Posts Tagged ‘poverty’

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Realizing the right to an adequate standard of living

Monday, September 4th, 2023

Everyone in Canada has a right to an adequate standard of living… having adequate food, clothing, and housing, and the continuous improvement of living conditions. [ICESCR – 1976] Maytree’s submission to the 2024 budget calls on the federal government to help people realize this right by strengthening income supports, investing in more affordable housing, and embedding human rights into social policies and programs.

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Alternative Federal Budget 2024 – Building Momentum: A budget for now and the future

Monday, August 28th, 2023

The AFB will tax extreme wealth by introducing a progressive wealth tax… restore the corporate income tax rate… to 20 per cent… [and] implement a windfall profits tax… Canadians really can have nice things – if we make our tax system more progressive and make smart investments in public services, income supports, and social and physical infrastructure.

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Social-assistance rates in Ontario should ‘set off alarm bells’: Report

Friday, August 18th, 2023

The province’s income-of-last-resort program pays so little that Ontario Works recipients must survive on just 37 per cent of the funds that would be required for them to have a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs, and enough money to maintain a very basic standard of living. That’s the conclusion of a new analysis of social-assistance rates in Ontario.

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To reduce rising crime rates, Canada needs to invest more in social services

Thursday, August 17th, 2023

Rather than continuing to spend on reactive models such as policing that do little more than criminalize poverty and disadvantage, we need to reinvest in preventive strategies that actually work. To prevent crime, governments need to invest more in existing social welfare programs and reestablish social services such as basic income… The provision of basic income and social services would both support vulnerable populations and be cost-effective. 

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The Canada Disability Benefit Act is progress worth celebrating

Monday, July 31st, 2023

First, it is a measure to prevent poverty that is protected by law. It adds to our system of legal protections, which include laws such as the National Housing Strategy Act (2019) and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (2005). These laws are important symbolically, as they codify our society’s commitment to uphold our economic and social rights. They are also important practically, as they require governments to set out rules about how they will put that commitment into action.

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Welfare in Canada, 2022 is now available

Thursday, July 27th, 2023

This annual report… provides the welfare incomes of four example households receiving social assistance in a calendar year for each province and territory… Included are: The components of welfare incomes and their amounts; How adequate welfare incomes are relative to measures of poverty; How benefit amounts and adequacy have changed over time… The majority of households (29 of 53) saw below-inflation increases to their incomes, and so were not able to keep up with the rising cost of living. 

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Canada Child Benefit hailed for reducing poverty, as families get boosted payments

Friday, July 21st, 2023

In 2021, 7.4 per cent of Canadians lived in poverty, down from 12.9 per cent in 2016 when the benefit came into place… the “intensity” of poverty was also reduced… “But for those in deeper poverty, the benefit probably isn’t yet big enough to lift them up and over the [low income threshold].”

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A crisis of neglect: How society can help those with mental illness

Tuesday, July 18th, 2023

‘If you really want to make a difference, stop thinking about diagnosis and symptoms, start thinking about recovery… it’s people, place, and purpose. Social support, a decent environment with housing and food and things that help people to prosper, and people will have to have something to live for.’

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Canada Child Benefit payments to increase this month for many families. Here’s how much it’s going up

Thursday, July 13th, 2023

Introduced in 2016, the CCB replaced the taxable Universal Child Care Benefit… The CCB is intended to provide increased support to low- and middle-income families with children. Families with an adjusted net income under $34,863 will receive the maximum amount for each child… The federal government indexed the CCB to ensure benefits keep up with inflation.

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A significant milestone in lifting people with disabilities out of poverty

Tuesday, June 27th, 2023

This is a significant milestone, potentially the most important addition to Canada’s social safety net since the Guaranteed Income Supplement for low-income seniors was introduced in 1967…  The CDB is desperately needed. About one in five Canadians live with a physical, developmental or psychiatric disability… The new benefit should, in theory, lift more than 1.4 million Canadians living with disabilities out of poverty.

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