Poor need feds' help, group says

from The Ottawa Sun

By NELLY ELAYOUBI

The National Council of Welfare is calling on the federal government to develop a national strategy to tackle the growing problem of poverty across the country.

A little over 15% of Canadians are living poor -- about 4.9 million people.

The council recently submitted a report to the federal government that included four steps on how to fix the problem. The report is being made public today.

"What it's going to take is leadership, it's going to take vision and it's going to take political will," said John Murphy, the council's chairman. "But it cannot be partisan."

Federal and provincial responses to poverty have been a mere "Band-Aid approach" in the past 20-25 years.

"We're saying let's get on with really going after an issue of solving poverty and we talk about four workable cornerstones as a strategy for Canada," Murphy said.

It's "not a dream," Murphy said, and has been achieved in Ireland and some Nordic countries, and even two provinces -- Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador -- have put forward proposals.

Long-term vision

The council is recommending a national anti-poverty strategy, with long-term vision and measurable timetables and targets, as the first of four cornerstones.

Action and a budget come next, Murphy said.

This means the feds and provinces, along with various agencies, need to come together and co-ordinate initiatives.

"We cannot have a jurisdictional squabble -- we just cannot afford to do that," Murphy said. "Poverty is an issue that concerns everybody in this country."

A government accountability structure to show results must also be in place, the council said.

There are also economic concerns with having people living poor. A great deal of money is lost in productivity, crime, poor health and skill shortages, the report said.

New immigrants, single parents, people with disabilities and aboriginals are most vulnerable to living in poverty.

Among single parents with one or two children, 48% are at risk of living in poverty or are living in poverty. In Sweden, it's 3%.

"The issue of poverty is not inevitable," Murphy said. "Solutions are in our reach."