How might we contest the darkness of night where fear and sorrow reside and bring the light of expectation and accomplishment?
Around the world this is a time of year when we celebrate light as victory over the forces which destroy life. Beautiful celebrations known as Hanukkah, Diwali and Christmas, to name but a few fill us with hope and joy. For Canadians these celebrations bring special meaning as we enter a season with some of the shortest days of the year.
Access to fresh, affordable nutritious food is an important aspect of many local poverty reduction strategies. In Sault Ste. Marie, the Poverty Reduction Roundtable is addressing this pillar through a food resource centre called Harvest Algoma. Harvest Algoma was established by United Way Sault Ste. Marie & Algoma District, and the United Way continues to operate the facility.
The food resource distribution centre is creating a more efficient local food system, and has:
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On September 6, 2018, the Roundtable on Poverty Reduction for the Montreal Borough of Côte-des-neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Graçe submitted its recommendations to the Borough Council on how it could deploy its political, social and economic capital to reduce poverty within its boundaries.
The Roundtable was launched by former Borough Mayor, Russell Copeman, in early 2017 who was convinced the best way to develop a local plan was to follow Tamarack’s tried and true engagement process. After her election in late 2017, new Borough Mayor Sue Montgomery gave her blessing to the Roundtable members to conclude their work with caveat that an accent be put on “actionable” recommendations for poverty reduction by the Borough Council.
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This is the November 2018 edition of the Cities Reducing Poverty Policy Digest, which aims to provide you with timely poverty-related policy updates and resources from across Canada.
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In Edmonton, approximately 140,000 workers are identified as low income earners (earning below $16.31 per hour), according to the Edmonton Social Planning Council. Four in five of these workers are over the age of 20 and 60% are women.
The Canadian Payroll Association’s annual survey of Canadian workers identifies that in any given year 45% to 50% of workers across our nation are living pay check to pay check and would face significant hardships, including the loss of their residence, if they went without their pay check for one or two pay periods.
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Housing affordability has become a critical issue across Canada, in cities such as New Westminster which is located in Metro Vancouver. New Westminster is home to 11,000 low-income individuals some of which are children and seniors. The high housing costs in the City relative to income and low vacancy rates are some of the reasons why many residents struggle to secure and maintain housing.
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