Federal Government says it will 'take under advisement' a report from Senate, calling for action on poverty, national housing strategy
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The federal government says that it will take "under advisement" a Senate committee report that calls for action to be taken on ending poverty across Canada and establishing a national housing strategy.
The report, "IN FROM THE MARGINS: A CALL TO ACTION ON POVERTY, HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS," makes 74 specific recommendations on poverty and homelessness and calls for the creation of a national housing strategy. The report says that 3.4 million Canadians are trapped in poverty with many government programs "substantially broken."
Among the report's 74 recommendations is a call for Ottawa to set a goal of "poverty eradication" and to work with the provinces to create a national child-care system, a federal housing strategy and to ensure income support for people on welfare meets the poverty level.
The report also recommends developing a national income support program for the disabled, increasing the National Child Benefit to $5,000 by 2012 and boosting the Working Income Tax Benefit so those in low-wage jobs can escape poverty.
The report by the Senate subcommittee on cities was released by Conservative Senator Hugh Segal and Liberal Senator Art Eggleton in December 2009. The report is from the Subcommittee on Cities of the Senate's Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology. The Senate adopted the report in a unanimous vote April 29.
It received unanimous Senate support in April this year. Parliamentary rules required that the government respond within 150 days to the report. The response was delivered on Monday, September 27th.
Both Senator Hugh Segal and Senator Art Eggleton, who chaired the Senate committee, report, have been speaking at events across Canada. Senator Eggleton has been quoted by the news media as being "disappointed" in the government's response. He said it should be a high priority for the government. Social service and anti-poverty groups have reacted with dismay at the government's response.
The response of the federal government has been interpreted as having "shelved" the report, since it they have not said they would adopt any of the recommendations. The federal response was also received with dismay by social justice and social service groups.
"With the majority of provinces and territories pursuing poverty reduction, the federal government needs to do its part," Laurel Rothman of Campaign 2000 was quoted as saying.
In a statement issued by the CASW, Darlene MacDonald, CASW president, said that the response by the government "leads CASW to truly question the government's commitment to support the provinces and territories with developing a national poverty reduction plan to compliment their own."
The cool government response came on the same day that delegates to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce annual meeting adopted a resolution from the Burnaby Board of Trade calling on the federal government to create a national plan to end homelessness.
It also appears at the same time as recent a report by RBC Economics says that their data shows a continued rise in home ownership costs in the second quarter of this year across Canada despite a significant slowing in resale market activity in recent months.
The combination of higher home prices and mortgage rates, the report said, contributes to the increase by raising the monthly mortgage servicing charge on a typical home. The government told the Senate that it would rely on private markets to meet the housing needs of most Canadians.
In From The Margins: A Call To Action On Poverty, Housing And Homelessness
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