http://www.ndp.ca/page/3815

NDP launches campaign to end poverty in Canada
Thu 1 Jun 2006

OTTAWA - The NDP today launched a national "End Poverty in Canada" campaign
vowing to engage Canadians and their politicians in deciding what the
fairest way forward is for all Canadians.

"Our social safety net has become an incoherent, inefficient mess that must
be repaired," said NDP Social Policy Critic Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie).

"The working poor aren’t receiving sufficient wages, they’re unable to
access Employment Insurance when they need it, and they can’t house and
feed their families. Something is terribly wrong in Canada when people
working full-time for a full year still can’t make ends meet."

The NDP Social Policy Caucus cited recent United Nations and Ontario-based
reports documenting the crisis which found:

Over half of Canadians receiving social assistance still need food banks to
survive.
Most welfare levels are set at less than half the low-income cut-off, which
the government’s own advisory body, The National Council on Welfare, calls
an "utter disaster".
About a third of low-wage workers do not earn sufficient income to make
ends meet.
Working with their civil society allies, the NDP will engage Canadians in
dialogue on the Canada Social Transfer which transfers billions of dollars
to provinces and territories with no accountability nor monitoring of its
adequacy.

"We will travel to communities to hear from Canadians about what their
principles of fairness, justice and equity say about what they want for
themselves, their neighbours and all Canadians. It is time for a fair deal
for all," said Martin.

As part of the campaign, Martin introduced a motion in Parliament today to
increase the federal minimum wage to $10 an hour for federal jurisdiction
workers, and to implement recommendations from the Pay Equity Task Force
Final Report.

Martin was joined by other NDP Social Policy Caucus members who spoke about
the impact of poverty in their critic areas: Housing and Status of Women
Critic Irene Mathyssen (London–Fanshawe); Deputy Human Rights Critic Wayne
Marston (Hamilton East–Stoney Creek); Employment Insurance Critic Yvon
Godin (Acadie–Bathurst); Immigration Critic Bill Siksay (Burnaby–Douglas);
Critic for Toronto Peggy Nash (Parkdale–High Park) and Child Care Critic
Olivia Chow (Trinity–Spadina).

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