the Daily Bread Food Bank, the Caledon Institute of Social Policy and Statistics Canada.

Source:

[ ]

Making Good on the Promise:
Evaluating Year One of Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy
December 2, 2009

(221K, 27 pages)
A year ago, as Canada plunged into one of the sharpest recessions since the Great Depression, the Ontario government assumed long-awaited leadership to tackle poverty. On December 4, 2008 it promised to enact a plan to reduce child and family poverty by 25 per cent by 2013. Making good on that promise would lift more than 90,000 Ontario children and their families out of poverty within five years. This report evaluates what has been done so far and how much further they'll have to go to meet the goal.

Source:

25-in-5: Network for Poverty Reduction is a multi-sectoral network comprised of more than 100 provincial and Toronto-based organizations and individuals working on eliminating poverty. (...) We are asking our government for a plan to reduce Ontario poverty levels by 25% in 5 years and by 50% before 2018.

Related link:

Anti-poverty campaigners say Ontario risks missing its targets just one year into its plan to reduce child poverty by 25 per cent by 2013.
December 2, 2009
The 25 in 5 Poverty Reduction Network says some good steps have been taken but warns that without immediate public support, the province's poverty rate will "explode."
In a report released ahead of the province's own update, the group also says that repeating the mistakes of the 1990s recession — especially making cuts to public sector programs and services — will make it harder for people to move out of poverty. It wants the province to review its rules around social assistance and make increases to the Ontario Child Benefit, affordable housing and the minimum wage.
Source:

(PDF - 234K, 8 pages)
November 2009
* Breaking the Cycle: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy - Key commitments and progress as of November 2009
* Indicators of Child & Family Poverty: A 20 Year Retrospective
* Rate and Depth of Poverty
* Working Poor Families
* Children at Greater Risk of Poverty
* Children in Families on Social Assistance
* Food Bank Use by Children
* Access to Affordable Housing
* Access to Quality, Regulated Child Care
* Looking Ahead - The Need for Strong Leadership in Tough Times
* Next Steps in Poverty Reduction – What Ontario Needs to Do Now

Version française:
(PDF - 231Ko., 8 pages)
Novembre 2009

Related link:

November 12, 2009
Ontario is helping more Crown wards succeed at college, university and apprenticeship training. Seven new Crown Ward Education Championship Teams will offer mentorship, peer support, motivation, and guidance to Crown wards across the province. This doubles the number of teams in Ontario to 14. The teams will help these students access and succeed in postsecondary education and training. Teams include volunteers from local school boards, Children's Aid Societies, postsecondary institutions, community agencies, Employment Ontario and provincial ministries. Support of Crown wards is part of Breaking the Cycle: Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy, which aims to reduce the number of children living in poverty by 25 per cent over five years -- lifting 90,000 kids out of poverty -- by boosting benefits for low-income families and enhancing publicly-funded education.

Learn more:
*
*
*
*
*

Source:

Ontario's fiscal woes come as bad news for the
growing number of Ontarians dealing with the fallout from the recent economic storm.
By Pat Capponi (Voices From the Street) and
Jennefer Laidley (Income Security Advocacy Centre)
October 27, 2009
As provincial coffers dry up, thousands of individuals and families also face increasing financial hardship. With unemployment expected to hit 10 per cent by 2010, there could soon be 400,000 of us out of work. And while federal changes to employment insurance will offer some short-term relief, they may be too little, too late. (...) The commitment to review Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program – made in the province's poverty reduction strategy last December – has been agonizingly slow to get off the ground. (...) [T]he newly appointed minister responsible for poverty reduction, Laurel Broten, and the government's poverty reduction results team must make the social assistance review their first order of business to support Ontario's strategy for climbing out of the recession. As Ontario considers its plan for moving forward, the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction offers the following five benchmarks for a social assistance review that will meet the test:
* The review must be grounded in a bold vision: economic security and opportunity for all Ontarians.
* The review must be proactive.
* A timely process to launch deep reforms must be part of the review package.
* Providing decent, adequate income supports must be a stated outcome of the review.
* People who have had to rely on Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program must have a leading role in shaping the review's recommendations.
Source:

Authors Pat Capponi and Jennefer Laidley are members of the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction, a multi-sectoral network comprised of more than 100 provincial and Toronto-based organizations and individuals working on eliminating poverty.

Related links:

Voices from the streets was launched in 2005 with funding from the City of Toronto’s Supporting Community Partnership Initiative to develop a speakers bureau comprised of individuals with mental health and addictions history. (...) Voices From the Street is comprised of individuals who have had direct experience with homelessness, poverty, and/or mental health issues. The organization works to put a human face to homelessness and involves people with direct experience as leaders in a public education process.

The Income Security Advocacy Centre works with and on behalf of low income communities in Ontario to address issues of income security and poverty.

- A sub-site of the Income Security Advocacy Centre
Comprehensive source for issues, stories, resources, analysis, and news about the review
- incl. links to : About - Take Action - Tell Your Story - Resources - News

25 in 5 is a multi-sectoral network comprised of more than 100 provincial and Toronto-based organizations and individuals working on eliminating poverty.

eBulletin for October 14, 2009
Table of contents:
1. Quote of the Week: This is Our Chance to Get it Right
2. How is the Government Doing on Poverty Reduction?
3. Action Alert: No Cherry Picking on Early Learning
4. An Update from the Housing Network of Ontario
5. Dental Treatment for Low-Income Ontarians
6. Star Editorial Suggests We "Do the Math"
7. Ontario's Food Banks Hard Hit
Source:
25-in-5: Network for Poverty Reduction is a multi-sectoral network comprised of more than 100 provincial and Toronto-based organizations and individuals working on eliminating poverty. We have organized ourselves around the call for a Poverty Reduction Plan with a goal to reduce poverty in Ontario by 25% in 5 years and 50% in 10 years.

October 8, 2009
Press Release
October 8, 2009
TORONTO – Thanksgiving is a time to remember that everyone should have enough food to eat — if not to celebrate with an abundant meal, at the very least to meet the minimum requirements for health and dignity. But data released from a new website shows what too many people lining up at food banks this Thanksgiving already know: social assistance in Ontario does not add up. The Stop Community Food Centre recently launched a web-based budgeting tool called “Do the Math” that asks people to weigh in on what they think a person on social assistance needs to survive. More than 1,700 people have completed the survey since it launched in June 2009, and results show that even the most frugal estimates fall far short of what people receive on Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).
Source:

Mission : To monitor and inform on cross-Ontario activity on the poverty reduction agenda

From its origins as one of Canada’s first food banks, The Stop has blossomed into a thriving community hub where neighbours participate in a broad range of programs that provide healthy food, as well as foster social connections, build food skills and promote engagement in civic issues.

Poverty in Ontario is at an all time high. As the economic crisis grows, so does the number of people relying on social assistance and food banks.
Does a single person on social assistance receive enough income to live with health and dignity?
Do The Math to find out!

Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity and Open Policy Ontario
call for improvements to Working Income Tax Benefit design in Ontario to help low-income earners escape welfare.
September 2, 2009
Press Release
Toronto – The government of Ontario should accept the invitation from the federal government to modify the design of its Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB). WITB benefits should be re-oriented to support low-income earners when they work more, thereby easing their move from social assistance onto full-time employment when welfare benefits are lost.

Complete report:

(PDF - 897K, 28 pages)
September 2009
Open Policy Ontario
John Stapleton, Principal
"Low-income Ontarians who are attempting to break out of poverty to achieve financial sustainability often find barriers in their way. In fact, many who try to break away from welfare and find employment face strong disincentives to work. They continue to struggle with insufficient work, low wages, and little-to-no wage progression. (...) This report is not about addressing the full range of welfare reform; rather, it seeks to merge the WITB and Ontario’s welfare system and thus provide greater incentives for low-income Ontarians to achieve full-time employment by reducing the barriers created by the welfare wall. (...)

Authors:

James Milway and Katherine Chan,

The Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity is an independent, not-for-profit organization that deepens public understanding of macro and microeconomic factors behind Ontario’s economic progress. We are funded by the Government of Ontario and are mandated to share our research findings directly with the public. The Institute serves as the research arm of the . The mandate of the Task Force, announced in the April 2001 Speech from the Throne, is to measure and monitor Ontario’s competitiveness, productivity, and economic progress compared to other provinces and US states and to report to the public on a regular basis.

John Stapleton,

John Stapleton is Metcalf Innovations and St Christopher House policy fellow and an expert on social policy and income issues.

On December 4, 2008, the Ontario government released its Poverty Reduction Strategy. The Strategy made a commitment to “undertake a review of social assistance” (p30). But what this means is still unclear. The government has not yet released any terms of reference for the Review – so there is no indication how it will proceed, who will lead it, or how people with lived experience and local communities can be involved. But we know it won’t be enough for the Review to simply tinker with program rules, changing bits and pieces here and there. Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program are built on a foundation of ideas that work against the principle of poverty reduction.
- incl. links to: About - Take Action - Tell Your Story - Resources - News
Source:

Related links:

Activists say old social assistance rules hurt disabled, drive people further into poverty
June 24, 2009
By Laurie Monsebraaten
"(...) Queen's Park had promised to review the [welfare] system this year as part of its groundbreaking poverty reduction plan, released in December. The government repeated the pledge in its March budget but has yet to say when the review will start, how broad it will be and how the community will participate. A spokesperson for social services minister Madeleine Meilleur, whose ministry will lead the review, said the government is still committed to the initiative and "eager" to get started but has yet to determine its scope. (...) Ontario's social assistance system must be part of the government's strategy for a prosperous Ontario, said Mary Marrone, legal director for the Income Security Advocacy Centre, which staged the forum [Toronto Forum on welfare reform, held June 23].
Source:

2009 Research Roundtable Proceedings
June 14, 2009
On Tuesday, March 3, Social Planning Toronto hosted its 2009 Research Roundtable: “Research for Social Change”. The event brought together more than 125 community-based, government and academic researchers, policy analysts and activists to share information on current research initiatives, discuss opportunities for collaboration, and exchange ideas for using research to advance social change and challenge poverty in Ontario. The Roundtable provided an opportunity to share perspectives on poverty-reduction research from our various vantage points – inside and outside of government – broadly focused around Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS).

(Microsoft Word format - 381K, 39 pages)

Source:

Social Planning Toronto is committed to independent social planning at the local and city-wide levels in order to improve the quality of life for all people in Toronto. It is committed to diversity, social and economic justice, and active citizen participation in all aspects of community life.

Repairing EI, establishing a national public child care program, good green jobs and investment in affordable housing identified as priorities at community town hall meeting.
June 2, 2009
TORONTO-On Monday evening, more than 100 people participated in a town hall meeting held to get input from community members who will not be given an opportunity to address Parliamentary hearings about the federal role in poverty reduction.

(PDF - 318K, 21 pages)
Notes from a town hall meeting on the role of the federal government in poverty reduction
June 1, 2009
TORONTO - On June 1st, Campaign 2000 and the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction held a Town Hall Meeting to get community input on what the federal role should be in reducing poverty in Canada. The event coincided with the Toronto hearings of the Federal Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA). This is the only hearing in Ontario of this federal committee studying poverty, but many were not able to formally present to the Committee. This Town Hall provided an opportunity for community groups and people with lived experience of poverty to present to a community panel
Source:

Related links:

Forget trying to reform the current system and build a new one that is both simpler and fairer
June 2, 2009
By John Stapleton
When Ontario's long-promised review of welfare begins this spring, the provincial government faces a stark choice. Does it spend years trying to unravel a set of 800 social assistance rules that make up the current outdated system? Or will this government take the bolder road and build an entirely new and improved income security system? (...) The social assistance system in Ontario was rebuilt during the 1990s with the introduction of the Ontario Works Act and the Ontario Disability Support Program Act. The purpose was to provide a basic welfare program in Ontario Works whose success was predicated on the principle that only the neediest of the needy would receive assistance. Success was defined in terms of leaving the program. Reliance on the program was considered dependency. That system does not work. It needs replacing.
Source:

John Stapleton is a Metcalf Innovations Fellow, and Community Undertaking Social Policy Fellow at St. Christopher House in Toronto.
This article is based on his report on Ontario's new income architecture, The 'Ball' or the 'Bridge': The stark choice for social assistance reform in Ontario (see below).
[ - John Stapleton's personal website ]

Complete report:

(PDF - 243K, 5 pages)
May 2009
By John Stapleton
"(...) If Ontario chooses to keep the ‘ball’ (the 800 rules that guide welfare in Ontario) stuck together and loosen eligibility rules (as it has historically done during recessions), caseloads will climb and peak approximately three years following the end of the recession at tremendous cost to the province while thwarting human potential in a significant portion of Ontario’s adult population. The choice is stark for social assistance reform in Ontario. We either can risk more than doubling Ontario’s social assistance population as we did in the early 1990s or we can build the new bridge. The choice is ours to make."

Source:

[ ]

May 25, 2009
New resource from the :

(PDF - 411K, 34 pages)
By Glynis Maxwell, Community Development Halton (Social Planning Network of Ontario)
Table of contents:
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
PROFILE OF POVERTY IN ONTARIO
DEVELOPMENT OF POLICY AND PROGRAMS
* The Post-War Era
* 1975 to 1985: A Growing Need to Tackle Poverty
* 1985 to 1995: SARC and the Failure of Reform
* 1995 to 2003: The ‘Common Sense Revolution’
CURRENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS
* Social Assistance Incomes
* Minimum Wage
* Quality of Employment
* Barriers to Employment for Social Assistance Recipients
* Barriers to Employment for Newcomers
* Affordable Housing
* Child Care
* Developing a Poverty Reduction Strategy
CONCLUSION

Source:

Social Development Report Series, 2009
[ ]

Also from CCSD :

(PDF - 341K, 29 pages)
By David I. Hay, Information Partnership

May 25, 2009
By Carol Goar
One of the defining characteristics of an effective social agency is that it never stays still. It changes as the population of a community changes. It creates new programs when the existing ones don't meet the needs of its clients. It constantly looks for better ways to do things and better tools to help people. Governments, on the other hand, lock their programs in place with rigid rules. They demand conformity. They manage change by imposing limits and off-loading responsibilities. This clash of visions leads to stifled creativity and half-solved problems. That is the message a Senate delegation heard when it came to Toronto this month, seeking solutions to urban poverty. Three members of the subcommittee on cities – Senators Art Eggleton, Jane Cordy and Hugh Segal – spent a morning at Woodgreen Community Services, one of Toronto's leading social agencies...

Source:

Related link:

At WoodGreen we believe that everyone should have access to
the essentials of life whether that means a roof over their head, a stable job or child care they can trust.

May 6, 2009
Toronto– Ontario has taken a historic step forward on poverty reduction with the all-party approval of Bill 152, the Poverty Reduction Act, said the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction. The legislation requires Ontario to set a new poverty reduction target and plan of action at least every five years, and to consult regularly on its progress with low income people, groups at heightened risk of poverty, and other key stakeholders. Poverty in Ontario can no longer be ignored. (...) Amendments were made to the original Bill after the Legislature’s Standing Committee on Social Policy heard suggestions over two days of public hearings from two dozen community representatives, and received over 40 written submissions.
Source:
(Ontario)

Related link:

(PDF - 349K, 10 pages)
Second reading copy, changes annotated

Editorial
April 20, 2009
Unemployment numbers are soaring, welfare cases are rising and food banks are reporting shortages. The economic downturn has made Ontario's plan to reduce poverty even more crucial than when it was first promised by the Liberals. The initial target is to reduce child poverty by 25 per cent within five years. We have seen targets like that before, and they have been missed. But what makes this plan somewhat different is the accompanying legislation, which would make poverty-reduction an ongoing government responsibility. Children's Minister Deb Matthews, who designed the province's anti-poverty strategy, states: "The only way we're ever going to succeed in the fight against poverty is for it to become a core responsibility of governments now and in the future." Political interests and governments come and go, so the anti-poverty bill – now before a legislative committee – would be a tool to hold politicians to account.
Source:

March 26, 2009
"(...) The Poverty Reduction Strategy' target is to reduce the number of children living in poverty by 25 per cent over the next 5 years. All low-income families with children would see the benefits of this strategy, which would help lift 90,000 children out of poverty. The government, however, cannot do this alone. Meeting this goal depends on having a willing partner in the federal government, as well as a growing economy.
- incl. info on enhancements to the Ontario Child Benefit (OCB), tax relief for families and individuals, a new youth opportunities strategy, community hubs, Social Assistance rate increases and review of social assistance "with the goal of removing barriers and increasing opportunity — with a particular focus on people trying to move into employment from social assistance."
(Hmmmm - the terminology used here reminds me of the way Mike Harris used to describe his hand-up-not-handout-USA-Jobs-First-style-Common-Sense-Revolution approach - Gilles.)
- also incl. info on support for housing, Ontario's minimum wage, a new Deprivation Index for Ontario, the Poverty Reduction Act, and initiatives the McGuinty government has introduced since 2003-04 to support low-income families and individuals
Source:

[ ]

From the :

March 20, 2009
Ontario is doing more to support low income families facing challenging economic times. The government is proposing to increase the Ontario Child Benefit this July, from $600 to a maximum of $1,100 per child per year. The Ontario Child Benefit helps 1.3 million children by giving moms and dads monthly support. Ontario is also planning to increase its investment in social and affordable housing to create short-term jobs in construction and renovation while improving the lives of people with low-incomes. Working with the federal government, Ontario would renovate 50,000 social housing units and build 4,500 new affordable housing units through a joint investment of $1.2 billion.
Source:

(OCB)
The Ontario Child Benefit is financial support that low-income families can receive to help provide for their children. It’s also the centrepiece of Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. About 465,000 families with 960,000 children receive a monthly Ontario Child Benefit payment each month. That’s up to $50 per child each month, increasing to up to $67 per child each month as of July 2009.
Source:

***********
Related links:
***********

Child benefit increases to $1,100 yearly to ease the economic fallout
March 21, 2009
By Tanya Talaga
The Ontario child benefit available to low-income families will nearly double to $1,100 a year beginning in July, Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday. The Liberals had planned on increasing the monthly child benefit by 2011 as part of their anti-poverty reduction strategy, but accelerated the payout to help families during the economic downturn, he told a news conference at the Cabbagetown Youth Centre. The government promised four months ago to reduce child poverty by 25 per cent in five years, but said that federal funding and a strong economy were required to reach the target. Anti-poverty advocates have been watching closely to see whether the Liberals, facing a projected $18 billion deficit over two years, will deliver. Yesterday's announcement increases the maximum child benefit to $92 from $50 per child, per month. About 465,000 families with a total of 960,000 children receive a monthly payment, with the maximum annual benefit currently $600. The maximum benefit is available to families earning less than $20,000 a year.
Source:

March 20, 2009
Commitments made by Premier Dalton McGuinty today to invest in two important poverty reduction initiatives bode well for all Ontarians, says the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction.
NOTE: the following links are copied from the above blog posting:
Media and community responses
to the Ontario Government announcement:
* - The Wellesley Institute
* - CBC.ca
* - Toronto Star
* - CTV.ca
* - Association of Municipalities of Ontario
Source:

March 20, 2009
By Michael Shapcott
Ontario has made a substantial down payment to meet the housing needs of tens of thousands of people who are precariously housed or homeless. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and housing minister Jim Watson have announced plans today to invest $624.5 million over the next two years in affordable housing initiatives. When combined with matching federal dollars, it amounts to more than $1.2 billion. (...) Today’s provincial housing announcement meets the first priority set out by the Wellesley Institute in our 2009 budget recommendations to the Government of Ontario, which was to fully match federal affordable housing dollars. But provincial housing investments still lag behind the deep and persistent need across the province, and Ontario is lagging behind provides such as Alberta [see below] in making commitments for urgently needed new housing investments.
Source:

[ ]

December 2008
By John Stapleton
Brief overview of 10 significant poverty reduction initiatives in Ontario, from the First Upper Canada Statute in 1792 to the 2008 Poverty Reduction Strategy.
Source:
(John Stapleton's website)

From :

March 18, 2009
By Don Drummond (Chief Economist, TD Bank Financial Group)
and John Stapleton (Metcalf Foundation Fellow)
Our welfare system provides Ontarians with a false sense of security. Many assume it has been designed to offer temporary protection to individuals who are ineligible for Employment Insurance, or no longer able to participate in this program. But this so-called safety net has some large holes. It does not catch all those it should. And the ones it does catch often become entangled in the web, finding it difficult to get back out. In short, it has a way of keeping the destitute down. (...) We have argued that the asset limits for welfare eligibility need to be raised substantially. A particular aspect of this is to exempt certain amounts in Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) and the new Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs). The Ontario government has an opportunity to do this in its March 26 budget. It would be an important step forward in its poverty reduction strategy. (...) The end game is to provide temporary support for individuals who lose their job and then help them get back into the labour market as soon as possible, when the economy turns around. Under present welfare rules we are destined to repeat the patterns of the past when too few are protected and those who are become entangled. By creating a better future for those who need it most, the government can help make sure we don’t repeat history.

Editorial
March 17, 2009
When Premier Dalton McGuinty committed to reduce poverty, just four months ago, his plan spoke passionately about alleviating the suffering of families living in poverty and, in doing so, improving the economic future for all Ontarians. The need is even greater now. Yet, just days before the provincial budget that could elevate the plan from nice words to concrete action, there are troubling signs that the government is backing off...

Timely investments will reduce poverty but also stimulate local economies
March 17, 2009
By Sarah Blackstock, Pat Capponi and Janet Gasparini
"(...)These are challenging economic times and, historically, it has been during such dark moments that previous governments did the most for the poor and the jobless. Abandoning the poor during an economic downturn is not the kind of leadership Ontarians envision for their government. Now is not a time for cold feet. It is a time for bold action.Now, more than ever, we turn to our government to meet its commitment."
(Sarah Blackstock is a policy analyst with the . Pat Capponi is facilitator of . Janet Gasparini is chair of the .)

[ See also : ]

March 13, 2009
By Joanna Smith
OTTAWA–The economic crisis could disrupt an Ontario government strategy to reduce child poverty by 25 per cent over the next five years, provincial Children and Youth Services Minister Deb Matthews said yesterday. (...) The provincial government released its anti-poverty blueprint – which aims to lift 90,000 Ontario children above the poverty line by 2014 – last December. Matthews says she has always been upfront about its dependence on economic growth and co-operation from all three levels of government. Matthews said worsened economic conditions could result in an interruption in implementing the strategy but insisted the government can still succeed. "I am optimistic we can achieve it and I can assure you that kids will be better off as a result of this strategy regardless of the economy," she said.

---

Ottawa gave province fiscal breathing room but did little to help poor and unemployed
Opinion
March 4, 2009
By John Stapleton, Janet Gasparini and Neethan Shan
Two important questions faced Ontario's poverty reduction plan after its December release:
- How much further would Ontario's economy deteriorate?
- What would the federal government do in its winter budget to support Ontario's goal to reduce poverty by 25 per cent in the next five years?
Well, we now have the answers. Ontario lost 71,000 of the 129,000 jobs lost in Canada in January 2009. And Ottawa intends to do just about nothing at all about poverty. (...) It's disappointing, to say the least, that the federal government chose to ignore its important role in supporting provincial moves to reduce poverty. But Ontario's finance minister still has plenty of options to demonstrate his own government means business when it comes to reducing poverty. There is no doubt that we live in difficult times and the economic parallels to the Great Depression are striking. But unlike the 1930s, we do not need to wait for years before we do something about it.

News Release
February 25, 2009
For the first-time ever, Ontario has introduced poverty reduction legislation that, if passed, would ensure that successive governments remain focused on the fight against poverty. As part of Breaking the Cycle: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, the proposed Poverty Reduction Act would:
* Require successive governments to report annually on key indicators of opportunity – these will typically include income levels, school success, health care and housing.
* Mandate future governments to consult widely before developing future strategies, including consultation with those living in poverty.
* Require Ontario to develop a new strategy at least every five years.
* Require future governments to set a specific poverty reduction target every five years.
Source:

February 25, 2009
- incl. links to the complete Bill, the news release, background information, the province's December 2008 poverty reduction strategy report and more...

Fact Sheet, February 25, 2009
The following changes to social assistance rules (taking effect between March and May) are designed "to help recipients pursue educational and employment opportunities and improve their lives and the lives of their children."
* Enhancement of earnings exemptions rules for social assistance recipients who are full-time post-secondary students.
* Enhancement of the Up-front Child Care Benefit paid to social assistance recipients who are required to pay in advance for child care costs when they begin or change jobs or work-related activities.
* The process of internal reviews regarding a decision made affecting clients' assistance will be improved.

Related links:

February 26, 2009
By Tanya Talaga and Laurie Monsebraaten
The provincial government's anti-poverty legislation was hailed yesterday as a historic step forward, but one that critics said lacked both direction and funds. The Liberals' long-anticipated bill to reduce child poverty by 25 per cent in five years was derided by critics as being full of loopholes and lacking direction when record numbers of people are using food banks.
Source:

From the :

Toronto, February 25, 2008
Making poverty reduction the law in Ontario is an important step towards achieving a poverty free Ontario, says the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction. But government must take concrete next steps that extend poverty reduction targets to all Ontarians over the next decade, and to make investments now to meet its initial target. “Legislation is critical to ensuring that poverty reduction becomes central to the Ontario government’s agenda. That’s why we need to get it right from the beginning.” said Greg deGroot-Maggetti of the Mennonite Central Committee. “We need a process to make sure the legislation that gets enacted is as strong as possible to ensure ongoing progress toward a poverty free Ontario, backed by broad public support and all-party endorsement.” [ ]

A Blueprint for Economic Stimulus and Poverty Reduction in Ontario – the result of consultations in 30 Ontario communities – lays out a plan that could reduce the number of poor Ontarians by 197,420 (15 per cent) and reduce the number of poor children in Ontario by 62,000 (19 per cent) within the next three years.
- incl. links to the press release and the full blueprint.

Press Release
February 12, 2009
TORONTO – Without government action, the lack of adequate income security programs could plunge Ontarians suffering the worst of the current recession into dire straits, says a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).Silence of the Lines: Poverty Reduction Strategies and the Crash of 2008 shows how the economic downturn is already worse than the Great Depression but predicts different results for Ontarians who end up down on their luck.
Source:
Ontario Alternative Budget
[ ]

Complete report:

(PDF - 135K, 5 pages)
By John Stapleton
"(...) people who once could successfully apply for welfare during a rough patch (along with all the people turned away from EI) are going to be turned away at the welfare office. The reason for this is that since the last major recession, governments have brought in four significant sets of changes:
• Lower social assistance rates;
• Much lower assets limits;
• Earning exemptions policies that do not apply to new applicants; and
• ‘Workfare’ — now called ‘community participation’.
The confluence of these four sets of changes has not been tested in a recession but when the ‘new poor’ make a welfare application, they will be turned down to live off lower paid jobs or their dwindling savings. When they re-apply later on, they will be told that ‘any job is a good job’ and will be pointed in the direction of the relatively plentiful low paid jobs that will be available.

Related link:

- John Stapleton's personal website
John is a Policy Fellow with the Metcalf Foundation and St. Christopher House in Toronto.

News Release
February 12, 2009
TORONTO – A report by the 25 in 5 Poverty Reduction Network shows how the Ontario government could get three-quarters of the way towards its goal to reduce child poverty by 25 per cent. A Blueprint for Economic Stimulus and Poverty Reduction in Ontario – the result of consultations in 30 Ontario communities – lays out a plan that could reduce the number of poor Ontarians by 197,420 (15 per cent) and reduce the number of poor children in Ontario by 62,000 (19 per cent) within the next three years.

Complete report:

(PDF - 157K, 28 pages)
February 2009

*
* (Sheila Block of the OFL wrote the report)

Related link:

February 12, 2009
By Laurie Monsebraaten
If Premier Dalton McGuinty wants to protect Ontario's faltering economy, he should give more money to people like René Adams so she can buy her daughters healthy food and pay for swimming lessons, poverty activists say. The Toronto single mother, who volunteers at a local food bank while she looks for full-time work, says every extra penny she receives goes back into the local economy. (...) In addition to cutting poverty, putting money into the hands of those who need it most is the best way to stimulate the economy at a time of global economic uncertainty, says a report by the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction. (...) The proposed economic stimulus and poverty reduction package calls on Ontario to spend $5 billion over the next two years to beef up welfare and other social supports and build new child-care spaces and social housing units.
Source:

February 9, 2009
Falling on the heels of the release of Ontario’s landmark poverty reduction strategy, Sick and Tired paints a grim picture of the health of the province’s poorest residents. This new report from the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto, University of Toronto’s Social Assistance in the New Economy Project and the Wellesley Institute documents the compromised health of social assistance recipients and the working poor in Ontario. It includes practical and pragmatic recommendations to strengthen the province’s poverty reduction plan, address the increased burden of ill health among poor people in Ontario, and promote equitable access to health services in Ontario. In addition, many of our recommended actions will promote much-needed economic stimulus as an antidote to Ontario’s struggling economy and promote cost savings in the health care system. This is a companion to our research, released in December, which looks at the health status of poor people across Canada and is called Poverty Is Making Us Sick (link below).
Partners:
*
*
*

Complete report:

(PDF - 5.3MB, 35 pages)
February 2009

Related links:

(PDF - 522K, 39 pages)
By Ernie Lightman Ph.D, Andrew Mitchell and Beth Wilson
December 2008
Source:

From :

:
Report considers ways province can help solve chronic health problems affecting poor Ontarians
February 9, 2009
By Laurie Monsebraaten
Queen's Park should boost welfare payments and improve access to disability assistance for Ontarians who can't work for health reasons as a remedy for chronic health problems among the poor, according to a report produced by the Community Social Planning Council, with the University of Toronto and the Wellesley Institute. People on welfare are 10 times more likely to have attempted suicide than those living on middle- or upper-incomes, notes the report, which is to be released today.

Editorial
February 10, 2009
Money may not buy happiness, but it does do wonders for your health. A new study – by the Community Social Planning Council, University of Toronto and the Wellesley Institute – has drawn a direct link between poverty and ill health. Ontarians on welfare suffer from diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, mood disorders and other chronic ailments at up to four times the rate of middle- or upper-income earners. Such findings are always disturbing, but given the current economic downturn, there's even greater cause for concern over this study.

What's new from The Socialist Project:

January 3, 2009
By Peter Graefe
"(...)what should we make of the McGuinty strategy, and of the 25in5 campaign around it? Is a strategy of positive engagement a wise one for making gains, or will it only deliver thin gruel?"

Also from The Socialist Project:

December 8, 2008
By John Clarke
Now that the crisis of the financial markets has become a crisis of the 'real' economy, it is obvious that those who already face poverty (or live on the edge of it) will be hit extraordinarily hard in the days ahead. Over the last three decades, social programs that served to partially redistribute wealth or limit the disciplinary power of unemployment on the working class were massively reduced. With this 'social safety net' seriously compromised, we can expect a rapid and deep process of impoverishment to take effect as the downturn unfolds. The scale and severity of this will pose major challenges but open up huge possibilities in terms of mobilizing poor communities.

Source:

At a meeting in Toronto in the fall of 2000, some 750 activists responded to a call to “rebuild the left” by developing a structured movement against capitalism. (...) The Socialist Project does not propose an easy politics for defeating capitalism or claim a ready alternative to take its place. We oppose capitalism out of necessity and support the resistance of others out of solidarity. This resistance creates spaces of hope, and an activist hope is the first step to discovering a new socialist politics.

- 200+ online resources for social activists!

December 24, 2008
John Stapleton
With the adoption of , Ontario plans to reduce child poverty by 25 per cent in five years. It will be tough for the Ontario government to meet this commitment as poverty usually increases during recessions and welfare caseloads grow. Poverty and its attendant costs increase a lot in major recessions. Just like the Great Depression, we started the present recession with a liquidity crisis, a debt bubble and a crisis in confidence. By 1932, Ontario's relief expenditures had tripled while old age pension costs had doubled. Governments are now bracing for a new onslaught but we will not see these spectacular cost increases in the current recession.
Source:

December 16, 2008
1. Ontario turns corner on more than a decade of poor bashing, says Pat Capponi
2. Poverty Plan Lays Foundation for Action, Budget investments must be next step
3. TAKE ACTION: Investments key in the 2009 Ontario budget
4. Regulating Temp Agencies - Good News for Temp Workers, says Workers Action Centre
5. Hardship of welfare getting harder, Ontario’s welfare incomes falling behind
6. Red letter day for poverty reduction: selected media and partner links
7. Thank you: More than 1,500 endorse 25 in 5 Declaration for Poverty Reduction
Source:

December 17, 2008
In a (PDF - 207K, 4 pages), CPJ calls on the government to present a "visionary stimulus package" as part of the Federal Budget anticipated for January 27, 2009.

(PDF - 329K, 7 pages)
Pre-Budget Consultations
August, 2008

Source:

(Word file - 43K, 1 page)
December 5, 2008
While welcoming the government’s poverty reduction strategy and its plan to review social assistance, the ODSP Action Coalition encourages the government to include a greater focus on people with disabilities. People with disabilities experience higher rates of poverty than the general population. “I was disappointed when I looked at the page of the government’s strategy that related to people with disabilities and found no new supports to help me get out of poverty,” says Terrie Meehan, an activist with the Coalition. The strategy indicates that the government will be undertaking a review of social assistance, which includes the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). The Coalition would like to see the review focus not only on supporting people to move from ODSP into the workforce but also how to make the program easier to access and more responsive to the individual needs of people with disabilities.
Source:
[ODSP = Ontario Disability Support Program]

December 8, 2008
By Noor Javed, Tanya Talaga, Laurie Monsebraaten
A look at the expectations and outcomes of key issues highlighted in Ontario's new anti-poverty plan.
- includes what advocates wanted, what they got and the reaction in each of the following areas : welfare - communities - employment - chid care
Source:

December 5, 2008
The Poverty Reduction Strategy announced this week has been scaled down from a “poverty reduction strategy” to a “child poverty reduction strategy”. Single people on welfare and disability will see no benefit whatsoever from the new plan. The strategy claims it will reduce child poverty by 25% in 5 years but, people on social assistance will continue to get poorer.
Source:

OCAP is a direct-action anti-poverty organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We mount campaigns against regressive government policies as they affect poor and working people.

December 8, 2008
By John Clarke
In poor communities, this [current economic] crisis comes after a long process of pushing them down during the decades of neoliberalism. There is already anger and the realization that bad is going to get much worse – and it will make large numbers of people look for answers. The issue is to demonstrate in practical forms of organized resistance that these worsening conditions are not unstoppable and inevitable. That is the starting point for a movement that can respond to this crisis and pose a bold anti-capitalist vision of what it is fighting for.
Source:
(Author John Clarke is with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty)

At a meeting in Toronto in the fall of 2000, some 750 activists responded to a call to “rebuild the left” by developing a structured movement against capitalism. ()

On December 4, 2008, the Government of Ontario committed itself to
reducing the number of children living in poverty by 25 per cent over the next 5 years.

The Strategy Paper:
(PDF - 1.3MB, 45 pages)
December 4, 2008
Chapter 1: Stronger, Healthier Kids and Families
Chapter 2: Stronger, Healthier Communities
Chapter 3: Opportunity for All
Chapter 4: Smarter Government
Chapter 5: Measuring Our Progress
Chapter 6: Moving Forward
Chapter 7: The Federal Role
Chapter 8: The Municipal Role
Chapter 9: All Hands on Deck

-------------------------------------------------------------

Bill 152, Poverty Reduction Act, 2009

(358K, 6 pages)
Tabled by the Hon. Deborah Matthews, Minister of Children and Youth Services
February 25, 2009

- Explanatory Note extracted from the Bill as introduced

Second Reading copy:

(PDF - 349K, 10 pages)
April 28, 2009
Second reading copy, changes annotated

Source:

- this is the Ontario Government's poverty reduction website.
- intro and links to : * The Vision * Where We've Been * Our Strategy * Targets and Measures * Ontario Child Benefit * Education and Early Learning * Stronger Communities * Smarter Government * Long-Term Commitment
[ ]
[ ]

News Release
December 4, 2008
- includes a backgrounder with more info and a selection of reactions to the paper from individuals and organizations mostly drawn from the Toronto social advocacy / social justice community, but also including notable reviewers as the mayor of Toronto, Roy Romanow and Don Drummond (V-P of TD Financial Group). Now THAT's buy-in.
Source:

---

Related links from the :

December 5, 2008
By Laurie Monsebraaten and Tanya Talaga
Anti-poverty activists are cheering Ontario's ambitious $1.4 billion plan to cut child poverty by 25 per cent in five years, but vow to ensure the Liberal government lives up to its promise. "This is a fundamental first step that should be applauded. We should say: Congratulations. Thank you. Now let's get down to implementing it," said Toronto United Way President Frances Lankin. That may be easier said than done...

Editorial
December 5, 2008
Ontario has taken a vital step toward breaking that cycle with a focused poverty reduction strategy. Announced yesterday, it seeks to reduce child poverty by 25 per cent within 5 years. That mean 90,000 children and their families would escape poverty.Unfortunately, the strategy is far too dependent on the willingness of Ottawa to contribute an additional $1.5 billion a year to boost the federal child tax benefit and the working income benefit.

Reduce child poverty by one-quarter in five years
December 4, 2008
The Ontario government will promise today to reduce child poverty by 25 per cent within the next five years – a target activist groups say is critical to a meaningful poverty strategy. The Liberal government, led by Children and Youth Minister Deb Matthews, is expected this afternoon to deliver its much-anticipated strategy on how to improve the lives of needy Ontarians.

December 3, 2008
By Carol Goar
As economic times darken and the poorest feel the pinch, relief might be on the way with the introduction tomorrow of Ontario's long-awaited poverty reduction plan. Tomorrow is the day poverty activists have worked for, fought for and longed for. But it comes with a daunting challenge. Nothing in the poverty reduction plan the Ontario government is set to unveil will help the tens of thousands of Ontarians who are skimping on food, facing eviction and staring at layoff notices right now.

---

Related links from Poverty Watch Ontario:

Re. welfare review:
"Today the government announced it will undertake a review of social assistance with the goal of reducing barriers and increasing opportunity. (...) As an initial step, signaling the direction of the government’s promised social assistance review, the plan will immediately change three rules which function as barriers for people on social assistance.
* First, the plan pledges to fully exempt the earnings of any person on social assistance participating in post-secondary education.
* The second change extends the upfront child care benefits to allow parents to continue their participation in employment and employment assistance activities.
* The third change is an extension of the time to request internal reviews of social assistance decisions from ten to thirty days
Source:

December 4, 2008
"TORONTO - Ontario is on track to becoming a leader in poverty reduction in a plan that is not only crucial to the province’s economic recovery but is also the right thing to do, says the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction. (...)
- “Today, Ontario is turning a corner on poverty,” says Pat Capponi of Voices from the Street.
- “Today’s announcement signals an understanding that poverty reduction is smart economics,” says Jacquie Maund, Campaign 2000 Ontario Coordinator.
- “Thousands of Ontarians asked for a plan with targets, timelines and accountability. The government listened,” says 25 in 5 spokesperson Cindy Wilkey.
- “We expect poverty reduction to become a central feature in the next five provincial budgets - and the 25 in 5 Network will continue to hold our government to its promise to make this plan a reality,” says Peter Clutterbuck, executive director, Social Planning Network of Ontario.

December 4, 2008
The 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction is a multi-sectoral coalition of more than 350 provincial and Toronto-based organizations and individuals working to eliminate poverty. In October 2008, the 25 in 5 Network produced Five Tests for Success of Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. See how the Ontario plan matches up to each of the five tests.

(PDF - 252K, 4 pages)
PDF file dated October 2008

Source:
("To monitor and inform on cross-Ontario activity on the poverty reduction agenda")
Poverty Watch Ontario is keeping an eye on the provincial poverty reduction consultations and poverty reduction events in Ontario.
Poverty Watch Ontario is a joint venture of , , and the .

Coalition releases innovative plan to address housing poverty
[missing link]
News Release
November 17, 2008
TORONTO – A coalition of private, public and non-profit housing associations, community organizations, academics, and foundations released a proposal today for a new housing benefit for low-income Ontarians. The proposal, outlined in A Housing Benefit for Ontario: One Housing Solution for a Poverty Reduction Strategy, recommends a new income benefit that will help low-income, working age renters with high shelter costs in communities across Ontario. The proposal would add a necessary affordable housing component to Ontario’s highly anticipated Poverty Reduction Strategy, expected in December.

(PDF - 255K, 30 pages)
November 2008
"(...)The proposed benefit pays an average of $103 per month to an estimated 66,000 families and 129,000 individual and couple households. The amount of the benefit is based on a formula that pays 75% of shelter costs between a floor and a ceiling that varies by community size. The housing benefit is reduced as income rises."

(PDF - 57K, 2 pages)

(PDF - 44K, 5 pages)

Source:
Proposal submitted to the Province of Ontario by a coalition of industry and community organizations:

Greater Toronto Apartments Association (no website found)

November 17, 2008
With 2 weeks until the December deadline, 25 in 5 goes on the road
1. Quote of the week: Too Much Poverty, Too Few Solutions Letting Our Young People Down
2. Leadership in Hard Times: 25 in 5 Network launches 22-city tour to promote poverty reduction
3. Three ways you can make a difference for poverty reduction, including DEADLINE TODAY to appear before pre-budget consultations in Toronto
4. Governments can use crisis to repair and rebuild infrastructure while fighting poverty, says economist Armine Yalnizyan
5. Five provinces and counting on poverty reduction, is Manitoba next?
Source:
To monitor and inform on cross-Ontario activity on the poverty reduction agenda

------------------------------------------------

Three weeks until the December deadline, three imperatives on why we must act
November 11, 2008
1. Quote of the week: everyone has a role to play, but government must lead on poverty reduction, says Niagara Bishop
2. Why we must act now: the social, political and economic imperatives for poverty reduction
3. Three ways to make a difference between now and the December deadline
Source:
To monitor and inform on cross-Ontario activity on the poverty reduction agenda

(PDF - 307K, 13 pages)
November 2008
By Trish Hennessy
"(...) Between September 24 and October 21, 2008 Environics Research conducted a national poll of 2,023 Canadians for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. This report represents the responses provided by Ontarians, and it tells a story of economic worry and of resolve: Ontarians say now is the time for governments to make us proud and take clear steps to reduce poverty in our provinces."
Source:

September 16, 2008
GODERICH — The economic slowdown that is hitting Ontario especially hard will likely mean the province will have to delay its promised anti-poverty plan. Premier Dalton McGuinty says the economy and its impact on the province's revenues and future spending plans was a main topic at a Liberal caucus retreat in Goderich.
Source:

Related link:

September 16, 2008
TORONTO - A coalition of over 100 organizations across Ontario (see the next item below from Poverty Watch Ontario) are urging Premier Dalton McGuinty to follow through on his promise to actively and comprehensively address poverty in this province. "The threat of an economic downturn makes leadership on poverty reduction more important than ever," said 25 in 5 spokesperson Jacquie Maund, of Ontario Campaign 2000. "And it's a signal that we can't afford to delay implementation of a plan."
Source:
(formerly Canada Newswire)

Media Release
September 8, 2008
TORONTO - If Ontario is going to seriously tackle poverty it must invest in a comprehensive multi-year plan, not just a set of quick fixes. That’s the message that government MPPs heard in more than 50 community consultations on poverty reduction over the summer, according to a new report by the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction.

The report:

(PDF - 101K, 15 pages)
September 8, 2008

Source:

Poverty Watch Ontario is a joint initiative of the Social Planning Network of Ontario, Ontario Campaign 2000 and the Income Security Advocacy Centre. These organizations have partnered since early 2008 to promote a cross-Ontario community dialogue on a poverty reduction strategy for the province.

Related links:

25-in-5: Network for Poverty Reduction is a multi-sectoral network comprised of more than 100 provincial and Toronto-based organizations and individuals working on eliminating poverty. (...) We are asking our government for a plan to reduce Ontario poverty levels by 25% in 5 years and by 50% before 2018

The Social Planning Network of Ontario (SPNO) is a coalition of social planning councils (SPC), community development councils (CDC), resource centres, and planning committees located in various communities throughout Ontario.

Ontario Campaign 2000 is a provincial partner in Campaign 2000, with 66 member organizations across the province.
[ ]

The Income Security Advocacy Centre works with and on behalf of low income communities in Ontario to address issues of income security and poverty.

From the :

"(...) Members will work to develop poverty indicators and targets, and a focused strategy for reducing child poverty and lifting more families out of poverty. The goal of this committee is to make progress in the fight against poverty over the course of the government's four-year mandate."

New from the :

News Release
August 19, 2008
The Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB) released a new report today, entitled Our Choice for a Better Ontario, in response to a call for submissions from the provincial government's Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction. The report sets a goal of cutting poverty in half by 2020 through a renewed investment by the federal and provincial governments.

Complete report:

(PDF - 1.4MB, 64 pages)
August 2008 (PDF file date)
"(...) Our challenge is great. Hunger and poverty disproportionately affects certain populations and places in Ontario. Ontario’s economy is also in a period of significant transition. Hundreds of thousands of Ontarians lack the basics of life, including food, shelter, and education. We believe that our universal goal must be to cut poverty in half by 2020, with a focus on reducing the deepest poverty. In order to meet this goal, we have established twelve supportive goals focusing on key sectors, people, and places. "
- goals cover the following areas:
* Housing * Education * Financial Inclusion * Employment & Enterprise * Energy * Health * Neighbourhoods and communities * New Canadians * Single parents * First Nations * Ontarians with Disabilities * Children
Source:

The Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB) is the umbrella organization for food banks across the province, representing over 100 members in communities across Ontario.

Related link:

Low-fee credit unions for the poor and a plan to help low-income households pay for heat and hydro are among a broad series of initiatives needed to fight poverty in Ontario, say the province's food banks in a report released recently. Cutting poverty in half by 2020 would lift more than half a million Ontarians out of poverty and should be the McGuinty government's "commitment of a generation," says the report by the Ontario Association of Food Banks.
Source:

September 2, 2008

- Go to the Food Banks and Hunger Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/foodbkmrk.htm

(PDF - 954K, 58 pages)
Andrea Baldwin/John Stapleton/Don Drummond
July, 2008
Source:

NOTE : you'll find more TD Economics reports on the home page (the link in the previous line)

Related link:

But provincial rules blunt the impact of new tax-free savings plan for people on welfare
July 25, 2008
For eight straight years, the number of welfare recipients in Ontario has remained unchanged, with an approximate caseload of 200,000. This puts into question the current system's ability to effectively transition high-risk groups, including working-age adults, to the labour force. There are enormous social costs to bear when such a large number of people rely on the welfare system. It can place serious strains on recipients, their families and the communities they live in. However, enabling individuals to become self-reliant is not just a social imperative – it's also an economic priority. That's because, in an era of tight labour markets, our province relies on a greater participation in the workforce. We all have something to gain when an individual makes the successful journey from welfare to work.
Source:

From the (March 25, 2008):

The government’s Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction, chaired by the Honourable Deb Matthews, Minister of Children and Youth Services, will focus on expanding opportunities for those living in poverty. It will develop a focused poverty reduction strategy with measures, indicators and reasonable targets by the end of 2008. The Committee will review how best to organize and align the current system of supports to ensure more effective investment and more efficient administration. The government will work with communities and other governments to expand opportunity for all Ontarians and reduce poverty over the long term.
- includes info on the following early initiatives under the Poverty Reduction Strategy : * Dental Care for Low-Income Families * Student Nutrition Program * Parenting and Family Literacy Centres * Making Education More Affordable
Source:
- also includes info on : * Investing in Social Housing * Asset-Building Strategy for Low-Income Ontarians * Increased Support for Social Assistance * Minimum Wage * Senior Homeowners’ Property Tax Grants * Ontario Property and Sales Tax Credits for Seniors * more...

(chart and descriptive text)
"(...) proposing to increase the basic adult allowance and maximum shelter allowance by two per cent in 2008–09."

Source:

From the

by John Clarke
June 30, 2008
"(...)Clearly, the present round of Ontario Government consultations on poverty can't be wished away. It is dominating the political landscape in Ontario at the moment. In OCAP, we deplore this fact but have to recognize it. At present, we can only present our point of view and realize that we are not able to transfer community energy from talking with Liberals to mobilizing against them. However, there is one obvious limitation to the government's consultation strategy. At a certain point, the talking has to stop and the results of the process must be revealed. At that time, the striking lack of progress on poverty reduction is going to hit people in the face."
Source:

The Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG) is an independent research and media group of writers, scholars, journalists and activists. Based in Montreal, the CRG is a registered non profit organization in the province of Quebec.

[ ]

Related link:

OCAP is a direct-action anti-poverty organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We mount campaigns against regressive government policies as they affect poor and working people.
[John Clarke, author of the above article, is with OCAP.]

From the (Toronto):

(PDF - 980K, 116 pages)
Spring 2008
This manual has been developed to assist facilitators to hold community-based workshops with low income people and other community members active in ending poverty. The workshop is designed to encourage discussion about what is needed to end poverty in Ontario, and to identify actions that can be taken within your community. (...) Campaign 2000 and ISAC will be working with community partners to deliver these workshops in Thunder Bay, Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Owen Sound, Windsor, and Toronto, and will be producing a “Call to Action” report at the end of 2008 for government and the community.
NOTE : On the , you'll find links to the Word version of individual sections of the manual, along with over three dozen more Public Education Materials, Policy Papers and Legal Documents
Source:
A joint project of the Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) and (a cross-Canada public education movement to build Canadian awareness and support for the 1989 all-party House of Commons resolution to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000.)

(PDF - 36K, 2 pages)
- May 2008

(Word file - 60K, 3 pages)
- May 2008

(Word file - 49K, 2 pages)
- May 2008

(PDF - 32K, 1 page)
- April 2008

Source:
(ISAC)
ISAC was established in 2001 by Legal Aid Ontario to serve low income Ontarians by conducting test case and Charter litigation relating to provincial and federal income security programs.. (...) ISAC's legal work takes place in the broader context of law reform, public legal education and community development.

Related links:

25-in-5: Network for Poverty Reduction is a multi-sectoral network comprised of more than 100 provincial and Toronto-based organizations and individuals working on eliminating poverty. We have organized ourselves around the call for a Poverty Reduction Plan with a goal to reduce poverty in Ontario by 25% in 5 years and 50% in 10 years.
Source:

From :

Ontario :
June 10, 2008
(...) Some 1.3 million Ontarians live in poverty and the Liberals have promised to have a poverty-reduction strategy – and targets to measure the government's progress – in place by year's end. Ontarians had their first chance to publicly air their views on the government's plans at three meetings yesterday across the city of Toronto attended by Liberal MPPs.

June 7, 2008
Laurie Monsebraaten
A provocative new book argues you can't do anything for yourself when you're being swarmed by bees. It's just an analogy, but author and philosopher Charles Karelis's take on poverty is a stinging refutation of generations of social policy.

Editorial
June 2, 2008
The late June Callwood was a tireless activist who until her death last year fought and won many battles. Her last great crusade was to eradicate child poverty in Canada. So it is fitting that her birthday today has been declared June Callwood Children's Day in Ontario. As Premier Dalton McGuinty sees it, we should take the opportunity "to commit ourselves to action."

May 23, 2008
Carol Goar
Expectations are running high. Revenues are running low. And Premier Dalton McGuinty has decreed that there will be no deficit and no tax increases. Yet Deb Matthews, who heads the cabinet committee drafting Ontario's poverty reduction strategy, is defiantly sanguine

Daily Bread Food Bank using survey to develop 'economic strain' guide for poverty in Ontario
April 19, 2008
By Laurie Monsebraaten

April 19, 2008
As the province grapples with that question, the Star asked dozens of local experts. Here are their answers.

April 16, 2008
By Joanna Smith
OTTAWA–The federal government should hurry up and define poverty so it can move on to doing something about it, said witnesses at a parliamentary committee laying the foundation for a national poverty strategy yesterday.

April 15, 2008
A disparate coalition of more than 100 individuals and anti-poverty groups has done what many thought was impossible by agreeing on the broad strokes of a poverty reduction strategy for Ontario.

Committee plans to look at Regent Park's success with education program
April 4, 2008
By Richard Brennan
OTTAWA–A parliamentary committee is setting out to establish the framework for a national poverty strategy by meeting with groups and individuals across Canada already doing their bit to help the poor. The Human Resources and Social Development Committee decided yesterday it is high time for a plan, which would ultimately require federal government approval, to tackle the growing problem.

Source:

[ ]

April 5, 2008
By Peter Clutterbuck, Social Planning Network of Ontario
Sustaining employment. Livable Incomes. Strong and supportive communities. When it comes to tackling poverty, these are the core messages that are emerging from communities across Ontario. The Social Planning Network of Ontario is currently traversing the province to build support for a bold poverty reduction vision. Local social planning members and community partners in 12 cities are bringing together Ontarians from all walks of life to discuss the best way to move forward on an anti-poverty plan.
Source:

The Social Planning Network of Ontario (SPNO) is a coalition of social planning councils (SPC), community development councils (CDC), resource centres, and planning committees located in various communities throughout Ontario. Each of the individual organizations has their own mandates but are connected in the cause of effecting change on social policies, conditions, and issues.
- incl. links to : * Home * News * Reports * Links * FAQs * About Us * Contact Us

News Release
March 17, 2008
Ontario's plan for a strong economy includes supporting low-income families so that everyone can have the opportunity to succeed in the 21st century economy.
- The government will invest $135 million over three years in a dental care plan for low-income families. (...)
- The Student Nutrition Program will be doubled with a three-year $32-million investment to expand existing services. (...)
- repairs to about 4,000 affordable housing units - another $100 million will be provided this year

Related Backgrounder:

March 17, 2008
- incl. more detailed info on the three new/enhanced initiatives in the news release above.

Related links:

(PDF file - 36K, 1 page)
Press Release
March 17, 2008
Premier’s Poverty Reduction Announcement:
“A Good Start, but a Long Way to Go”
Toronto – Calling the Premier’s Poverty Reduction announcement “a good start,” Mary Marrone, Director of Advocacy & Legal Services at ISAC, said, “But they’ve got a long way to go.” The Income Security Advocacy Centre is a specialized community legal clinic with a provincial mandate to improve the income security of people living in Ontario through test case litigation, policy advocacy and community organizing. The Premier’s office announced funding for three priority programs this morning as a ‘kickstart’ to a Poverty Reduction Strategy, expected by the end of 2008.
Source:
(ISAC)

January 21, 2008
Pre-budget consultations, including several presentations dealing with the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy.
- incl. submissions by : HUGH MACKENZIE * ONTARIO LONG TERM CARE ASSOCIATION * INCOME SECURITY ADVOCACY CENTRE * CANADIAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION * MYCHOICE.CA * CAMPAIGN 2000 * WELLESLEY INSTITUTE * CANADIAN FEDERATION OF STUDENTS-ONTARIO * ONTARIO NON-PROFIT HOUSING ASSOCIATION * 25 IN 5: NETWORK FOR POVERTY REDUCTION *TORONTO AND YORK REGION LABOUR COUNCIL * more...

(PDF - 2.4MB, 74 pages)
March 17, 2008
This report is an overview of the main issues raised by presenters during the pre-Budget consultation.

From :

Poverty Reduction requires a Jobs Strategy, says Campaign 2000
News alert
May 12, 2008
Toronto – In the face of mounting evidence on the role of the labour market in family poverty, today Campaign 2000, the coalition working to end child and family poverty, joined with the Toronto & York Region Labour Council and the Canadian Labour Congress (Ontario Region) to call for the inclusion of a good jobs strategy in the provincial Poverty Reduction Strategy. Their joint report, Work Isn’t Working for Ontario Families: The Role of Good Jobs in Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy establishes that many Ontario parents cannot achieve financial security for their families not because they can’t find work, but because they can’t find a good job.

Complete report:

(PDF - 180K, 28 pages)

25 Mar 08
The anti-poverty coalition Campaign 2000 is encouraged to see the Ontario 2008 budget include a number of measures that reflect the Government’s commitment to address poverty.

26 Feb 08
The federal budget passed up the chance to offer the almost 800,000 children living in poverty in Canada a shot at a better life, says Campaign 2000, the national coalition of over 120 partners working to end child and family poverty in Canada.

20 Jan 08
Campaign 2000 Calls for a Down Payment on Poverty Reduction in the 2008 Budget.

- from Ontario Campaign 2000
- includes links to Ontario Campaign 2000's pre-budget submission to the Ontario Standing Committee on Finance & Economic Affairs Pre-Budget Hearings(January 2008), the July 2007 discussion paper proposing a poverty reduction strategy for Ontario (see the link immediately below) and the 2006 Report card on child and family poverty in Ontario (plus links to child and family poverty reports for earlier years).

(PDF file - 396K, 14 pages)
July 2007
"This discussion paper outlines what a Poverty Reduction Strategy for Ontario should look like, based on lessons learned from success in the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions. It identifies indicators for measuring poverty, targets and timelines for poverty reduction, and outlines the key components of an action plan."
Source:

- includes links to many more poverty reduction papers from Ontario Campaign 2000.

25-in-5: Network for Poverty Reduction is a multi-sectoral network comprised of more than 100 provincial and Toronto-based organizations and individuals working on eliminating poverty. We have organized ourselves around the call for a Poverty Reduction Plan with a goal to reduce poverty in Ontario by 25% in 5 years and 50% in 10 years.

- links to websites and reports (local, provincial, national and international) on the subject of poverty reduction

Source:

War on Poverty
- links to 50+ articles and editorials about the plight of Canada's needy and possible reforms to the social programs that assist them.
Source:

(PDF file - 282K, 67 pages)
May 2006
Recommended income security reforms for Canada and Ontario:
- Reform Employment Insurance to address the significant decline in coverage of the unemployed and the related decline in access to employment supports and training.
- Create a new refundable tax benefit consisting of a basic tax credit for all low-income working-age adults and a working income supplement for low-income wage earners.
- Create a new national disability income support program for persons whose disabilities are so substantial that they are unlikely to enter the paid labour force.
- Increase the National Child Benefit to an adequate level.
- Establish an independent provincial body, with representation from labour and employers, to recommend periodic increases to the minimum wage and monitor the employment and economic effects.
- Implement an integrated child benefit platform for all low-income parents with children that pays benefits outside the social assistance system.
- Provide basic health (prescription drugs and vision care) and dental coverage to low-income workers.

Source:

MISWAA was formed in the fall of 2004 by the Toronto City Summit Alliance, a broad-based coalition of civic leaders in the Toronto region, and by St. Christopher House, a multi-service neighbourhood centre that works with low-income people in Toronto. The Task Force is a diverse group made-up of over fifty experts and leaders from major employers, policy institutes, labour unions, academia, community organizations, advocacy groups, foundations and governments, as well as individuals with first-hand knowledge of income security programs.

[ ]

- Go to the Ontario Government Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk.htm

[GO BACK TO THE TOP OF THIS PAGE]

Manitoba's Anti-Poverty Strategy

From the Government of Manitoba:

"Our goal is to continuously reduce poverty and increase social inclusion."
On May 21, 2009, Manitoba announced its poverty reduction strategy, ALL Aboard, which formalizes and builds upon poverty reduction efforts underway in the province.
- incl. links to : *ALL Aboard Report * ALL Aboard News Release * HOMEWorks! Homeless Strategy * Housing and Supports for People with Mental Illness * Contacts

---

(PDF - 562K, 8 pages)
In Manitoba, we believe that all people deserve a high quality of life and the opportunity to realize their potential.
Taking action to reduce poverty is the right thing to do.
Source:

---

Vision Sets Goals for Affordable Housing, Training, Jobs and Healthy Families: Selinger, Mackintosh
May 21, 2009
A poverty-reduction strategy called ALL Aboard, based on an annual investment of more than $744 million including $212 million of new investments, will focus on long-term solutions to help low-income Manitobans, Finance Minister Greg Selinger and Family Services and Housing Minister Gord Mackintosh announced today.Source:

---

Also from the Government of Manitoba:

May 21, 2009

Up to 2,000 Manitobans to Benefit from 285 More Mental-health Housing Units, 600 to Benefit from New Portable Housing Benefit: Ministers
A new strategy to reduce and prevent homelessness will connect homeless people and those with mental-health challenges to stable, secure housing and support services, Healthy Living Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross and Family Services and Housing Minister Gord Mackintosh said today.
The HOMEWorks! homeless strategy includes 10 new initiatives in the following program areas:
* Emergency Shelters * Outreach * Housing with Services * Prevention

For more information on Manitoba's HOMEWorks! Homeless Strategy homeless strategy, go to the home page, where you'll find links (in the right-hand margin) to:
* Homeless Shelters * Emergency Homeless Shelter Standards * The Salvation Army Project * Cold Weather Strategy * Homeless Outreach Team * Project Breakaway * Housing with Services * Portable Housing Benefit * Community Wellness Initiative * Homelessness Prevention Summit * Housing First * The Mental Health Commission of Canada * Housing and Supports for People with Mental Illness * Contacts

From :

More Than 560 Organizations, Individuals Helping Guide Priorities: Irvin-Ross, Mackintosh
April 9, 2010
The province is committing $950 million this year to fighting poverty and promoting opportunities for low-income Manitobans including more than 30 new initiatives and program enhancements, Housing and Community Development Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross and Family Services and Consumer Affairs Minister Gord Mackintosh announced today. (...) The province set its priorities for program enhancements and new initiatives under ALL Aboard based on research and discussion with stakeholders and individuals living in poverty, the minister said. At the top of the list are housing, getting Manitobans off welfare, more child care and building awareness of existing supports.

---

Up to $19-million Investment this Year Includes Phased Launch of Online Wait List, Worker Pension Plan
April 9, 2010
The province is investing up to $19 million more in Budget 2010 for new child-care centres, hundreds more spaces, the phasing in of a centralized online wait list and a pension plan for a stronger workforce, Family Services and Consumer Affairs Minister Gord Mackintosh and Education Minister Nancy Allan announced today. (...) Today’s announcement is part of the province’s ALL Aboard poverty reduction strategy.

---

Province Balancing Needs of 28,000 Minimum Wage Earners with Needs of Manitoba Businesses: Howard
April 8, 2010
The province will increase the minimum wage by 50 cents to $9.50 an hour on Oct. 1, Labour and Immigration Minister Jennifer Howard announced today. (...) The minimum wage rate last increased by 25 cents to $9 per hour on Oct. 1, 2009, following an additional 25-cent increase on May 1, 2009. (...) With this increase to the minimum wage, Manitoba will maintain its position near the middle of Canadian rates. Regular increases to the minimum wage are an important factor in reducing poverty and are part of ALL Aboard, Manitoba’s poverty reduction strategy, said the minister.

New $7.5-million Early Advance on Tuition Rebate to Assist Students Still in School, When They Need it the Most: McGifford
April 8, 2010
Manitoba continues to offer some of the most affordable, accessible and high-quality post-secondary education in the country by introducing a new student grant, improving Manitoba’s bursaries and providing earlier access to the province’s tuition rebate program, putting an extra estimated $7.5 million back into students’ pockets annually, Advanced Education and Literacy Minister Diane McGifford announced today.

April 8, 2010

(Word [.doc] file - 39K, 1 page)
April 2010
* Safe, Affordable Housing in Supportive Communities
* Education, Jobs and Income Support
* Strong, Healthy Families
* Accessible, Co-ordinated Services

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From :

Baby food or a bus pass? A TV or a telephone?
About 100,000 Manitobans make these decisions every day. They live below the poverty line. Some are the poorest of the poor in the country. Who they are and where they live will surprise you.

From March ), CBC Television, Radio and cbc.ca will explore why so many Manitobans struggle with poverty and how they survive with Not Enough Money.
------------------------------------------------
NOTE: if you click the link above and scroll to the bottom of the page that opens, you'll find "Poverty by Area", a map of the City of Winnipeg showing family income by neighbourhood throughout the city. I *should* say "...a map of Winnipeg that's SUPPOSED to show family income by neighbourhood..." because that's what a can do, according to Wikipedia. The Winnipeg map on the Not Enough Money page should be called "How NOT to do a GIS Map."
------------------------------------------------

You don't have much money, but you do have a lot of choices.

A round table on poverty.
March 26, 2010

What stakeholders and anti-poverty activists say.

Who's to say I am poor?
Looking at the three low-income measures.

Profiles
* - Refugees have a particularly hard time making ends meet.
* - Single parents are poorer than their married counterparts.
* - You can work and still be poor.
* - Earn about $10,000 a year less than those without a disability.
* - For many older Manitobans on fixed incomes the "golden years" aren't exactly brilliant.
* - Manitoba has the largest per capita Aboriginal population in Canada.

Source:

- Go to the Manitoba Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/mbkmrk.htm

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By Harvey Stevens
December 5, 2009
The recently released November 2009 (PDF - 458K, 25 pages) states that "Manitoba is once again the Child Poverty Capital of Canada, tied with British Columbia for having the highest number of citizens under the age of 18 living in poverty." It goes on to show how Manitoba has held that highest ranking for eight of the last 19 years and second highest ranking for an additional five of those years. Unfortunately, these are very misleading statistics which are extremely unfair to Manitoba because they are based on a faulty yardstick -- the pre-tax low income cutoffs (LICOs) developed by Statistics Canada more 40 years ago.
Source:

[ Harvey Stevens is a retired civil servant who worked for 18 years as a senior policy analyst with Family Services and Housing. His area of expertise is poverty measurement and income assistance policy. He tried championing the use of the MBM for setting welfare rates while in government but was unsuccessful. ]

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(PDF - 458K, 25 pages)
November 2009
All of the children living in poverty in Manitoba today were born since the members of the House of Commons passed the resolution to eliminate child poverty in 1989. (...) In Manitoba, 47,000 children live in poverty. That’s 18.8 per cent of all children, nearly one in five. Manitoba is once again the Child Poverty Capital of Canada, tied with British Columbia for having the highest number of citizens under the age of 18 living in poverty. That’s almost four percentage points above the national average.
Source:

(PDF - 75K, 2 pages)
Media Release
November 24, 2009
Winnipeg Manitoba—a report released today by the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg (SPC) shows that Manitoba has regained the title of Child Poverty Capital of Canada, with nearly 1 in 5 children living in poverty.

Related link:

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Winnipeg:

By Harry Finnigan
October 16, 2009
According to Statistics Canada, in per cent of Winnipeggers were living in poverty. That translates into almost 100,000 people in Winnipeg being affected every day by not having enough to eat, a proper place to sleep, nor the freedom to live their lives with dignity. For people younger than 18, the percentage is even higher -- 21 per cent fall below the Low Income Cutoff indicator. Though we are no longer known as "the child poverty capital of Canada," those numbers are still cause for alarm as too often it is the children who are the victims of poverty.
Source:

Related link:

The mission of the Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council is to significantly reduce poverty in Winnipeg in hopes of creating A City Where Everyone Belongs.

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(PDF - 47K, 10 pages)
By Sherri Torjman, Ken Battle and Michael Mendelson
September 2009
This report summarizes the core elements of the newly-introduced poverty reduction strategy in Manitoba . Announced on May 21, 2009, represents an annual investment of $744 million, including $212 million in new funding. To tackle the numerous factors that create and sustain poverty, the province is investing in four clusters of intervention: safe affordable housing; education, jobs and income support; strong and healthy families; and coordinated programs and services. The strategy has several elements of success: It is a whole-of-government approach rather than the effort of a single department. It invests in recognized pathways out of poverty and engages partners outside government in the diverse interventions. The strategy provides direct (albeit modest) payments to households with children to boost their incomes immediately. All Aboard includes a process to coordinate its many components and monitor its impact.
Source:

The Caledon Institute of Social Policy does rigorous, high-quality research and analysis; seeks to inform and influence public opinion and to foster public discussion on poverty and social policy; and develops and promotes concrete, practicable proposals for the reform of social programs at all levels of government and of social benefits provided by employers and the voluntary sector.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the :

(PDF - 500K, 2 pages)
June 22, 2009
On May 21st, the Manitoba government released All Aboard: Manitoba’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. The 8-page glossy document outlines some solid “values and guiding principles” that provide a foundation for a plan, as well as a list of initiatives that the NDP government has introduced since first elected in 1999. (...) However, All Aboard falls seriously short as a comprehensive plan and their “strategy” will be meaningless without a clear destination and a map to get there. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Manitoba recently released The view from here: Manitobans call for a poverty reduction plan. Our plan, developed in collaboration with Make Poverty History Manitoba and others brings together several years of research and consultation with individuals and community organizations directly involved with Manitoba’s most vulnerable citizens. Over 70 organizations representing thousands of Manitobans have now endorsed The view from here and more continue to sign on. (...) Our plan is comprehensive, and most importantly it outlines timelines and targets that, if implemented within the context of a legislated framework, would hold governments, present and future, accountable to ensuring that poverty is significantly reduced. But the Doer government has been consistently resistant to setting timelines and targets and they appear unlikely to pass supporting legislation.

Related links from CCPA:

(PDF - 1.9MB, 76 pages)
June 2009 (file dated May 21)
This report looks at the emergence of poverty reduction plans in other jurisdictions; it outlines the essential components of a meaningful poverty reduction plan; it makes the case for a made in Manitoba poverty reduction plan; it includes the latest poverty statistics for Manitoba; it proposes indicators with targets and timelines to measure progress; and it outlines a large package of policies and programs that should be at the heart of a comprehensive poverty reduction plan, highlighting items for immediate action.

- PDF File, 177K, 4 pages)
Spring 2009
This booklet offers information about elsewhere in Canada, what should be included in a poverty reduction plan for Manitoba, common elements of successful poverty reduction programs, etc.
Source:

[ ]
[ - National Office ]

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May 25, 2009
New resource from the :

Manitoba:
(PDF - 371K, 34 pages)
By Tom Carter and Chesya Polevychok, University of Winnipeg

Source:

Social Development Report Series, 2009
[ ]

Also from CCSD :

(PDF - 341K, 29 pages)
By David I. Hay, Information Partnership

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The government of Manitoba has come up with a plan to reduce poverty in the province. But the plan doesn't commit to specific timelines and targets to reduce poverty, nor does it ask for significant input from community groups or those most affected by poverty.
Source:

May 22, 2009
WINNIPEG — After years of sniping from left-wing critics that it has done too little to fight poverty, the Doer government fired back Thursday with a new "comprehensive" strategy that brought kudos from social agencies and business leaders alike. The province announced it has earmarked $212 million in new funding this year for bricks-and-mortar projects, as well as programming for low-income Manitobans.
It also signalled a change in how it deals with people with mental-health issues and addictions, placing greater emphasis on housing. The "housing first" approach means the government will try to put a roof over a person's head before offering other supports.
Source:

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(PDF - 249K, 4 pages)
September 2008
* Definitions of social exclusion
* Government strategies to address poverty and social exclusion (Europe - Canada - Newfoundland and Labrador - Québec - Ontario)
* Common features of poverty and social exclusion strategies (targets - timelines - citizen consultations - action plans/strategies - accountability and reporting - evaluation of progress)
* Why Manitoba needs a Strategy
Source:

[ ]
[ - National Office ]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May 22, 2009
United Way of Winnipeg is thrilled with a new provincial strategy to reduce poverty, announced May 21, 2009.
(...) Among the organizations acting in conjunction with ALL Aboard is the .
United Way of Winnipeg is founder of, and provides office space and technical assistance to the council.

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OOPS.
I mentioned that in the fall of 2008 that Manitoba was the second province in Canada, after Quebec, to enshrine a poverty reduction plan in legislation .
This is incorrect. In fact, Bill 226 - The Social Inclusion and Anti-Poverty Act - was tabled as a private member's bill, and the bill apparently didn't make it past second reading.
Click the link below (to the weblog of the Liberal MLA who tabled the private member's bill) for the transcript of the second reading debate.
[Gilles]

(Blog entry)
[NOTE: the debate on Bill 226 takes up the first half of the transcript]
"[On] May 22, Manitoba Liberals introduced Bill 226 The Social Inclusion and Anti-Poverty Act for second reading. Sadly the NDP were not supportive of a major provincial effort and plan to reduce poverty in Manitoba by half by 2012..."
- click the link above to read the transcript of the debate in the Manitoba Legislature.
TIP: if you take the time to read the transcript, I guarantee you'll find many nuggets of valuable program information!
Source:

[ ]

------------------------------------------

$4.3 Million to Support Manitobans to Move Into Jobs, Increase Shelter Welfare Rates
May 6, 2008
"(...) Adding to the $27.6-million commitment made last year, the extra $4.3 million in new Rewarding Work initiatives will help people with disabilities, single parents and other low-income people"...
- includes the following:
* Effective 07/08, increases to shelter rates and rooming house rates directly from the Manitoba Shelter Benefit (see the link below)
* Effective 11/08, Rewarding Work Rent Allowance, a $50-per-month benefit to help non-disabled single adults and couples without children pay their rent after they leave welfare for work.
* Effective 02/09, Get Started! - a one-time benefit (ranging from $175 to $325, depending on the case classification) will be paid to people who leave welfare for work to help them pay for costs related to starting a new job.
* Effective 12/08, the Rewarding Work Health Plan will be provided to single parents and persons with disabilities who leave welfare for work; it extends coverage for prescription drugs and dental and optical services for up to two full years after people leave assistance.
(...)
Rewarding Work is part of the province’s anti-poverty strategy [bolding added], which includes Family Choices, Housing First and HOMEWorks, substantially increased education funding, increases to the minimum wage and other related measures to ensure that everyone can take advantage of the growing economy."

Manitoba’s Rewarding Work is a four-year Manitoba strategy to address poverty by giving people hope and dignity through employment. Rewarding Work programs will provide benefits to low-income working families. They will also help Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) [welfare] participants move from EIA to work by increasing the advantages of employment over EIA.

Related links:

(Word file - 35K, 1 page)
October 17, 2007

---

Last April ['07], the province announced Rewarding Work, a four-year, $27-million plan to bring down barriers to employment and help Manitobans on employment and income assistance find employment. The program complements other poverty-fighting measures announced in the last budget including tax changes that benefits 6,000 low-income Manitobans and an enhanced property credit of $125 a year for working low-income renters and homeowners. Other supports for low-income Manitobans include a minimum wage increase to $8 per hour last April and lower child-care costs.

New Child Benefit, Lower-cost Child Care, Stronger Work Incentives, And Skills Package in 10-point Reconstruction of Income Supports
News Release
April 10, 2007
Filling thousands of job vacancies and increasing family prosperity are the objectives of a ground-breaking, four-year action plan to move Manitobans from welfare to work, Family Services and Housing Minister Gord Mackintosh announced today. “Manitobans should always be better off working than on welfare. Yet in getting a job, too often you lose. Benefits are reduced for child allowances, child care, drug, dental and optical coverage, which makes work less attractive,” said Mackintosh. “We must dismantle this welfare wall.”

Backgrounder:

(PDF file - 21K, 3 pages)

Source:

Related link:

(PDF file - 134K, 17 pages)
Budget Paper E
Source:
(April 4, 2007)

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"Manitoba, "Rewarding Work", welfare"

NOTE: the Blog Search Results page had zero results as at April 11 (early morning).
However, because these are dynamic links, the results will vary depending on when you access the above links for all three types of search results pages
Source:

---

(November 26, 2007)
Source:

Main page - includes links to both the French and English media releases and reports, as well as links to national report cards for previous years and for selected Canadian provinces.
[ ]

November 26, 2007

New Manitoba Child Benefit, Stronger Work Incentive New Job-Seekers' Allowance Announced
Under Rewarding Work, a four-year action plan to move Manitobans from welfare to work, three new measures effective Jan. 1, 2008, include:
· A stronger work incentive allowance will help to ensure people are better off working and keep more of their earnings. Earnings exemptions for 4,200 Manitobans on assistance will almost double so workers can keep $200 of net monthly earnings plus 30 per cent of net monthly earnings over $200. Under the existing program, participants can keep up to $115 and 25 per cent of earnings above that amount, depending on their case category.
· A new $11-million Manitoba child benefit will ensure parents will not lose all support for their children when moving off welfare. Up to 33,000 families with children will benefit. This means an initial gain for low-income, working families of up to $420 tax free each year for every child. Monthly payments will begin in January 2008. For a single parent of three children working full or part time and earning $15,000 or less, this totals $1,260 with partial benefits for parents who earn $15,000 to $20,000.
· A new job-seekers’ allowance will help single, non-disabled adults and childless couples who actively participate in an employment plan. Effective January 2008, the allowance program will provide $25 per month to participants, assisting 3,900 recipients through an annual investment of $1.17 million.

Source:

Related links:

- includes links to info about the following programs:
* Canada Child Tax Benefit
* Universal Child Care Benefit
* Goods and Services Tax / Harmonized Sales Tax Credit
* Working Income Tax Benefit
* National Child Benefit Supplement
* Child Disability Benefit
* Provincial and territorial programs
* MORE...
Source:

(PDF - 2.1MB, 20 pages)
November 2009
During 2009, nearly 400 people came together at seven forums around Alberta to share experiences and thoughts about economic poverty. The Edmonton Social Planning Council and Public Interest Alberta helped organize the forums around the 2008 “We Can Do Better” report.
[ (PDF file - 58K, 2 pages)]

(PDF - 2.1MB, 20 pages)
November 2008
We Can Do Better outlines the most current statistics on child and family poverty in Alberta & offers solutions that would allow us to do better for our most vulnerable children and families.

Media Release
November 24, 2009
A provincial network of people and organizations is calling upon the provincial, federal and municipal governments to work together with community organizations and others to develop a plan to eliminate poverty in Alberta.
Source:

Related link:

---

From Calgary's Poverty Talks (antipoverty coalition):

(PDF - 2MB, 4 pages)
September 2009
On September 18, 2009, a coalition of community organizations in Calgary called "Poverty Talks" released a local Action to Plan to Eliminate Poverty. The plan is the result of a series of consultations with hundreds of low-income Calgarians over the past 18 months. It provides a street-level view of what needs to be done to end poverty as defined by those who are living in poverty, rather than by social workers, academics and politicians.
[ ]
Source:
Poverty Talks
- no website as such, but see:
* (current)
* (not updated since fall 2008)
Poverty Talks is the project of a Calgary-based non-profit coalition seeking to raise awareness of poverty ~ especially as an electoral issue ~ and to advance and support the democratic engagement of low-income Calgarians. So, we invite you to take this report, talk to politicians and decision makers, and become an influence for change.
Why? Because poverty can happen to anyone. And ending poverty benefits us all.

Related links:

(PDF - 886K, 23 pages)
November 2009
- includes nine fact sheets that analyze various aspects of child poverty in BC. and Measures of Poverty (Appendix)
Source:

Campaign 2000 is a cross-Canada public education movement to build Canadian awareness and support for the 1989 all-party House of Commons resolution to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000. Campaign 2000 began in 1991 out of concern about the lack of government progress in addressing child poverty. Campaign 2000 is non-partisan in urging all Canadian elected officials to keep their promise to Canada's children.

---

(PDF - 886K, 23 pages)
November 2009
The BC Child Poverty Report Card includes nine fact sheets that analyze various aspects of child poverty in BC.:
1. BC Had the Worst Record – Six Years in a Row
2. Child Poverty Over the Years
3. Child Poverty by Family Type
4. Persistence of Poverty
5. Child Poverty and Working Parents
6. Families with Children on Welfare
7. I ncomes of Families with Children
8. Child Poverty and the Importance of Government Help
9. What Needs to Happen
Melanie’s Story – The Human Face of Child Poverty
Appendix : Measures of Poverty
Source:

Relate link:

(PDF - 79K, 2 pages)
News Release
November 24, 2009
For six years in a row, British Columbia has had the highest child poverty rate in Canada tied only with Manitoba in 2007. Figures released today by First Call, the BC partner in Campaign 2000, show BC at a rate of 18.8 percent of children living in poverty in 2007. The Canadian average in that same year was 15 percent.

Source:

May 25, 2009
New resource from the :

British Columbia:
(PDF - 410K, 38 pages)
By Scott Graham, Jill Atkey, Crystal Reeves, and Michael Goldberg

Source:

Social Development Report Series, 2009
[ ]

Also from CCSD :

(PDF - 341K, 29 pages)
By David I. Hay, Information Partnership

From the BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:

(video slideshow)
by Goh Iromoto, Shannon Daub & Seth Klein
March 27, 2009

Source:

[ ]

News Release
February 5, 2009
(Vancouver) Two hundred organizations from across the province joined together today in a call for all-party support for a legislated BC poverty reduction plan.
The 200 groups are signatories to an open letter released today calling on all political parties to commit that, if elected in May, they will implement a comprehensive poverty reduction plan that includes:
* Legislated targets and timelines to reduce BC’s poverty rate by one third within four years, and end street homelessness within two years; and,
* Policy actions in seven key areas that would end deep poverty, improve conditions for the working poor, and focus on groups that are most vulnerable to poverty.

(home page)
On February 5, 2009, more than 200 organizations and community leaders joined together to call on all BC political parties to commit to a comprehensive, legislated poverty reduction plan. This groundswell of concern about BC’s unacceptably high levels of poverty and homelessness comes from many different communities in BC. It comes from all regions of the province, and from faith leaders, health organizations, doctors, businesses, First Nations and Aboriginal groups, labour unions, immigrant and refugee organizations, community service agencies, municipal councils, women’s groups, and many more.
- scroll to the bottom section of the home page to see the list of organizations (and some individuals who are partners in and supporters of this initiative.

Recommended targets and timelines:
* Using Statistics Canada’s low-income cut off after tax (LICO-AT), reduce BC’s poverty rate from 13 per cent to 9 per cent in four years, and to 3 per cent in ten years (meaning, effectively, a one third reduction within the mandate of the next government, and a 75 per cent reduction within a decade).
* Ensure the poverty rate (using the LICO-AT) for children, lone-mother households, single senior women, Aboriginal people, people with disabilities, and recent immigrants likewise declines by 30 per cent in four years, and by 75 per cent in ten years, in recognition that poverty is concentrated in these populations.
* Within two years, ensure that every British Columbian has an income that reaches at least 75 per cent of the poverty line (using the LICO-AT).
* Within two years, ensure no one has to sleep outside, and end all homelessness within eight years (ensuring all homeless people have good quality, appropriate housing)

A Poverty Reduction Plan for BC
December 2008
(PDF File, 752K, 65 pages)
(PDF - 711K, 12 pages)

"(...) Five provinces in Canada have either adopted poverty-reduction plans, or are in the process of developing them. With the highest poverty rates in Canada, now is the time for BC to set clear goals, with concrete targets and a system of transparency. That way, the public can measure the results, even when the government changes hands."

Related links:

Press Release
December 11, 2008
VANCOUVER - As the provincial election draws closer, a new report calls on BC’s political parties to commit to legislated targets and timelines to dramatically reduce poverty and homelessness. British Columbia has the highest poverty rate in Canada, and has had the highest child poverty rate for five years running, despite years of strong economic growth and record low unemployment.

(PDF - 63K, 1 page)
December 11, 2008
"(...) Over 90 per cent of British Columbians believe that, if other counties can reduce poverty, so can Canada"

Source:

[ - CCPA]

Related link:

December 27, 2008
VICTORIA, B.C. — B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell says social groups and the Opposition New Democrats may not believe it, but helping the province's children is his top political priority. In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, Campbell said his Liberal government can do better when it comes to helping children, but its main focus is on giving programs time to develop and take root. British Columbia has consistently ranked near the bottom in Canada when it comes to child poverty levels, despite having one of the strongest economies in the country. (...) Recently, the left-leaning B.C. Centre for Policy Alternatives released a study (see "Related link", below) that concluded one in six children in British Columbia lives in poverty. The report called for a 50 per cent increase in welfare rates, a jump in the minimum wage, more social housing and a universal child-care plan.
Source:

Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut

Yukon

News Release
October 14, 2009
WHITEHORSE – Health and Social Services Minister Glenn Hart announced today the development of a social inclusion strategy for the territory. “A social inclusion strategy is a significant advancement in social policy in Yukon. Social inclusion ensures that services target those in need and are accessible for all members of society,” Hart said. “Social inclusion is a measure of any government on how it deals with those citizens in need of support.”
(...) There will be four phases in developing the strategy:
• Creating a collaborative process.
• Collecting data and consulting.
• Developing a strategy to address priorities from the data and consultations.
• Reviewing and reporting annually.
Source:

May 25, 2009
New resource from the :

Northwest Territories:
(PDF - 333K, 27 pages)
By Jeffrey Wilson, Alternatives North

Nunavut
(report forthcoming)

Yukon:
(PDF - 1.7MB, 33 pages)
By Natalie Edelson

Source:

Social Development Report Series, 2009
[ ]

Also from CCSD :

(PDF - 341K, 29 pages)
By David I. Hay, Information Partnership

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Provincial and Territorial
Anti-Poverty Strategies and Poverty Reduction Campaigns

Les stratégies antipauvreté et les campagnes de réduction de pauvreté
provinciales et territoriales

Toronto

Provincial and TerritorialAnti-Poverty Strategies and Poverty Reduction Campaigns

Les stratégies antipauvreté et les campagnes de réduction de pauvretéprovinciales et territoriales

Toronto

Provincial and Territorial
Anti-Poverty Strategies and Poverty Reduction Campaigns

Les stratégies antipauvreté et les campagnes de réduction de pauvreté
provinciales et territoriales