B.C. Social Development Minister Shane Simpson has released the NDP government乌鸦传媒檚 long-awaited poverty plan, a combination of previously announced increases to income assistance, child care, minimum wage and housing.
The main elements of the plan, branded as 乌鸦传媒�,乌鸦传媒� include the provincial 乌鸦传媒渃hild opportunity benefit,乌鸦传媒� to be extended until children are aged 18 in concert with the federal child benefit program.
Simpson also emphasized the NDP government乌鸦传媒檚 commitment to fund on-reserve housing for Indigenous communities, historically the federal government乌鸦传媒檚 responsibility, and committing nearly $3 billion in gambling revenues for Indigenous communities over 25 years.
Simpson said 乌鸦传媒渟ystemic racism乌鸦传媒� is the main reason why Indigenous people are twice as likely to live in poverty as B.C. residents as a whole.
乌鸦传媒淭here will be other initiatives moving forward as well, but this was about establishing that road map moving forward, and that meant capturing the things that make this work,乌鸦传媒� Simpson said. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 a five-year project to get up to the objectives that we have in this plan.乌鸦传媒�
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In the provincial budget announced in February, income assistance rates for all categories were increased $50 per month, following a $100-a-month increase soon after the NDP government took office in 2017. That brings the single employable rate to $760 a month.
The budget also includes $15 million over three years for the province乌鸦传媒檚 modular housing plan for homeless people, adding 200 more units to the 2,000 modular living units set up since 2017, primarily in areas with tent camps.
The federal government officially established a 乌鸦传媒減overty line乌鸦传媒� in 2018, using the 乌鸦传媒渕arket basket measure乌鸦传媒� of the cost of basic goods and service. That measure yields a total of 557,000 people in B.C. living in poverty, nearly 100,000 of them children, Simpson said.
The B.C. plan乌鸦传媒檚 goals, , are to reduce overall poverty by 25 per cent and child poverty by one half. Legislation passed last year requires the province to report annually on its progress, starting in 2020.
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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