More than 20 per cent of Manitoban children live in poverty, according to a new report, but stakeholders and opposition leaders argue the province has the resources to deal with it.
The report, titled Poverty, the Epidemic and the Province, shows Manitoba has a child poverty rate of 20.68 per cent, which is seven percentage points higher than the national average.
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Poverty advocate Michael Redhead Champagne believes there is a solution to these staggering numbers – with a look back at the successes from 2020.
“CERB is a great example of how governments can work together to successfully end child poverty and if we can do it in a pandemic, we can do it today.”
Because of the positive effects CERB payments have had on poverty during the pandemic, the Manitoba Liberals say we need to start talking about a guaranteed annual income.
“The fact is that Manitoba, as a province, does the worst job of lifting people out of poverty of any province in Canada,” said Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont.
“And the reason is very simple … If you look at our social assistance, it’s been about the same for 35 years.”
Lamont agrees that CERB was a game-changer for a lot of people.
“They could pay their rent, maybe they could even save a little money, but the kids weren’t going hungry.”
Lamont said the Liberals have proposed two things to address poverty in the province: “One is to create a job program so people can get decent jobs that help them contribute. The other is to increase social assistance payments.” to be updated.”
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Meanwhile, the provincial NDP believes possible solutions to child poverty include breakfast programs in schools and access to education and housing.
“When we see funding cut, an area of social housing is being sold, you know, a lot of social housing is still boarded up – these are things we can provide to Manitobans,” Bernadette Smith, the Point Douglas legislator, said.
“Families are paying too much for private rent when we have social housing to ensure those needs are met.
“We have hundreds of units boarded up right now that the government should be working on fixing those housing units and getting families.”
The current government says it has taken a number of steps to reduce poverty, including raising the minimum wage, increasing the basic personal exemption and making child care more affordable.
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Rochelle Squires said, “One of the things we did in the fall is we announced an affordability package, which has a lot to do with ending child poverty and putting more money in the pockets of families and low-income families.” Some measurable progress has been made.” Minister of Families.
“Absolutely more work needs to be done and we are going to introduce a number of initiatives in Budget 23 that will be revealed in the coming weeks that will lift more Manitobans out of poverty.”
– With Global News’ Tegan Rasche files
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