Bishop, Liberal leader urge government action on poverty

from The Halifax Daily News

RACHEL BOOMER
The Daily News

When Bishop Sue Moxley started as minister at St. Mark's Anglican Church in 1997, parishioners set aside $200 a month to help the poor. By 2004, the year she left as minister, that amount had jumped to $3,000. Meanwhile, the church-run food bank was offering groceries to 3,000 people a month.

"The last year I was at St. Mark's, there were any number of people who phoned and said, 'We need help with our oil bill, and our social worker told us to call the church.' I would say that's downloading," Moxley said yesterday.

"The rest of us pay taxes to the government. We're looking for them to take some action."

Anti-poverty activists, including Moxley, gathered yesterday to talk to newly minted Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil, who says finding ways to fight poverty should be one of the province's priority issues.

McNeil hopes to push government to set up a poverty reduction committee, with people from different government departments and advocates who work with the poor.

"We need to tell government the issue of poverty is important. It's on the front burner," McNeil said. "Government can come out and tell you this is the way they're going to fight poverty. I'll be happy to let them take credit."

He's asking Premier Rodney MacDonald's government to let people on social assistance earn up to $3,000 without having their benefits clawed back.

Currently, 70 per cent of any wages people make while on social assistance is taken off their welfare cheques.

He'd also like Nova Scotia Legal Aid expanded to deal with landlord-tenant and energy cases; have the province build more small-options homes for the disabled; and allow more people to attend university while getting social assistance.

McNeil said the committee would also look into raising minimum wage in the province. Someone working full-time at minimum wage would make $14,000 a year.

Moxley said during her seven years at St. Mark's, she saw a lot of young women struggling to get out of poverty, and elderly people going to church suppers because they could not afford a meal.

"I don't think there's many people who are able to get out (of poverty). Lots of them would love to get out, but as soon as they make a move to try to get some work, they lose, because it all gets cut back," Moxley said.

She said letting people make some money on social assistance, or letting them go to school and keep welfare benefits, would help.