Cooper Institute - L'institut Cooper

Presentation by Marie Burge, on behalf of the PEI Working Group For a Livable Income

January 10, 2008 - Poverty Forum Hosted by Shawn Murphy, MP for Charlottetown

The PEI Working Group For a Livable Income believes that all citizens of PEI have a right to an income that allows them to live in good health and with dignity. Our goal is to influence the attitudes and actions of the community, employees, employers, and public policy makers in an effort to make a livable income a reality for all Islanders.

By livable income, we mean an income that allows a family or an individual to pay their rent or mortgage and their monthly bills, buy medicine and nutritious food, use transportation and childcare, and have money left for some extras and to cover emergencies. Livable income lets us look at all the kinds of income that individuals and families rely upon, For some, wages are the most important source of income and Employment Insurance is based on this (low wages = miserable EI). For others, income may come from pensions, Social Assistance, or the Disability Support Program.

The PEI Working Group For a Livable Income sees the need for a general change in attitude in the whole community, including political parties and governments. This could mean a change to a mind-set which sees “decent living” as a right for all, rather than as the privilege of the few. (The privileged people often defend this by saying that they have a good living because they are smart and hard-workers. We know that many who speak like this would not be smart enough or hard-working enough to eke out a living on $7.50/hour). The prejudice against people on low income is disgracefully common. Even among those who have been brought up in poverty and later “made it”, are quick to congratulate themselves for pulling themselves up by the boot straps and in the next breath blame impoverished people (many of whom can’t find the proverbial boot strap). We need to change our minds, hearts and language to combat this unjust and unloving
attitude. We need to stop denying that too many people in PEI live in shameful poverty.

We challenge all political parties to adopt sound policies of poverty reduction and eventual poverty elimination. This is a special serious challenge for the party which has been elected to govern. It may require major mind-set changes for those who have the power to promote poverty reduction policies. These policies must be based on principles like the following:

• impoverishment is a social problem created by the way we design our society; it’s not a disease to be cured
• the charity model (soup kitchens, food banks, turkey drives) though necessary cannot address the roots of impoverishment; charity provides merely bandaid solutions
• the charity model results in public policies and programs that have the potential of further humiliating and disempowering people living below the poverty line
• reduction and elimination of poverty is a social justice command
• current public policies in PEI may create, sustain, or promote poverty
• reduction and the eventual elimination of poverty is possible; public policy makers must take the lead
• all public policies must be viewed through the elimination of poverty lens (How does this policy contribute to poverty? How can it be changed to move toward a comprehensive strategy for poverty elimination?)
  

Remembering that people in PEI live in poverty if:

• they are farming and fishing, receiving less than the cost of production
• they are at or near minimum wage, who even though working full time, fall below the poverty line
• they are low paid women, part of the 62% of PEI women in the paid workforce who earn
• less than $20,000 / year
• they are seasonal, low paid workers who have to depend on EI (55%) of wage for a period of time which does not cover up to the beginning of the next work season
• they are people living on social assistance
• they are elderly women and part of the 50% who receive Guaranteed Income Supplement, indicating that they live below the poverty line
• they are Aboriginal people who do not have sufficient access to livable income
• they are youth working in dead-end low wage jobs, some carrying large debts
• they are new immigrants for whom employment entry is difficult and income is inadequate
• they are people with physical and/or intellectual disabilities, for whom there are reduced support systems
• they are spending more than one-third of a low income on housing and utilities.
  

Regardless of our party allegiance or who we might prefer as a federal leader, we cannot help but be impressed by the poverty-reduction strategy which Stéphane Dion announced in Mid- November. The Globe and Mail editorialized as follows:

“His vow that within five years a Liberal government would "reduce the number of Canadians living below the poverty line by at least 30 per cent" and "reduce the number of children living in poverty by at least 50 per cent" will be greeted with understandable skepticism. Recall the 1989 all-party Commons resolution to "eliminat[e] poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000." Still, while the Liberal Leader's targets may be ambitious, he has backed them up with a specific and well-considered plan. It is difficult for the federal government to address poverty without trampling on provincial turf. But Mr. Dion has largely steered clear of new welfare programs that would require endless federal-provincial negotiations. Although he promised to work with the provinces on "homelessness, affordable housing and universal child care," his plan centres
on making better use of the federal tax system. To remove the "welfare wall" - the financial barriers that take away any incentive for those receiving social assistance to accept low-paying jobs - he would increase the Working Income Tax Benefit introduced by the Conservative government earlier this year. To fight child poverty, he would expand the Canada Child Tax Benefit. And he would increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement, which provides additional funding beyond government pensions for low-income seniors.

Critique:

Yet, with many of those options outside federal jurisdiction and thus unavailable to him, Mr. Dion has nevertheless crafted the most comprehensive anti-poverty package seen at the federal level in some time. And, if nothing else, he has put poverty back on the national agenda.

Increasing federal and provincial minimum wages to at least $10 an hour would be the most effective single measure to eliminate poverty for a majority of the 3.4 million Canadians living in poverty. Other measures are also necessary, such as improving public services, providing affordable housing, and increasing EI, social assistance and seniors benefits. The federal government’s Working Income Tax Benefit is positive, but it is only a small step. It phases out for incomes below the poverty line and so will do little or nothing to bring people out of poverty. The poorly-paid need decent living wages for their work – not another inadequate tax break.

Most studies have shown that raising the minimum wage would have little impact on employment levels and would provide many other benefits for both workers and employers, such as increased productivity. It can be done with little cost and often with fiscal benefits for governments. Canadian business profits are at all-time record levels and we are importing over 100,000 temporary foreign workers a year to address supposed labour shortages.

The Working Group for a Livable Income identifies Four Pillars for Policy Development:

Pillar 1. Livable Income: Achieving livable income for all Islanders must underpin all government policy, in all sectors. Every citizen of Prince Edward Island deserves a livable income. Livable income touches on all aspects of Islanders' lives, including their health, education, and participation in the economy.

Pillar 2. Excellence in the Workforce: Prince Edward Island must not use low wages as a selling point for Island economic development. The Island must court companies that know the value of excellent workers and are willing to pay them a living wage.

Pillar 3. Appropriate Development: Government must set development policy that is forward-looking, that is community-based and sustainable for both people and the environment.

Pillar 4. Healthy Society, Healthy Economy: Income is recognized as the most important determinant of health for individuals and communities. Government must support livable income as a means to improve the health of Islanders and as a means of promoting greater social inclusion, for healthy communities.

Combatting poverty, deprivation and exclusion is not a matter of charity, and it does not depend on how rich a country is. By tackling poverty as a matter of human rights obligation, the world will have a better chance of abolishing this scourge in our lifetime. Poverty eradication is an achievable goal.

(Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the occasion of International Human Rights Day 2006)

Members of the PEI Working Group for a Livable Income:

• Association des femmes acadiennes et francophones de l'Î.-P.-E.
• ALERT
• Cooper Institute
• PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women
• PEI Federation of Labour
• PEI Healthy Eating Alliance
• PEI People First
• Société Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin (SSTA)
• Women's Network PEI