The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction will be holding meetings with the public to determine what else can be done to reduce poverty in the province.
As it stands right now 15 per cent of the population, which accumulates to 678,000, live in poverty in BC.
NDP MLA Shane Simpson says people would be surprised by the numbers they’ve collected.
“One of the interesting things about this list for me is over 40 per cent of the people who are living in poverty in British Columbia have a pay cheque coming into the house. They’re not on disability benefits there out there working but can’t make ends meets.”
Simpson added the previous government ignored strategies the NDP tried to put in place and only focused on people getting jobs.
“A job is important and if you can get a job that’s critical, but we know there’s a lot of things involved in this. Whether it’s housing, education opportunities,it’s making sure for people who aren’t going to be able to get into the workforce that they have a reasonable slandered of living.”
Simpson is hoping to hear from people who are living in poverty or have in the past to get a clearer picture on how to reduce numbers.
Meetings take place in Smithers January 13th and in Prince George on February 7th.
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