Citizens for Public Justice

March 2011

Read the Statement

Interfaith declaration for federal action on poverty in Canada.

November 2010

Read the letter

Letter to Minister Diane Finley encouraging a response to the House of Commons committee study on the federal role in addressing poverty

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ottawa, ON: November 18, 2010 – Citizens for Public Justice applauds the Parliamentary Committee on Human Resources and Skills Development (HUMA) for their resounding endorsement of the need for a federal poverty reduction plan.

Poverty is about more than money. It is a complex issue that requires a comprehensive approach that addresses housing, childcare and social exclusion – in addition to living wages and income supports. CPJ was very pleased to see an understanding of this complexity in “Federal Poverty Reduction Plan: Working in Partnership Towards Reducing Poverty in Canada,” the HUMA Committee report released this afternoon.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ottawa, ON: September 27, 2010 – According to official statistics, at least 3.4 million Canadians live in poverty. As a result of the recent recession, and according to CPJ’s May 2010 research report, Bearing the Brunt, however, the real number is substantially higher. Earlier this year, the Senate unanimously approved a groundbreaking report…

Sister Maureen Wild, SC, asks how we can honour what God creates in Birthing a New Ethic for Ecological Justice. Sister Maureen highlights how our survival depends on choosing life for all creation.

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Ottawa, ON: June 16, 2010 – Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) praised a new private member’s bill tabled in the House of Commons today calling for a federal poverty elimination strategy. The bill was tabled by Tony Martin of the New Democratic Party and seconded by Mike Savage of the Liberal Party and Yves Lessard of the Bloc Québécois.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ottawa, ON: May 4, 2010 – The 2008-2009 recession created poverty for hundreds of thousands of Canadian families, according to a new report released by Citizens for Public Justice (funded by World Vision Canada).

Bearing the Brunt: How the 2008-2009 Recession Created Poverty for Canadian Families reveals the deep impact of the recession by examining key economic trends, comparing them to the baseline of 2007 – the last year for which we have poverty measures available. This trend analysis projects that the poverty rate in Canada rose to 11.7% in 2009, an increase of over 900,000 Canadians compared to 2007. The child poverty rate has likely risen to at least 12%, an increase of 160,000 children compared to 2007.