Where’s The Bailout For The Poor?

While the government was throwing money at the banks and car companies, millions of Canadians found their situation only getting worse.

Last week’s Toronto Federal Town Hall Meeting hosted by the inspiring Recession Relief Coalition was an opportunity for the poor and their advocates to talk directly about the adverse impacts this recession is having on their lives.

It was frank talk too, aimed at Members of Parliament like myself and other leaders. At one point, to considerable applause, I noted that the noise reminded me of Question Period.

The poor give a reality check to our studies and talk on poverty. It may not always be polite but it sure is necessary. From listening to the experiences and recommendations of those who attended, I could definitely feel their intense pain and frustration. I came away with the impression that more and more Canadians are just plain tired of not having their needs addressed by their government.

I can understand their frustration. The impact of this recession only tells a small part of the story. The fact is, millions of Canadians were dealing with poverty, homelessness, and social exclusion long before the recession even began. With the downturn in the economy and the lack of an appropriate social safety net to mitigate the hurt, we’ve only seen a bad situation get worse. The economy may be slowly recovering, but unfortunately this won’t fix the glaring poverty that already existed in this country.

Despite the apparent lack of progress made by the federal government on these issues, I remain hopeful. This is something that I wanted to make clear in my address at the town hall – I truly believe we can and will eliminate poverty in this country. I say this because I can see the concerted efforts being made inside and outside of government to gain municipal and provincial support, as well as federal leadership on this issue.

In particular, I want to salute the many organizations and groups that attended last week’s meeting and shared their thoughts with us. The message was loud and clear; civil society is calling on the federal government to be more responsible, more accountable, and to prioritize resources to childcare, the child tax benefit, EI reform, and social housing. These organizations have all been working tirelessly towards the same goal of eliminating poverty in Canada. I’ve seen them demonstrate so much resilience through their continued efforts. It is inspiring, and is a large reason why I remain so hopeful.

I am also hopeful because the ground is moving federally. There is the brand new Senate report, In From the Margins, and also the two-year House of Commons committee study I initiated on the federal government’s role in poverty reduction. MPs across party lines have been working cooperatively on it. The study is now nearing completion and I hope that when the House of Commons is back in session in March, it will culminate in a unanimous final report with concrete recommendations for the federal government.

I have also had help from poverty-fighting groups to craft a private member’s bill that will call for a national poverty strategy and action plan with clear targets and timelines. The three priority areas the bill would address are income security, social inclusion, and housing. I have the support of New Democrats and we have been working together to bring the federal government back into the discussion about its role in public life relating to poverty, the economy, and taxation. The Recession Relief Coalition has nurtured this conversation, as demonstrated by the success of the Town Hall meeting.

Part of our conversation has to be about where people’s tax dollars are being spent. During this recession, we’ve seen the government bailing out big businesses like the auto and banking industries, but putting few resources into helping build the social infrastructure necessary to aid the most vulnerable in society. For example, only a fraction of the funding that was allocated for new social housing units and upgrades in the last federal budget has actually been spent.

The banks and car companies got their money but the poor didn’t. We ought to be asking the government and ourselves why this is.