Fighting poverty with policy: MPs share party visions with CPJ

Without genuine policy commitments, we won’t impact poverty levels in Canada. This is the message CPJ heard recently when we visited with Members of Parliament to discuss tackling poverty in Canada. Tony Martin of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Carolyn Bennett of the Liberal Party, and Yves Lessard of the Bloc Québécois all took time to share their party’s vision of a poverty reduction strategy with us. A meeting with a Conservative MP was cancelled due to scheduling issues.

These MPs made it clear that poverty reduction is on the political agenda in Canada. Their parties are thinking about it, beginning to consult with Canadians on it, and working on developing policy options to implement a strategy. But much work remains to be done. Creating political will requires the cooperation of politicians and citizens.

This is where CPJ comes in: we have the opportunity to influence the future, by sharing with our MPs the importance of working together across party lines to achieve real change for Canadians living in poverty and encouraging them to adopt policies to achieve that change. That means being informed, developing relationships with politicians and decision makers, and challenging and encouraging them to work for change. CPJ will continue to meet with MPs on this topic, and we encourage you to do the same.

Here’s what we heard from the MPs we met with:

Bloc Québécois

Canada has made repeated international commitments to reducing poverty, but we haven’t followed through, notes Yves Lessard, Bloc critic for human resources and social development. According to Lessard, the reason is not only a lack of political will to address poverty, but because our political commitments have been elsewhere. He points to successive federal budgets over the past 15 years that have cut funding for affordable housing, programs for literacy and for women, and have limited access to EI while increasing funding for other things like the military. As a result, while poverty rates have stayed pretty much the same, poverty has deepened.

The response, Lessard says, must begin with significant funding for affordable housing – the Bloc is calling for a commitment of one per cent of the annual budget to go to social housing. They believe EI must be reformed, and targeted approaches to reduce poverty must be adopted for single parents, the working poor, seniors and aboriginals. Targets and goals in each of these areas should be ensured by accountability and oversight.

The Bloc also believes that a federal strategy should support provincial poverty reduction strategies, but it should not interfere in areas of provincial jurisdiction. They would not support any federal strategy that would take away from the programs and services that Quebec has now.

Liberal Party

Carolyn Bennett, the Liberal critic for public health, seniors, the disabled and the social economy, says the Liberals are at the stage of putting the “meat on the bones” of their poverty reduction strategy. In November, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion announced the Liberal commitment to reduce poverty in Canada by 30% and child poverty by 50% within five years.

Since then, the Liberals have engaged in consultations as they put together the policy framework they believe will achieve these targets. A comprehensive approach is needed, according to Bennett, one that breaks through the silos at the cabinet and department levels and includes aspects of poverty that are not strictly related to income.

Housing should be addressed first, but targeted initiatives should be developed for different groups including women and single parents, aboriginals, immigrants, people with disabilities, and children.

Accountability requires regular reporting on the impact of these initiatives, but it also means flexibility to adapt and move forward. Policy work is ongoing, Bennett suggests, and that means implementing new policies, monitoring and measuring their impact, and being willing to try something else if that doesn’t work. The Liberals also believe that a commitment to reducing poverty requires a new definition of poverty, one that accounts for features of poverty besides income.

New Democratic Party

Tony Martin, human resources and social development critic for the NDP, sees no need to debate definitions or delay action by promising targets down the road – Martin’s targets and timelines are 100% now.

He argues that there are many things that we could be doing and should be doing that would immediately impact poverty, like properly funding affordable housing or creating a true national child care system. These initiatives and others regarding persons with disabilities, EI reform and income security form part of the NDP’s plan to eradicate poverty in Canada.

Martin recently traveled to 16 communities across Canada, listening to stories from people with personal experiences of poverty. He wants to ensure their voices are heard in parliamentary debates on poverty.

Martin also spoke of the need to engage the middle class in support of anti-poverty initiatives. Not only are many middle class Canadians only a paycheque or two away from poverty, it is a fundamental issue of justice and fairness for our country to see poverty eradicated. Tackling it requires the support of citizens as well as politicians, in an effort that transcends partisanship. What we need, Martin argues, is for people to “change the wind” – change the climate in which poverty gets addressed in Canada by making it a priority.