Inequality and poverty

Canadians are looking to their federal and provincial governments to protect them from the repercussions of the global financial credit crunch. Among the necessary measures our legislatures should take—perhaps even the most effective—would be a determined joint effort to reduce Canada’s scandalously high rate of poverty.

“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will have food for a lifetime.” So goes the saying that has been used to describe the problems with charity (“ handouts”) and to illustrate why there is a need for a “hand up” instead. It is interesting that our governments increasingly rely on charities to help people who are in hardship and need additional support: food banks and soup kitchens for food, emergency shelters for housing, other family members to help with eldercare, neighbours to help with child care, etc.

UNIACKE SQUARE provides 184 units of good quality, affordable rental housing at a time when low-income rental housing is in short supply all across the country, including Halifax. As such, it constitutes a very valuable asset, and should be protected and preserved.

TORONTO – In Canada’s most expensive urban area, Ontario’s minimum wage falls far short of what families need for a decent standard of living, says the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The study, A Living Wage for Toronto, estimates two working parents raising two young children would need to earn $16.60 an hour each, with both parents working full-time and year-round, to be able to live adequately within the Greater Toronto Area.