As the target increases to a 50 per cent decline in poverty by 2030, they can build in an annual lowering of the poverty line. Heck, why not get rid of the poverty line altogether and declare Canada to be poverty free?
Chris Churchill, Toronto
Poverty is a terrible, heart-wrenching thing — no Canadian should live without a roof over their head, food in their belly, or clothes on their back.
Poverty activists use Stats Canada’s Low Income Cut-off (LICO) to define poverty, a use for which it was not intended. As an example, over 10 per cent of the LICO total is for individuals under the age of 18. There is a world of difference between people who are “economically challenged” and those who live in genuine poverty — or run the risk of doing so.
Until this distinction is front and centre, the issue of real poverty will not get the full attention it deserves.
Don Mustill, Niagara-on-the-Lake
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2018/08/22/poverty-line-a-blurry-target.html