JOURNEY
TO JUSTICE
By
Joe Gunn
Is
poverty rising on the fall agenda?
As a Christian interested
in social justice, you realize you cannot do everything. But in order
to have the greatest impact for good, where should you place your attention?
To encourage strategic momentum
for change this autumn, you and your collaborators would be well-advised
to direct your focus toward poverty issues.
That’s because a half-dozen
important events will take place this fall — and with the support
of people of good faith across the land, you could be part of some real
progress to reduce and eventually end poverty in Canada.
The Justice and Peace Commission
of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is preparing to release
a pastoral letter on poverty on Oct. 17, 2010. This is the International
Day for the Eradication of Poverty, established by the United Nations.
By this action, the bishops are returning to their practice of several
years ago, when pastoral letters were released on this topic and date
in both 1996 and 1998. While we don’t yet know exactly what the
bishops’ letter will propose, they’ve shown an excellent
sense of timing.
Christian groups will not
only be able to study and reflect on this pastoral letter, but also
take responsive action at a time when poverty issues will be in the
forefront of political attention.
The Standing Senate Committee
on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Cities released
an impressive report in December 2009 called In from the Margins: A
Call to Action on Poverty, Housing and Homelessness. The main recommendation
of the report was that the federal government should refrain from developing
more programs that maintain people in poverty, but rather initiate strategies
to actually lift people out of poverty. The federal government is mandated
to respond in writing to the Senate’s report and recommendations
by the third week of September — providing an excellent opportunity
to gauge Ottawa’s interest, and political will, to act.
Closely related to this development
is the work of a parliamentary committee with another cumbersome name,
the Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of
Persons with Disabilities (HUMA). This committee has been studying the
role of the federal government in poverty eradication for two years,
and has held visits and hearings across Canada. Again, the committee’s
long-awaited report is due to be released in the fall of 2010.
What will be interesting
to watch for in the HUMA report is whether the parties will agree on
an enhanced agenda for the federal government. In November 2010, an
all-party resolution unanimously passed in the House, calling on the
government to “develop an immediate plan to eliminate poverty
in Canada for all.” But will the politicians work together to
make this happen in fact?
Yet another incentive for action occurred just before the House rose
for the summer. On June 17 the MP for Sault Ste. Marie, Tony Martin,
introduced his Private Members Bill, C- 545, An Act to Eliminate Poverty
in Canada. Martin noted that already three provinces have anti-poverty
laws, and six (Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Manitoba
and Nova Scotia) have initiated various poverty reduction strategies.
Supported by the three opposition parties, Martin’s bill would
force the federal government to establish “a strategy to eliminate
poverty and promote social inclusion” as well as appoint an independent
Office of the Poverty Elimination Commissioner to monitor and report
on progress.
At the Parliament Hill press conference announcing the bill, Chandra
Pasma, a policy analyst with Citizens for Public Justice, said, “This
is an important piece of legislation that will help to promote dignity
for all Canadians. We believe that developing a poverty elimination
strategy is something all political parties, all Canadians and all people
of faith should support.”
How might this support be shown?
First of all, residents of Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia
might ask their governments why they have not developed poverty reduction
strategies. The best of the six provincial plans were conceived after
thorough consultations with social organizations, churches and people
living in poverty. A 2008 study by the Ontario Association of Food Banks
figured that the cost of poverty in Canada on health care, economic
productivity, the criminal justice system, etc. was between $72.5 and
$86.1 billion per year. Surely all Canadians have a stake in ending
poverty.
If you want to join your voice to the chorus of Canadians seeking action
against poverty this fall, sign on to the Dignity for All campaign,
at www.dignityforall.ca. On this website, you can see if your MP is
among the 60 parliamentarians, from all parties, who have supported
the campaign to date.
If your representative is not there, invite them to get on board before
they come looking for your vote — also a possibility this fall!
Gunn is the Ottawa-based executive director of Citizens for Public
Justice, www.cpj.ca, an ecumenical
social advocacy organization.
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