According to a Calgary Herald news item, a recent coalition of antipoverty advocacy groups issued a report, “In This Together: Ending Poverty in Alberta.”
From a faith perspective, the sign of a democratic society working is how well the strong—those in power—care for the needs of the weakest, poorest, and most vulnerable among us. In this respect, the recent report indicts us all who are blessed by not living in poverty. We are one of the most affluent provinces of Canada—if not “the” most affluent. Yet, it is very telling that we neglect the poverty-stricken among us.
According to the report, citing Statistics Canada figures, children living below the poverty line in Alberta jumped from 53,000 in 2008 to 73,000 in 2009. Further, nearly half of all children who live in poverty come from homes where one or more people work fulltime year round. So the stereotype “blame game” of “those lazy welfare bums” just does not cut it in light of these facts. There are several things that, of course need to be done, however one thing I believe that the government needs to do and could do is raise the minimum wage level—there are still too many working poor. What solutions do you suggest that could reduce poverty? What are you personally prepared to do to be part of the solution rather than the problem? You can read more here.
You can also read the 16 page report here.
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