Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government has committed to eradicating poverty and I fully support that statement. Looking at the Anti-Poverty Strategy and action plan, they contain many good ideas that will tweak the system and gently increase overall wellness in our communities, but tweaking the system is not going to eliminate poverty.
Our northern cultures put a high value on helping each other get through difficult times and making sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to get ahead. Our efforts to eliminate poverty should reflect those values. Despite our best intentions, however, the maze of government-funded programs has created poverty traps rather than a social safety net.
I get a lot of calls from constituents who are struggling to get out of the poverty traps that our system creates. The ones that really get to me are from those who have children. Over the next few days I’ll describe what life is like for people under our current system and suggest some solutions.
Let’s start with Charles, a single father looking after two young kids with a third in Grade 4. He lost his job last year and he has a hard time finding work because he has to look after the kids and daycare is too expensive. Unemployment insurance ran out a while ago. Even though he did not want to, he went to see income support. Income support was a humiliating experience for Charles. To qualify for income support you need to prove that you have nothing left, so Charles had to sell his truck. The paperwork was more complicated than filling out his taxes and he had to do it every month. He was shocked at how many bureaucrats it took to make sure he was actually in need of help and he felt like he was being accused of trying to take advantage of the system. Refusing to help people until they have reached absolute rock bottom and then effectively forcing them to beg for help every month has a profound psychological effect. It creates a self-fulfilling story.
We have many programs that transfer money to people that need it. Every time we all fill out taxes, we all get assessed for northern living allowances, GST tax credits, child tax credits, cost of living tax credits and so on. We all get assessed. We are all expected to fill out our taxes honestly and we all know we may get audited. Millions of dollars are transferred to all Northerners using the tax system and it does not cost us much to do it.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Mahsi.
---Unanimous consent granted
I cannot think of a single reason why Charles could not get the help he needs through a similar system. There is no difference between the cost of living tax credit and an income support payment. It all comes from the same pot. So let’s treat everyone with the same respect and help people get back on their feet instead of psychologically trapping them in poverty.
I will have questions and I will have more on this tomorrow. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
