Poverty: turn up the ‘heat’, campaigners say

Wages among many concerns

If, as the old saying goes, politicians are society’s thermometers, showing which issues are hot, then Peter Gilmer suggests citizens become thermostats. That is, turn up the heat. He and other anti-poverty campaigners Friday asked the federal and provincial governments to pay much more attention to addressing the poverty they pledged to eradicate decades ago.

Gilmer, a United Church minister who works with the city’s downtown antipoverty ministry, suggested a good start would be higher social assistance benefits for single individuals, reflecting a much higher cost of living since the current rate was set in 2007, and a policy change letting social assistance recipients earn considerably more than they now can earn before deductions start.

He also urged abolition of the province’s transitional employment allowance, a social assistance program for people considered potentially employable because its rates are low and it has no provision for

“OUR COUNTRY IS ONLY AS STRONG AS THE WEAKEST LINK AND IF WE CONTINUE TO INCREASE POVERTY, WE’RE GOING TO BE ONE WEAK COUNTRY.”

BONNIE MORTON

special needs.

Speaking on the UN’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Gilmer and others said another important component is continual indexing of the minimum wage, starting from a level high enough to be a living wage covering accommodation, food and transportation. Anything else and “you’re indexing poverty,” he said.

More money for social housing should be a top priority for all levels of government, along with caps on rent increases each year for low- and middle-income people, plus more high-quality child care.

To support this, the tax system should ensure a better distribution of wealth and income, saying the “huge gap between rich and poor in our province is perhaps our most serious problem” — one with ripples through the health, justice and medical systems, plus lost productivity.

Bonnie Morton, Gilmer’s colleague in the ministry, flagged several more issues including landlords’ refusal to rent to families with children and the disproportionate burden of poverty borne by women.

“Our country is only as strong as the weakest link and if we continue to increase poverty, we’re going to be one weak country,” she warned.

Brian Banks, speaking for a group called Poverty-Free Saskatchewan, said that instead of “a multitude of microsolutions”, Saskatchewan’s government should admit about 30 per cent of its citizens are facing “difficulties” and enact an overall policy for the elimination of poverty. Then, it should put this in the hands of civil servants rather than politicians who have only a “narrow view”.

As well, he said Saskatchewan is one of only two provinces without a comprehensive plan for eliminating poverty, integrating the work of government organizations and setting guidelines that are reported annually.

Over the last decade, having such a plan has allowed Quebec to show “the greatest improvement in the reduction of poverty in Canada,” he said.