Pass "In from the Margins" in the Senate!

UPDATE:

The Senate report, In from the Margins, passed in the Senate last week! This means that the government has to respond within 150 days to the over 70 recommendations made by the Subcommittee on Cities.

But it is still important to contact our Members of Parliament and Senators about the importance of taking strong action to eliminate poverty in Canada, for the sake of dignity for all Canadians, and for the sake of our economy. See the Parliamentary website for a list of current MPs, and please continue to use the Talking Points below to get the message through to your MP.

Last December the Senate Subcommittee on Cities published the report In from the Margins: A Call to Action on poverty, housing and homelessness. The report calls for immediate and definitive action on poverty by the federal government. Poverty not only diminishes human dignity, but doing nothing to eliminate it costs Canadians billions of dollars a year!

If the report passes in the Senate, the government will have to give an official response to the more than 70 recommendations and make it clear what actions they intend to take as a result of the information provided in this report.

But it has not been passed yet. So we are calling on Canadians to get involved, contact our Senators and encourage the passing of this report.

Visit the directory of Senators on the Parliament of Canada website,  for a full list of Senators, which includes contact information, party affiliations, and biographical information. Below is a list of key Talking Points you can use in your letters and communication with Senators to get the message across.

Writing is often more effective than calling, but there is no difference between a letter and an email. All Senators can be reached at the following address (and postage is free):

Name of Senator
Senate of Canada
Ottawa, On
K1A 0A4

Also see the phone and email list for the numbers and emails of every office in the Senate.

Get the message out there and help ensure this crucial report passes!

Finally, Senator Eggleton, chair of the Subcommitte on Cities has started a Facebook group in support of the report. Join today!

TALKING POINTS
IN FROM THE MARGINS: A CALL TO ACTION ON POVERTY

KEY MESSAGES

• A staggering one in 10 Canadians lives in poverty. That’s 3.4 million people!
• Approximately 800,000 of those living in poverty are children
• Today in Canada, three million people are struggling to find affordable housing and thousands of Canadians are homeless.
• Canada’s only humane and decent option is to acknowledge that our current system for lifting people out of poverty is broken and must be overhauled.
• Poverty impedes millions of Canadians from freely and fully participating in our country’s productivity and economic aspirations
• Poverty undermines human dignity and costs us all
• A recent study, guided by economists and policy experts such as Don Drummond, Judith Maxwell and James Milway, estimates that poverty costs Ontario over $30 billion, and Canada over $75 billion annually.
• The Canadian Chamber of Commerce says that we need to better utilize the groups (i.e. disabled, aboriginal people, older workers, recent immigrants) that are over represented in poverty to deal with the demographic shift Canada is experiencing. Our future prosperity depends on it!
• The Senate report, In from the Margins: A Call to Action on poverty, housing and homelessness, is an excellent source of information and insight
• The report’s recommendations are solid and warrant serious consideration. Please support the passage of the report in the Senate
• By breaking the cycle of poverty once and for all, we will be investing in human empowerment – which will drive the health and prosperity of Canada and yield benefits for all of us.