Liberals set sights on poverty, costly housing

from The Toronto Star

MP tours Canada to discuss solutions with community groups

Debra Black
Staff Reporter

Homelessness and the lack of affordable housing for the poor in the GTA was one of the hot topics at a Toronto session of a national anti-poverty tour.

Unless the problems are dealt with, it is very difficult to begin to solve a lot of the other issues that face the poor, said Ken Dryden, MP for York Centre and chair of the Liberal caucus social development committee.

That's the message he heard at the national round table with community groups, held here over the weekend as part of the 16-city tour, which ends January 26 in Brandon, Man.

The themes of homelessness and lack of housing for the poor were also raised in Regina and Victoria, Dryden said.

Dryden's discussions are designed to "engage Canadians" in the Liberals' call to address what they say is an unacceptable level of poverty in Canada.

Last fall, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion announced a Liberal promise to reduce overall poverty by 30 per cent and child poverty by 50 per cent, within the first five years of forming a government.

A recent United Way report stated almost 30 per cent of Toronto families – about 93,000 households raising children – are living in poverty, compared with 16 per cent in 1990.

Dryden hammered home the critical nature of affordable housing at the Toronto meeting.

"Unless a person finds some kind of stability in that way, you can't find any stability in any other way like getting training or finding a job or forming relationships that make up a life."

Government needs to make poverty a real focus, he said.

"You just don't focus on dealing with individual pieces. You need to create the environment where there is a greater will and desire to meet those individual needs."

But any serious attempt to deal with poverty has to include income support for children, seniors, the working poor and people with disabilities as well as public housing, transportation and child care.

"All of those are part of a serious mix of approaches. Just what the precise mix is has to do with what you think will be the most effective."