We made it!
2020 has felt simultaneously like the longest and shortest year. So many of us anticipated and planned for a year of significant accomplishments, opportunities and growth. We felt that 2020 would be a year of renewal. And then something called the Corona virus (COVID-19) emerged.
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What an audacious title - The End of Poverty. Everyone in this audience has given remarks on reducing poverty in Canada, poverty alleviation, the costs of poverty, strategies to address poverty and, of course, what is poverty? But the End of Poverty? As in actually ending it. Jeffrey Sachs wrote about it on an international level but I’ve never done it before. And I probably never would, NOT because I don’t yearn for it – like you – but because I’m somewhat more cautious than Paul Born, optimist extraordinaire, who told me to go for it. He told me, find the optimist within you; cast aside the cautious former civil servant and nonprofit manager, and reveal the path that ends poverty. My remarks today are the product of a reflection on the best case forward. Not the expected case or the worst case – the best case. We could all talk ourselves into one of these less ambitious roads but why not consider what could be the dream scenario. Before doing so - knock on wood, twist your ring, blink three times or do whatever you do so we don’t jinx this whole thing.
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How much time does it take to create a poverty reduction strategy? There is no good answer to this question. However, one of the most common drawbacks we hear from Cities Reducing Poverty members is the unexpected amount of time it takes to create and launch a strategy.
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The Dimensions of Poverty Hub is comprised of meaningful and measurable indicators that track progress in poverty reduction beyond the poverty line. Released in July 2019, the Hub serves as the official dashboard for Opportunity for All, Canada’s first poverty reduction strategy. It monitors the ability of individuals and families to better meet their basic needs and move closer to the modest standard of living reflected in Canada's Official Poverty Line.
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Once in a while, change is transformative and bold, and happens almost overnight. Take the Ontario Basic Income Pilot project: More than 4,000 people in three Ontario communities were provided with an opportunity to test the idea of whether receiving a guaranteed income could break the cycle of poverty and improve opportunities.
British Columbia’s first poverty reduction strategy, TogetherBC, sets a path to reduce overall poverty in B.C. by at least 25% and child poverty by 50% by 2024. These targets were legislated in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Act, with measures aligned with Opportunity for All, Canada’s first poverty reduction strategy.
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