National strategy needed to help welfare incomes, says report
The Daily Courier (Kelowna)
December 11, 2008

Tough economic times call for a comprehensive, nationwide strategy to prevent Canadians receiving welfare from plunging even further below the poverty line, a government advisory panel said Wednesday.

Welfare incomes in many parts of Canada are increasingly inadequate to meet basic needs, and payments have dropped dramatically over the past 20 years, a report from the National Council of Welfare suggests.

Despite breakthroughs last year in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador -- which both have anti-poverty strategies -- the number of Canadians facing hardship will likely grow, said chairman John Rook.

"When people are in tough economic times, there's fewer jobs, more people join poverty lines, more people need welfare," Rook said.

"That's when we need the provinces and the feds to step up and build poverty reduction strategies."

While clear targets, timelines and measurable indicators are required, the most important need is political will, Rook said.

"If we don't have that, we won't succeed."

Quebec …"Child benefits are higher and there's more support for daycare, which means that it's easier for women with children to go to work at a lower cost," van den Berg said.

"You do something about that group, you are bound to do something about poverty in general."