From vision to action

When is the best time to solve poverty? Twenty years ago.

When is the second best time to solve poverty? Right now.

This adaptation of a Chinese proverb encapsulates CPJ’s pre-budget brief to the Standing Committee on Finance. Twenty years ago, the House of Commons passed an all-party resolution to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000. As we approach the twentieth anniversary, Budget 2009 should make good on that pledge. We believe that Budget 2009’s priority should be a commitment to a federal poverty reduction strategy.

Every year, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance holds consultations with citizens and organizations across the country in order to produce recommendations and priorities for the federal government’s budget. CPJ has participated in these consultations for many years.

This year, the committee asked participants to respond by naming their top priority for Budget 2009. In keeping with our Envisioning Canada Without Poverty campaign, CPJ made the case that the time has come for a national poverty reduction strategy. This should be the government’s and the budget’s priority.

1 in 10 Canadians currently live in poverty. This persistent poverty has a serious negative impact on individuals, on Canadian society and our economy. Poverty and inequality rob people of access to basic resources necessary for life, marginalize them from community, create insecurity that can erode people’s spirit and emotional health, and eliminate people’s ability to carry out their own responsibility to participate in society.

More important than the social and economic costs of poverty, however, is the fact that poverty is a serious injustice perpetuated against individuals who are all created in the image of God. Persistent poverty is not God’s vision for society, as the Bible makes clear in Deuteronomy 15. God’s vision is a society without poverty. The Jubilee laws of the Old Testament called for a periodic redistribution of the means of production, ensuring that no one was permanently left behind and no one became wealthy at the expense of the poor.

This vision for society suggests that we need to individual involvement in charity to create policies that ensure people can exercise a sustainable livelihood that provides a livable income. We must also make sure everyone has access to an adequate income and the resources necessary for well-being, even when we are not able to secure all we need through paid work.

Countries like the United Kingdom and Ireland have successfully used poverty reduction strategies, providing the framework and accountability for effective anti-poverty initiatives. Four of Canada’s provinces are demonstrating leadership through their own poverty reduction strategies. A federal poverty reduction strategy is necessary to support and build on these efforts to create a Canada where no one is left behind and everyone has the opportunity to participate.

Canada’s national poverty reduction strategy should adopt the four cornerstones identified by the National Council of Welfare as components of successful strategies around the world: a long-term vision with measurable targets and timelines, an action plan and a budget that coordinates within and across governments, mechanisms of accountability, and a set of agreed upon poverty indicators.

Within this framework, various policy initiatives can be adopted to focus on all aspects of poverty, not just income insecurity. Opportunities for federal initiatives include: action on affordable and adequate housing; build on existing federal programs to ensure income security; support for the working poor by means of a living wage, tax credits, reform of the Employment Insurance system and a national child care plan; and targeted support for aboriginal peoples and new Canadians who face higher rates of poverty.

CPJ’s Recommendations for Budget 2009:

1. Budget 2009 should announce the federal government’s commitment to designing and implementing a federal poverty reduction strategy, based on consultations with citizens.
2. Policy initiatives the federal government should undertake in Budget 2009 to demonstrate a serious commitment to reducing poverty should include:
   • Renew and extend the existing housing programs due to expire March 2009.
   • Commit to long-term strategic planning with appropriate funding for affordable housing.
   • Double the Working Income Tax Benefit and raise the cut-off for access so that someone working full-time, year round for minimum wage would qualify.
   • Reform EI to give access to people engaged in precarious or non-traditional employment.
   • Create a genuine national childcare and early learning plan.
   • Re-commit to the 1989 resolution on child poverty, and extend the commitment to ending all poverty in Canada.

For more information, check out CPJ’s brief, or visit our Envisioning Canada Without Poverty website www.canadawithoutpoverty.ca.