Poverty ideas abound: will is the issue
By Les Leyne
Times Colonist
May 27, 2010

Expectations rose so high so fast after a legislature committee agreed to hold a public meeting on poverty that the chair felt the need to dampen the anticipation.

Liberal MLA Joan McIntyre told participants at a day-long thinkfest last Friday that the session was just to foster awareness….

In other words, don't expect great things to happen after the meeting adjourns. It amounted to a forum to let several academic theorists and experts in the field of social welfare talk directly to politicians.

Not decision-making politicians, mind you. There were no cabinet ministers present. Just backbench Liberals and New Democrat MLAs who might push the views up the pecking order….

They convened in two moods: Excitement at the idea that the meeting was even taking place, but frustration over how difficult it is for society to deal with poverty.

That frustration has sparked a national trend of sorts. Six provinces now have an identified "anti-poverty strategy" of one sort or another.

Some have ambitious targets and timelines. Others are just a suite of general welfare measures operating under the label of a strategy.

But B.C. has declined so far to label an anti-poverty plan as such. It might be fear that recognizing the issue as an official problem will inevitably lead to demands for more funding.

But First Call, a children's advocacy coalition, threw the committee a curveball by saying fighting poverty doesn't automatically mean spending more money.

Julie Norton said more money is part of the solution, but not the complete answer….

She said First Call wants a poverty plan that covers the entire province, includes targets and outcomes and provides for regular, systematic public reporting of any progress.

Steve Kerstetter, a researcher for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, told MLAs: "If the goal is to redirect other money to fight poverty, it's just not going to work. There's just not enough money you can redirect that's going to make a difference."

By one estimate, there's a $2-billion poverty gap that needs to be filled by society as a whole, he said. And government redistribution just won't get it done.

The one specific proposal that got a lot of attention was supporting families with young children. That does cost money, and lots of it. But the payback comes in reducing children's vulnerability to poverty, which saves billions over the long haul.

Former chief medical health officer John Millar said three of the six provinces with identified poverty action plans have legislation that formally drives the efforts. He said they also have vision, strong leadership and often non-partisan and unanimous commitment. "They all have substantial funding, and they all have an accountability measure, often led by a minister or a ministerial committee."

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