You don’t always get what you want… But sometimes, you do

You don’t always get what you want… But then sometimes, you do.

Early in 2008, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills Development, Social Development and Status of People with Disabilities (HUMA) initiated a study on the federal role in reducing poverty. Since then, there has been a federal election and Parliament has been prorogued twice. There were times when we wondered if the results of this study would ever see the light of day. Then, last week Federal Poverty Reduction Plan: Working in Partnership Towards Reducing Poverty in Canada was released. The publication of the HUMA report seemed a victory in and of itself, but the content has us really excited.

In June 2009, Citizens for Public Justice testified at the HUMA Committee hearings on poverty in Canada. We recommended that the federal government:

1. Adopt the target of eliminating poverty in Canada by 2020, along with the vision of creating a Canada which promises dignity, well-being and social inclusion for all.
2. Adopt and implement a comprehensive, integrated federal plan for poverty elimination that incorporates a human rights framework and contains measures including:
   1. Assurance that all Canadians workers receive a living wage.
   2. Immediate improvements to Employment Insurance.
   3. A genuine national childcare and early learning plan that is affordable and accessible to all Canadians.
   4. Targeted supports for Aboriginal Canadians, newcomers and refugees, and other vulnerable populations.
3. Adopt and implement a federal Act to eliminate poverty, promote social inclusion and strengthen social security.
4. Adopt measures to ensure sufficient federal revenue to invest in social security.
5. Implement a fundamental policy principle whereby all economic development proposals are required to specifically address how they contribute to reducing poverty. And, that every major government decision (policy/action/law/regulation) be evaluated against its impact on poverty.

Then we waited.

And while we waited, we – along with our partners Dignity for All: The Campaign for a Poverty-Free Canada – set about consolidating support for our goals. We gathered activists and advocates, front-line community workers, and concerned citizens from across the country together to say, “Now is the time to end poverty in Canada.”

And you know what? They listened.

On November 17, Candice Hoeppner, Conservative Member of Parliament for Portage-Lisgar, Manitoba, and Chair of HUMA Committee tabled the report, Federal Poverty Reduction Plan. Based on the testimony of hundreds of Canadians from across the country, the 13-member committee prepared 59 recommendations dealing with poverty measures, federal-provincial collaboration, vulnerable populations, and critical issues such as childcare, housing, education, and employment. To be sure, not all of our recommendations were taken up, but on the fundamentals, the HUMA committee got it right.

The first – and foundational – recommendation calls on the federal government to:

Immediately commit to a federal action plan to reduce poverty in Canada that would see, during its first phase, the implementation of the recommendations in this report. This action plan should incorporate a human rights framework and provide for consultations with the provincial and territorial governments, Aboriginal governments and organizations, the public and private sector, and people living in poverty, as needed, to ensure an improvement in lives of impoverished people.

The report goes on to suggest that within the parameters of this action plan, the federal government:

• increase the annual amount of the Canada Child Tax Benefit.
• develop and implement a national strategy on early childhood education and care, including the creation of a national public child care system.
• create a federal basic income program for persons with disabilities.
• increase and index the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors.
• provide major help for Aboriginal People for housing, education and social services, including elimination of the two per cent cap on federal funding.
• develop a comprehensive, long-term national housing strategy.

There was also consideration of the potential establishment of a legislative framework and a “poverty lens” through which new federal government policies would be examined, and/or an alternative institutional framework “to ensure the success of a federal poverty reduction action plan.” Ultimately, the committee recommended the establishment of a “lead department or departments … to oversee the creation and implementation of a federal action plan,” complemented by a new “interdepartmental working group or cabinet committee for poverty reduction.”

A number of recommendations dealt with the financial aspects of addressing poverty. It was recommended that the criteria for grant and contribution programs be examined, that Social Development spending priorities be reviewed, that tax credits be introduced and/or expanded, and that several key poverty reduction programs and mechanisms receive “fair and adequate” funding.

Overall, the report is excellent. It demonstrates a clear understanding of the complexity of poverty in Canada. It shows that MPs across the political spectrum have heard the stories of Canadians, and in particular the stories of Canadians living in poverty. It presents an emerging consensus that things need to be done differently, and that by working collaboratively – across federal government departments, with other levels of government, and in partnership with many sectors of society – things can be done differently.

The challenge now is to build on this momentum, to continue to share what we know, and to push our leaders to translate these commendable words to critical action.