End `disgrace' of poverty, union rally hears

from The Toronto Star

THE CANADIAN PRESS

Widespread poverty in Canada, particularly among aboriginal peoples, is tarnishing the international reputation of a country that considers itself a moral beacon to the rest of the world, activists told a union-led rally today.

Speakers at the event in Toronto, one of several around the globe to mark International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, assailed Prime Minister Stephen Harper for planning to cut taxes rather than invest in public services that help ensure social justice.

"Mr. Harper, you cannot turn your back on kids . . . you cannot turn your back on social progress in our country," said Paul Moist, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which has more than 500,000 members.

"We don't want your tax cuts."

About 2,000 union members and supporters heard speakers highlight the issues facing Canada's First Nations.

About one in four aboriginal children live in poverty, more than 100 communities are required to boil their water before drinking, and many other First Nations are homeless or living in substandard housing, speakers said.

CUPE Ontario president Sid Ryan denounced the "conspiracy of silence" surrounding the poor conditions of the First Nations, who he said are treated like "second-class citizens" and ignored by politicians who lack the will to address the situation.

"The plight of the First Nations is a national disgrace," Ryan said. "The plight of the First Nations has got to be the front line in the battle against poverty in this country."

Joanne Webb, a member of CUPE's aboriginal council, said First Nations poverty will cost Canada $11 billion a year by 2016.

Harper's cancellation of the 2005 Kelowna Accord, in which Ottawa committed to spend $5 billion on First Nations, was a "major setback to improving the lives of aboriginal people," Webb said.

Speakers called on governments to implement a "living" minimum wage, an action plan to battle homelessness, affordable child care and even a national pharmacare program.

In Winnipeg, dozens of protesters rallied outside the Manitoba legislature to call for higher monthly welfare payments.

Demonstrators there said annual increases have not kept up with the rising cost of living.

In response, the provincial government promised to spend $4.75 million in training, education and support programs designed to help people find and keep jobs.

At the Toronto rally, Moist urged Ottawa to live up to a goal of spending 0.7 per cent of Canada's GDP on aid to the developing world.

Even though the target was set decades ago by former prime minister Lester Pearson, the country has only managed to get to about half that level, Moist said.

"Canada cannot claim to provide moral leadership to the world without putting its money where its mouth is," Moist said.

Chants of "Amandla," a Zulu word meaning "power" that became a popular rallying cry in South Africa against the forces of apartheid, went up when South African union leader Petrus Mashishi took the stage.

"All of us workers are the producers of wealth on this Earth . . . but we are the ones who suffer from poverty," said Mashishi, head of the South African Municipal Workers Union.