Dear Editor:
When using the Market Basket Measure, it is estimated that one in five children, and over 16 per cent of the general population in B.C., live in poverty. Despite this we remain the only province in Canada without a poverty reduction plan.
Our welfare system is a lemon. With rates frozen since 2007 and an individual person on welfare expected to live off of $610/month, it’s no wonder that few people are able to pull themselves out of extreme poverty once they find themselves there.
The working poor hardly fare better. There are few opportunities for improving your situation when you’re working multiple jobs to keep food on the table for your children. Going back to school or spending time searching for a higher paying job all involve sacrificing time needed to earn wages.
There are substantial social and economic costs we pay as a collective when we don’t address poverty with urgency: Increased crime rates and violence, strain on the medical system from higher rates of poverty-related health and mental issues, loss of productivity and income tax revenue, suppression of the economy, the establishment of a deeper cycle of poverty and a loss of our humanity – to name only a few.
It’s not just the intangible costs either: Real dollars are being spent by private individuals who feel the moral imperative to bail out the province through donations to charities who are struggling to keep afloat amidst the ever increasing need for their services. Use of food banks, for instance, is up 30 per cent since 2008.
Resolving poverty is not only about a stronger economy and more job opportunities – it is also tied to managing the inequitable distribution of wealth. This is most commonly managed through progressive taxation – something B.C. fails at compared to other provinces. According to a study done by Andrew MacLeod of The Tyee (who subsequently published a book on the topic), B.C. has the highest level of inequality in after-tax wealth of any province in Canada, second only to Alberta.
We will need to carefully consider a variety of strategies to ensure efficacy and manage unintended consequences, but one thing is clear: The resolution of the poverty crisis in this province is absolutely necessary if we want to be able to move forward together in building a stronger province. B.C. is long overdue for a poverty reduction plan.
Bowinn Ma
North Vancouver
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