Poverty must be overcome
Nanaimo News Bulletin
By G. Prouten, Nanaimo
Nov 2 2010

To the Editor:

Poverty and childhood poverty are realities that demand both attention and action.

On Nov. 24, 1989, members of the House of Commons voted unanimously to work to end child poverty by the year 2000….

More Canadians earn minimum wages with 4.7 per cent in 2000 to 5.2 per cent in 2008 (three-quarters of a million workers).

In June 2009 Food Banks Canada reported a 20-per cent increase in the number turning to food banks each month (15 percent get all their income from work and still cannot feed their families).

Among youth with average reading skills, 32 per cent of those from the lowest income households did not complete secondary school compared to 19 per cent from the highest income households….

Just eight per cent of the Aboriginal population has completed university compared with 23 per cent for the non-aboriginal population.

The median annual income for First Nations people aged 15 and over in Canada was $11,000 lower than for the non-Aboriginal population….

The estimated cost of the use of government services and benefits by the Aboriginal population was $6.2 billion in 2006. If that population were to reach education, employment and income levels similar to non- Aboriginal population, the government balance sheets would improve by nearly $12 billion in 2026, including additional tax revenues of $3.5 billion.

Visible minorities are three times more likely to be poor than other Canadians because of levels of education, barriers to employment and low wages….

Now in Canada there is more inequality and poverty than most OECD countries. Canada ranked 15th out of 17 countries for working age poverty. One-in-seven Canadian children live in poverty.

Clearly Canadians want government action to reduce inequality according to respondents to Environics. Four major policy areas need to be addressed. First is the Canadian Child Tax Benefit. If the current benefit of $3,416 child/year is increased to $5,400/year substantive poverty reduction would result.

Second, we need an increase in the minimum wage to $11 an hour to allow a parent working full-time to lift him or herself out of poverty.

Last, a pan-Canadian system of quality child care and early learning services along with a federal-provincial affordable housing program are keys to reaching and surpassing a 50-per cent poverty reduction goal by the year 2020….

Raise your voice now.