FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ottawa, ON: October 17, 2014 – Today, marks the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. People passionate about ending poverty will use the lunchtime on that day to draw attention to the 833,000 Canadians who have to rely on food banks each month to put food on their tables. As part of Dignity for All: The Campaign for a Poverty Free Canada, volunteers at “ChewOnThis!” events are asking people across Canada to join the strong call for a federal plan to address poverty by simply going online to dignityforall.ca/chew-on-this.
ChewOnThis! volunteers will be handing out lunch bags in more than 25 cities – from Halifax to Abbotsford – from noon until 1p.m.)—including various sites in Ottawa, Parliament Hill, and Toronto’s downtown core. They will be calling for the Federal Government to take a proactive approach to eliminating poverty and hunger for the millions struggling to make ends meet.
Campaign co-organizers Citizens for Public Justice will issue “The Burden of Poverty: A snapshot of poverty across Canada” on October 17, 2014 which recommends the adoption of a national poverty action plan. Executive Director of Citizens for Public Justice, Joe Gunn, states: “Statistics show that when the federal government makes it a priority, poverty can be reduced. We need a comprehensive poverty plan. The House of Commons has called for one, the Senate has called for one, and the United Nations has called for one, but we haven’t seen any action.”
Leilani Farha, Executive Director of Canada Without Poverty and recently appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to housing says that charity cannot replace justice. “Hunger in Canada is more than just a food issue. It’s about social and economic arrangements in this country – the result of a series of government decisions,” she says. “When people are going hungry in a land of plenty, you have a human rights problem on your hands. All levels of government have a legal and moral responsibility to ensure the right to an adequate standard of living for the most vulnerable populations in Canada. It’s time we had a plan.”
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Contact: Brad Wassink at 613-232-0275 Ext. 225
Graham Milner at 613 986 7761
Dignity for All: the campaign for a poverty-free Canada, headed by Canada Without Poverty and Citizens for Public Justice, is a multi-year, non-partisan campaign supported by over 10,000 individuals and 600 local and national organizations calling for a comprehensive federal plan to eliminate poverty.
ChewOnThis! is a national campaign to raise awareness of food insecurity, and call for the establishment of a national anti-poverty plan to address the systemic issues poverty in Canada. Thousands of Canadians are demanding the federal government establish a plan to eradicate poverty and hunger for the nearly 900,000 people in Canada who use food banks each month and for the millions of others struggling to get by. The United Nations has called for it, the Senate has called for it, and the House of Commons has called for it. It is time for a plan.
Website: https://dignityforall.ca/
Twitter: @DignityForAllCA & #ChewOnThis
