Highlights from CPJ's poverty workshops

Last week Karri, Mariel and I traveled to Southern Ontario for a series of Envisioning Canada Without Poverty workshops. At each workshop, we had great participation from an audience of interested activists, church members, students, clergy and CPJ members.

At the workshops, CPJ staff took turns leading the participants in a dialogue about poverty from the perspective of human dignity, exploring what poverty looks like in Canada, and how a poverty reduction strategy would work to address the complexity of poverty and provide accountability to governments and citizens. The second half of the workshop focused on the importance of advocacy and strategies for successful advocacy.

Each of the participants was encouraged to contact their Member of Parliament to request a federal poverty reduction strategy by writing a letter or scheduling a visit.

Our first workshop in Kitchener on January 22 attracted over 40 participants, including many who are engaged in local Kitchener activism. That workshop thus had a very dynamic discussion about advocacy tactics.

Former CPJ staffer Greg deGroot-Maggetti offered this reflection on advocacy from Laurel Rothman, national Campaign 2000 director: “Advocacy is like working out in middle age. We might not be able to see what difference it’s making, but we know that if we stop, things will get a whole lot worse.

Local Member of Parliament Stephen Woodworth was also in attendance, and shared his thoughts on advocacy as taking place when there is “trust and relationship.”

Here are Joe and I in conversation with Stephen Woodworth:

Here I am explaining the importance of a strategy to coordinate the federal government’s role in combating poverty:

And here’s Karri engaging the participants in a conversation about why advocacy is so important:

Our second workshop in Toronto on January 23 had 35 participants, including many Toronto-area clergy. This discussion focused on the circumstances in Toronto, including the fact that only 20% of unemployed Torontonians qualify for EI (the national figure is closer to 40%). We also talked about getting faith communities involved in anti-poverty advocacy, and the ways in which collective advocacy can help us to feel inspired and empowered.

The Toronto workshop was co-hosted by the Anglican Diocese of Toronto, which also has an article on their website describing the workshop.

On Saturday, January 24, 16 participants attended our workshop in Whitby. Whitby is the riding of Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, and much of the discussion focused on how to pursue advocacy with Jim Flaherty. Participants also shared thoughts on how we can maintain inspiration in the fight against poverty, and not fall prey to cynicism.

Here is Karri leading the participants in an exercise on dignity:

And here’s Mariel explaining the steps of effective advocacy:

For more information on our Envisioning Canada Without Poverty campaign, including tips on contacting your MP, suggestions on holding a worship service on poverty, and reflections on faith and poverty, check out our Envisioning Canada Without Poverty website.

For more tips on advocacy, check out our advocacy toolkit.