GOVERNMENT CONFERENCE CENTRE—Poverty is not only a reality for hundreds of thousands of Canadians, it’s a national problem that costs all Canadians.
“Canada has a filthy little secret,” Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada and MP for Saanach-Gulf Islands B.C., said of Canada’s levels of poverty. “And it’s one that costs us 5.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent of our GDP.”
That’s $86.3-billion to $102-billion annually.
On Feb. 14, the Dignity for All campaign hosted a panel on poverty featuring politicians and poverty activists from across the political spectrum in Ottawa at the Government Conference Centre. In addition to Ms. May, Nova Scotia Liberal Senator Jane Cordy, Ontario Conservative Senator Don Meredith, NDP Human Resources critic Jean Crowder (Nanaimo-Cowichan, B.C.), Bloc Québécois MP Jean François Fortin (Haute-Gaspésie-La Mitis-Matane-Matapédia, Que.), Canada Without Poverty’s Harriet McLachlan, and Leilani Farha from the Dignity for All took part in the panel.
“Canada has a filthy little secret,” Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada and MP for Saanach-Gulf Islands B.C., said of Canada’s levels of poverty. “And it’s one that costs us 5.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent of our GDP.”
That’s $86.3-billion to $102-billion annually.
On Feb. 14, the Dignity for All campaign hosted a panel on poverty featuring politicians and poverty activists from across the political spectrum in Ottawa at the Government Conference Centre. In addition to Ms. May, Nova Scotia Liberal Senator Jane Cordy, Ontario Conservative Senator Don Meredith, NDP Human Resources critic Jean Crowder (Nanaimo-Cowichan, B.C.), Bloc Québécois MP Jean François Fortin (Haute-Gaspésie-La Mitis-Matane-Matapédia, Que.), Canada Without Poverty’s Harriet McLachlan, and Leilani Farha from the Dignity for All took part in the panel.