Vibrant Communities Calgary

Poverty Reduction Exchange with Laurie Blakeman and Minister Hancock

Poverty Reduction

Ms Blakeman: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. For some reason this government strongly resists embracing and implementing a poverty reduction plan. The line from the minister is that the department has more and better programs than anywhere else. Oh, no. This government does not, not with the level of poverty that we have in a province with $100-a-barrel oil. To the Minister of Human Services: when did the government get so flush that they could afford to ignore the annual expenditure of $7 billion to $9 billion that could be implemented by adopting an integrated poverty reduction strategy?

Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has clearly misinterpreted what I’ve been saying on this. We’re not at all suggesting that we should ignore the expense to our society and the impact on individuals that results from poverty. Quite the contrary. Our Premier has indicated that people are our most important resource. This government cares about people. I have been mandated to deal with the social policy framework, which will deal precisely with that issue. 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.

Ms Blakeman: Actually, the municipalities are progressing on that. You guys aren’t doing very much at all. Why does the government persist in saying that their services are great? Go read your own press. Is the minister satisfied with 73,000 children living in poverty? What’s best or first class about that?

Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, in this province we need to care about each and every one of our children. We need to plan for the success of each and every child in this province. If we want to break the poverty cycle, we have to focus on how we can make sure that every child can come to school ready to learn, that an education system helps every child achieve their potential. That’s the goal of this government. That’s why we’re doing a comprehensive social policy framework, and that’s why we’ll be reviewing each and every one of the programs we have to make sure that it’s achieving those results.

Ms Blakeman: Sorry. No school hunger program. Nothing. Given that Albertans living in poverty are falling further behind the low-income cut-off than other provinces, can the minister tell us: what is this government’s resistance to improving their circumstances? Clearly, those best programs are not doing it. Why can’t we have an integrated poverty reduction strategy?

Mr. Hancock: The hon. member is clearly not paying attention. We’re working on that integrated strategy with respect to a social policy framework that works to the success of every Albertan. If there are programs that we have now that are not working, I invite that hon. member to step forward as we review those programs to make sure that we have the programs and we use the money that we have in this province to achieve the results that Albertans want, and that’s success for every child.

The Speaker: The hon. Member for Red Deer-North, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview.

Find this exchange at: Poverty Reduction in Hansard Record of Alberta Legislature February 9, 2012, starts on page 44 of this document.