Vibrant Communities Calgary

Poverty Costs Makes it to the Legislature!

It seems that the Poverty Costs report is having an impact on our elected officials as the government gets its new Social Policy Framework underway. Last week, MLAs Dave Tayor and Laurie Blakeman both asked questions about how the government plans to deal with the evidence provided in the Poverty Costs report, which suggests that solving poverty is much less costly to all of us than alleviating the problem.

The responses were encouraging as we have some indication that the report has been well received and that the evidence it provided is irrefutable with Premier Redford responding:

“The report…was very interesting. I think it gathered a lot of information that many of us who’ve been active on these issues have known for many years. We know that it’s the right thing to do not only because it has an economic interest for us but also because we want to make sure we’re supporting vulnerable Albertans. That’s why we created the Ministry of Human Services, so that we had the ability under a very strong minister to bring services together to develop policy and to create a social policy framework.”

Minister Hancock went further to indicate that a poverty reduction strategy is part of the Social Policy Framework:

“I have been mandated to deal with the social policy framework…The poverty reduction strategy is one part of that. The homelessness strategy, which has proved so effective, is a pretty good model, and we are progressing on that as we speak.”

Since the process for developing a Social Policy Framework has very recently begun, we are encouraged that the government recognizes the importance of tackling poverty in Alberta and plans to do so. We are glad that we could provide some evidence to support a new approach to social services and programs in the province with our Poverty Costs report and we look forward to continue working on ensuring that the framework will positively impact people living in low-income in Alberta.