Join the Call For a Plan
BC has the highest poverty rate in Canada and no plan to tackle it directly.
Join others calling for a poverty reduction plan, including over 350 organizations with a collective membership of over 300,000 people throughout the province. Together we can make a difference!
MLA Shane Simpson has introduced a private member’s Bill proposing a BC Poverty Reduction Act. If adopted, it would see the government develop a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy within one year, including legislated targets and timelines to reduce the breadth and depth of poverty in our province. After you join the call above, you can send an email directly to the Premier urging her to support it.
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We All Pay For
Poverty
Paying for the negative effects of poverty costs much more than dealing with it directly.
Poverty is not just a hardship for those who experience it. It is costly to us as a province. Our government tells us they can’t afford poverty reduction policies like investing in new social housing, increasing welfare, or providing universal access to child care. But they fail to consider the large amount of resources that we spend, year after year, paying for the consequences of poverty.
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Poverty Is Not
Inevitable
BC is one of the last provinces left without a poverty reduction plan.
All but 3 provinces in Canada either have poverty reduction plans or are in the process of adopting them, and many are already seeing success. They’re saving money and lives by tackling the issue of poverty head-on. In many places, it was community pressure that convinced the government to take action, and then unanimous government support that provided the commitment to make a big difference in people’s lives.