Child poverty reduction plan at TRU tomorrow
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By LeRae Haynes
Residents of the Williams Lake area have an opportunity tomorrow night to hear about a poverty reduction plan for BC at Thompson Rivers University. The Social Planning Council of Williams Lake and Area has invited Seth Klein, BC Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, to talk about why BC needs a poverty reduction plan, the ways in which we all pay for poverty, the key components of an effective plan, and why there is nothing inevitable about poverty in a province as wealthy as ours.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social and economic justice. Founded in 1980, the CCPA is one of Canada's leading progressive voices in public policy debates.
“It’s not hard to convince people that we have a problem,” Seth Klein explained. “16% of children in BC are living in poverty—we have the highest poverty rate in the country. The challenge I see is convincing people that it isn’t inevitable: we can do something about it.
“What we need is a comprehensive poverty reduction plan. Other provinces and other jurisdictions are starting to put these plans into place and getting results, but not us,” he continued.
“I think on one level it’s unfathomable that we don’t have a poverty reduction plan, and I can’t understand why our government doesn’t say ‘yes’. Newfoundland and Ontario have both just passed their plans, but when pressed on this, our Premier says that our goal is to have the lowest unemployment rate,” he continued. “The problem with that answer is that lower unemployment alone doesn’t get the job done.” He added that when people hear the word ‘poverty’ they think ‘welfare’ but that it’s not a welfare story—it’s a low wage issue, and the majority of poor children live in households where parents are working.
“One of the things that makes this recession different from the early 1990s when the economy turned south is two stabilizers: Unemployment Insurance and Welfare,” he said. “But today those two programs are a shadow of their former selves, and where 80-90% of people qualified for them, now only 40% qualify.”
He said that he looks forward to meeting with the Social Planning Council and with the public tomorrow to discuss solutions to child poverty in BC and what we all can do about it. “If we choose to get serious about this, and have a plan with legislated timelines, it can be done---there’s no big secret,” he explained. “The price tag is not unaffordable. Our leaders need to hear that other places have a poverty reduction plan and we want one, too—we’re tired of being the laggards.”
There will be a dinner and annual general meeting of the Social Planning Council on Monday, October 19 at TRU starting at 5:30 pm. Seth Klein’s presentation and discussion begins at 7 pm, and he will also make a presentation on Tuesday morning at TRU.
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