Poverty reduction plan delayed for consultation

Critics decry holdup until fall, say work can be done now to aid low-income Canadians

OTTAWA— The Liberal government will launch nationwide consultations and an advisory panel to rake in suggestions for its poverty reduction plan, a move that will delay action on the strategy until some point this fall, Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Monday.

Duclos said the extra time was needed to give community groups, other levels of government and those affected the chance to shape longterm plans.

The creation of a national poverty reduction strategy is one of the marquee commitments in Duclos’s mandate letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Monday’s announcement included the creation of an “engagement website” for consultations, as well as planning for roundtable discussions with various groups.

The government will also put out a call for nominations to fill a new advisory committee on poverty, Duclos said. The advisers will identify priority areas for action and suggest how to align federal and provincial strategies, the minister said.

John Clarke, an organizer in Toronto with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, said Monday’s announcement left him “completely skeptical.” Clarke said Ottawa could immediately start making a big difference for low-income Canadians by beef- ing up employment insurance payouts and diverting more money into social housing.

“It isn’t a vastly complex, esoteric issue,” Clarke said. “I think it’s a general rule that when governments want to do something they do it and when they don’t, they consult.”

Duclos said that an estimated three million Canadians were living in poverty as of 2014, representing roughly 9 per cent of the population. The government also estimates there were 500,000 children living in low-income households that year.