The View from Here

Governments across Canada are implementing comprehensive plans with targets and timelines aimed at reducing poverty and social exclusion. The Province of Manitoba has taken important steps to address poverty and social exclusion in recent years, however, much more remains to be done. It has to be acknowledged that progress has been made in each of the relevant policy areas.  But, unlike a growing number of provinces, Manitoba has not implemented a comprehensive plan that shows Manitobans how far it has come and where it plans to go in its efforts to reduce poverty and social exclusion. This is an important part of a poverty reduction plan. In absence of a provincial government process, CCPA-Manitoba, in collaboration with Make Poverty History Manitoba and many other organizations, has gathered the ideas and policy recommendations resulting from consultations and interviews with hundreds of individuals across Manitoba. Through our research and dialogue we have put together what we believe to be a reasonable and realistic plan. Much of our plan builds on the progress that has been made by the Province. At time of publication, 70 organizations have endorsed our plan and many more continue to sign on. We hope that the Manitoba government will too.

This report looks at the emergence of poverty reduction plans in other jurisdictions; it outlines the essential components of a meaningful poverty reduction plan; it makes the case for a made in Manitoba poverty reduction plan; it includes the latest poverty statistics for Manitoba; it proposes indicators with targets and timelines to measure progress; and it outlines a large package of policies and programs that should be at the heart of a comprehensive poverty reduction plan, highlighting items for immediate action.