Social Policy in Ontario

A Liberal Majority Government – What Does This Mean for Food Security?

Posted on November 3, 2015 in Inclusion Delivery System

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FoodbanksCanada.ca – Blog
October 20, 2015.   By Shawn Pegg

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals pulled off a surprising and momentous victory last night, taking 184 of 338 federal ridings. The question we are asking the morning after is – what does this mean for food insecurity and the need for food banks in Canada?

During the election campaign, the Liberal Party platform put forward several promises that are well in line with Food Banks Canada’s policy recommendations to reduce the need for food banks in Canada. For example, the Liberals have promised to:

– Combine several tax credits for families with children into the new Canada Child Benefit – nearly identical to our Child Well-Being Benefit, recommended in HungerCount 2014. < http://www.liberal.ca/realchange/helping-families/ >

– Invest an additional $200 million in education and training for unemployed Canadians who are not eligible for Employment Insurance – we have recommended the investment of an additional $300 million. < http://www.liberal.ca/realchange/job-and-skills-training%E2%80%A8%E2%80%A8/ >

– Remove the GST on new capital investments in affordable rental housing – we have recommended similar tax reforms in successive HungerCount reports. < http://www.liberal.ca/realchange/affordable-housing/ >

– Increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement for single seniors living alone by 10% < http://www.liberal.ca/realchange/fighting-poverty/ >  – a recommendation we have made for a number of years, beginning with our Fairness for Canadian Seniors report in 2010. < https://www.foodbankscanada.ca/getmedia/3f4cabee-025a-4430-8f2a-5f4f8a64f815/Food-Banks-Canada—Fairness-for-Canadian-Seniors_Aug-2010.pdf.aspx?ext=.pdf >

In Northern Canada, the Liberals have promised to invest an additional $40 million in Nutrition North Canada, a change that we welcome – particularly if it means adding communities to the program, as was recently recommended by the Auditor General.

We will spend the next few days poring over the Liberal Party platform and planning our advocacy objectives for the coming months. We look forward to working with Prime Minister Trudeau and his colleagues to significantly reduce the need for food banks in Canada.

< https://www.foodbankscanada.ca/Blog/October-2015/A-Liberal-Majority-Government-–-What-Does-This-Mea.aspx >

Tags: budget, economy, featured, homelessness, housing, ideology, Indigenous, poverty, standard of living

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