Federal and provincial governments and political parties wield numbers and statistics in their battles against poverty and each other, but it is in local communities that the real battles are fought, not with numbers, but with food hampers and second hand clothing.

The political parties argue ideology, bolstered by slogans and buzzwords: big government versus small government, socialism versus free enterprise, self-help versus the welfare state.

Conservative governments accuse liberal governments of wanting to solve social problems by "throwing money at them;" liberal governments accuse conservatives of adopting heartless policies that favour big business at the expense of the poor.

Locally, the battle centers on acquiring donations and increasing the amount of money and food that can be handed out to those in need.

Who are the poor?

Statistics Canada says the line should be drawn at 50 per cent of the median income for all Canadians, currently about $13,500 for an individual and $27,000 for a family of four.

The Fraser Institute, a free enterprise advocacy group, says that only those who make less than $8,700 annually are poor ($19,000 for a family of four).

The B.C. government sets the standard even lower. They provide income assistance of $7,320 for an individual annually, $14,132 for a family of four.

A popular misconception is that the majority of persons on income assistance are perfectly capable of holding down a job.

In fact the vast majority are disabled.

The largest percentage of those deemed poor are actually working, albeit at the current minimum wage of $8 an hour, with no benefits. That equates to $1,280 a month, or $16,640 a year if one works full time with no days off.

The current Liberal government believes that a strong economy is the most important element in solving problems associated with poverty.

Encouraging business and industry leads to more and better paying jobs that automatically raise low-income earners above the poverty level.

The NDP disagree.

According to local MLA Katrine Conroy, "The Campbell government says that they are doing so well economically, well, if that's the case, why is there such a high rate of poverty?

"We think that it is appalling that for the fourth year in a row the B.C. government has the highest rate of child poverty in the country."

What would the NDP do? "Raise the minimum wage to $10 and invest in low income housing," says Conroy….

Conroy is appalled at the need for such a pervasive need for volunteers and charity to make ends meet for so many people.

"I don't know any community that doesn't have a food bank... or two or three... and it's a sad state of affairs," she said. "Countries that are equal to us economically don't have the kind of child poverty that we do. They have systems of childcare in place that we just don't have. This government has been dismantling what little childcare there is. How can you work if you don't have decent child care? They don't see those support systems that should go to people as being an economic generators."….

Even with current prosperity in British Columbia, the estimate of current poverty levels is about 10 per cent.

There are 4,000,000 people in B.C; that means 400,000 are living in poverty.

There are 4,000 people living in Grand Forks.

The math isn't hard….