Turning the Titanic around
Facilitating an anti-poverty dialogue on Cape Breton Island.
In 2018, after extensive crossisland consultation, Cape Breton University launched its 2019-24 strategic plan.
One of its strategic directions, to Champion the Island’s Prosperity, compels CBU to bolster health and development of the island. It speaks to the roots of the institution and a decadesold commitment to serve the communities from which it came.
Prosperity (wealth) and health go together.
CBU’S strategic plan recognizes the connection and commits the university to contribute positively to the equation. CBU’S recently established Centre for Health, Wellness and Extended Learning is one vehicle through which some of its action will occur. Co-ordinating a dialogue on poverty, is one action.
So why poverty? And why now?
Quite simply, when it comes to any serious wealth-health discussion for Cape Breton Island, poverty is like the iceberg scraping the side of the Titanic. Rearranging the deckchairs won’t cut it. We need to turn the ship around.
Poverty is an imminent threat and a serious health risk on our island today and into the future. There is lots of evidence to tell us that poor children frequently grow up to be less healthy adults.
In August 2018, the Government of Canada released its first national poverty reduction strategy, targeting a 20 per cent reduction in poverty by 2020 and a 50 per cent reduction by 2030 (relative to 2015). Little more than one year later, some jurisdictions in the country report progress.
The made-in-ottawa solutions however, are not working well enough or fast enough for Cape Breton.
According to 2017 Statistics Canada figures, Nova Scotia was the only Canadian province in which child poverty continued to rise, with specific communities in Cape Breton having among the highest rates of poverty in the country. According to the 2017 LIM-AT
“Perhaps a better question in Nova Scotia than whether universities should play a role in addressing poverty, is why in a provincial system comprised of 10 publicly funded universities and 13 community college campuses that we aren’t already, collectively, doing a better job.”
(low income measure-after tax) figures, one in three children in the federal riding of Sydneyvictoria, lives in poverty. These are not just numbers on some Ottawa accountant’s spreadsheet. We are talking about our children.
So what does Cape Breton Island actually need to do and what value, if any, can CBU add?
We have identified a number of areas for work.
As is the case with most complex problems, knowledge is power and CBU like other universities, is in the education-knowledge business. Our citizens across the island need education about the complexities of poverty.
CBU’S researchers can contribute to an evidence-base specific to us, on which to build effective advocacy. Policy reform needs to be part of the solution.
Turning the Titanic around isn’t easy. Poverty is complex, insidious and its destruction spreads across generations. It makes people sick, marginalizes, cripples. Poverty isn’t just about lack of income. It is frequently also about inadequate housing, poor health, lower educational outcomes and social exclusion.
Those “living poor” are at much greater risk of incarceration and substance abuse. Sadly, shame pervades. The victims of poverty blame themselves for conditions over which they have little control and those with more resources but little real knowledge, “blame the victims.”
Taking the stigma out of poverty will only happen when there is widespread critical literacy about the problem that changes the dialogue.
Safe navigation within the ice floe will also require organized, collective action and effective advocacy.
It was poverty in Nova Scotia in the early 1920s that was the impetus for the Antigonish Movement. Fr. Jimmy Tompkins and Fr. Moses Coady achieved significant social reform through a deliberative combination of adult education, co-operatives, micro-financing and rural community development. One of their tenets was “starting with the economics,” sage recognition that until bellies were full and people had enough money to cover essentials, little headway could be made on other reforms. This wisdom still rings true.
There is no suggestion that CBU press “replay” on the Antigonish Movement of the last century. These are different times. But there is recognition that a university platform should be an “asset” within a regional anti-poverty agenda.
Universities are well positioned to facilitate informed discussion among content experts and well-designed to contribute to “organized voice.” Perhaps a better question in Nova Scotia than whether universities should play a role in addressing poverty, is why in a provincial system comprised of 10 publicly funded universities and 13 community college campuses that we aren’t already, collectively, doing a better job.
Over the last 18 months, Cape Breton University has almost doubled its size, a demographic shift in which enrolment of international students now surpasses domestic.
Despite some growing pains, (no pun intended), growth brings prosperity and contributes to health in our community. This isn’t just about numbers.
Many of today’s students are Gen Z (born after 1995). The first generation truly networked to the world from birth, they are global thinkers, tech-savvy and entrepreneurial. They think about ecology and social justice in ways that are refreshing and transformative as they connect to the world daily, in natural ways. Theirs is a powerful new intelligence, for new-age collective action around complex problems like poverty.
It is said that Gen Z may face the biggest challenges of any generation yet. But already connected to each other in ways that can mobilize collective social action, they are also the best equipped yet to do so.
CBU has vested interest in health in our region. It believes it can play an important role in an anti-poverty agenda. Our students will be our biggest transformational asset.