(OTTAWA) - Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada (Saanich – Gulf Islands), released the following call to action on International Day for the Eradication of Poverty:
“There are over 4.8 million people in Canada living in poverty, struggling to put food on the table, heat their homes, and find secure jobs that pay enough to make ends meet,” said Ms. May. “Each month, almost 850,000 Canadians, one third of whom are children and youth, turn to food banks for help.”
“This year’s theme is Building a sustainable future: Coming together to end poverty and discrimination. It’s time to look beyond band-aid solutions. Food banks were originally intended as a temporary measure, yet they have become the government’s response to food insecurity. They are failing to improve conditions for those struggling and the number of households relying on foodbanks has grown by 25% since 2008. The Green Party’s plan for a Guaranteed Liveable Income (GLI) will make sure that no Canadian, young or old, lives in poverty.”
Jo-Ann Roberts, award winning CBC journalist and Green Party candidate (Victoria), continued: “Poverty in Canada is a crisis. Homelessness is a national emergency and coordinated, comprehensive action is long overdue. The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness has already proven that Housing First programs can break the cycle of poverty and get chronically homeless people into homes,” said Ms. Roberts. “Too often these programs are at the mercy of government grants or private donations. In the next minority government, Green MPs will fight for a National Housing Strategy and create a long term plan to end poverty.”
Green MPs will:
- Establish a Guaranteed Liveable Income through our Council of Canadian Governments to ensure no person's income falls below what is necessary for health, life and dignity;
- Implement a National Housing Strategy to provide every Canadian with a place to call home.
- Create a Housing First Approach to provide immediate support for chronically homeless;
- Increase access to co-operative housing for First Nations living on and off-reserve;
- Dedicate funding to the co-operative housing sector to enable more new affordable housing projects to proceed, while extending funding for co-ops whose contracts with the federal government are expiring; and
- Eliminate Stephen Harper’s Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Pilot Program, which currently allows foreign investors to purchase Canadian properties and can drive housing prices up for Canadian families beyond their reach.
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