Council joins call for end to poverty
Alberni Valley Times
February 10, 2009
By: Heather Reid

Port Alberni city council has joined 200 other groups across the province asking the political parties in B.C. to decrease the number of people living in poverty.

Whoever wins the May 12 election, they'll have to address a wide range of associations calling for a comprehensive strategy with legislated targets and timelines to deal with homelessness and poverty.

The letter provides detailed suggestions as to what they'd like the parties to do. They include reducing the poverty rate from 13% to nine per cent in four years and to three per cent within a decade. It's recommended that Statistics Canada low-income cutoff after tax (LICO-AT) be used as the poverty line….

The document goes on to provide seven action areas. They are: income for non-employed, increase wages for low-income workers, improve food security for low-income people, adopt an affordable and supportive housing plan to address homelessness, provide universal, publicly-funded child care, enhance support and training for the poor and enhance community mental health and home support services….