NDP statement on International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

New Democrat critic for Employment and Social Development Jinny Sims (Newton–North Delta) made the following statement on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty:

“Worldwide, more than 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty. Here at home, even though we are a rich country, 1 in 10 Canadians still live in poverty.

Twenty-five years after the House of Commons gave unanimous consent to former NDP Leader Ed Broadbent’s motion calling on the government to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000, poverty rates remain high in Canada.

There is no excuse for this kind of inaction that leaves some of our society’s most vulnerable members struggling to deal with the negative consequences of poverty – including poor health and educational outcomes.

That’s why New Democrats have proposed a National Poverty Elimination Act, which would create a federal plan to reduce and eventually eliminate poverty. Through coordinated policies such as investment in affordable housing, providing parents with universal, affordable and available childcare, and reforming the Employment Insurance system, we can ensure that – in the words of this year’s theme – we ‘leave no one behind.’”