The idea of basic income has been presented as a means of securing people’s livelihood in the face of job losses by the thousands. What a basic income may look like is open to a wide array of possibilities.
According to a provincial break-down by Citizens for Public Justice, Manitoba has the highest poverty rate in Canada, with one-in-five currently living below the poverty line. That translates to 25% of children living in poverty and it’s forced 115,000 Manitobans to rely on the province’s Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) programs.
Over the past few weeks, Dignity for All co-leads, Canada Without Poverty (CWP) and Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ), had the opportunity to present as witnesses to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA), and the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, regarding key poverty legislation.
Darlene O’Leary, socio-economic policy analyst with the Ottawa-based advocacy group Citizens for Public Justice, agrees with the human-rights approach. She notes that federal initiatives such as investments in housing, the Canada Workers Benefit, and the Child Tax Benefit are having a positive effect on lived poverty.
The Dignity for All Campaign and Campaign 2000 welcome critical federal action on poverty in the 2019 Budget Implementation Act.
For much of my journey of faith, walking in the way of Christ was discussed largely on the individual level (i.e. your personal relationship with Christ). Several years ago, however, I began exploring a more communal vision of our calling and witness. I was also engaging more with social justice issues and was learning to take a more systems approach to change. In both my faith and the pursuit of social justice, I began to see the power of the collective. And perhaps more importantly, I became more aware of those ahead of me who were already well into the work.
It’s hard to believe, but 2019 marks the 10-year anniversary of Dignity for All, the campaign for a poverty-free Canada, a campaign co-led by CPJ and Canada Without Poverty (CWP).
Darlene O’Leary, socio-economic policy analyst for Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ), agrees that the current MBM provides somewhat of a distorted look at poverty in Canada. “The data is encouraging — however, it’s incomplete,” she told Global Citizen.
Too many people still live below the poverty line, said Darlene O’Leary, social policy analyst with Citizens for Public Justice. “There are still millions living in poverty,” said O’Leary, and the idea that we need to wait until 2030 to see dramatic results (a 50-per-cent reduction in poverty as per goals of the federal government’s poverty-reduction strategy released…
The simple fact is that Canada needs a pharmacare plan. This would not only improve the health of those within the country and uphold their right to health, but it would also make more fiscal sense.