British Columbia currently does not have a poverty reduction strategy despite having the second-worst provincial poverty rate in Canada.
The government is looking to change that through the Poverty Reduction Strategy Act. It will introduce the province’s first Poverty Reduction Strategy to be released before March 31st, 2019.
Over 8,500 people took part in a public engagement on poverty from November 2017 to March 2018, including Bernie Goold. The St. Vincent de Paul Board Chair says Prince George could benefit greatly from this legislation.
“We need to have some kind of rehabilitation in Prince George because we gather people from all over the north that come to Prince George and end up being homeless here.”
The strategy aims to:
- commit government to reduce BC’s overall poverty rate by 25% and child poverty rate by 50% in the next five years;
- Establish an independent advisory committee that will represent the breadth and depth of personal and professional experiences of poverty in B.C. and advise the minister on matters relating to poverty reduction and prevention;
- Require government to report annually on its progress to reduce poverty; and
- Require government to release its first poverty reduction strategy by March 31, 2019. The strategy must focus on the key issues faced by people living in poverty including housing, education, employment, income supports and social inclusion.
For PG, Goold says affordable housing continues to be the main issues. There is, however, another issue she sees regularly.
“Mental health. There are a lot of people that are on the street and, because they are homeless, they’re not taking medication so there is a big gap in mental health issues.”
The latest statistics, from 2016, show about 557,000 people in BC live in poverty. Of that, 99,000 are children. Goold noted this number as well, saying SVDP sees an increase in families when schools are out because a lot of students need to utilize breakfast programs and other similar courses.