Poverty Elimination Act tabled in the House of Commons

A Private Member’s bill mandating the creation of a federal poverty elimination strategy was tabled this afternoon in the House of Commons. The bill was presented by Tony Martin of the New Democratic Party and seconded by Mike Savage of the Liberal Party and Yves Lessard of the Bloc Québécois.

Bill C-545 directs the federal government to consultatively develop a federal poverty elimination strategy, creates a new, independent Poverty Commissioner to monitor progress of the strategy, and provides a stronger advisory role for the National Council of Welfare, to be renamed the National Council of Poverty and Social Inclusion.

The poverty elimination strategy would focus on three major elements: income security, housing and social inclusion. The bill emphasizes the need for gender-based analysis, different urban and rural responses, and a strong human rights framework.

The bill also calls for the major cornerstones of an anti-poverty strategy as identified by the National Council of Welfare: timelines and targets, selection of a poverty measurement, accountability measures, and monitoring and reporting. The strategy would also require a whole of government approach, with health and income security ministers playing a key leadership role.

CPJ has long advocated for a poverty elimination strategy as the most important contribution the federal government could make in reducing and eventually eliminating poverty in Canada. We are pleased to see this vision move one step closer to reality with this bill.

This is a reality that many Canadians support, as demonstrated by the public support for the Dignity for All campaign, which CPJ co-founded with Canada Without Poverty. 340 different groups and over 5,400 individuals – including MPs and Senators from every party – have expressed their support for the DFA campaign, which includes as one of its goals a federal poverty elimination strategy.

The need for a poverty elimination strategy has also become more urgent because of the recession. Recent research by CPJ demonstrated the rise in poverty and income insecurity due to the recession. In fact, our trend analysis projects that the number of poor in Canada rose by over 900,000 people last year, including 160,000 kids. Part of Canada’s response to the recession needs to be a poverty elimination strategy, ensuring that the most vulnerable Canadians are no longer defenseless against the swings of the economic cycle.

CPJ also appreciates the consultative, collaborative approach which Tony Martin took in developing this bill. Tony held multiple consultations on his bill – and CPJ was pleased to attend to several of them – and then incorporated the wisdom, experience and ideas of low income Canadians and anti-poverty advocates in drafting this bill. Tony also thanked Mike Savage and Yves Lessard for their contributions to the creation of the bill.

This consultative, collaborative, cross-partisan approach is what the subject of poverty deserves. We hope that this cross-partisan approach will continue until the bill is adopted by the House of Commons and the Senate.

Bekah, Karri and I were very proud to be in the gallery of the House of Commons this afternoon, watching as this historic bill was tabled. I also spoke at the press conference this morning, with Tony, Mike, and Rob Rainer of Canada Without Poverty: