The executive director of the Tri-County Women’s Centre says there’s no reason children should be living in poverty in Canada.
Lisanne Turner is reacting to a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Research showing Nova Scotia has the highest rate of child poverty among all of the Atlantic provinces…21.6 per cent.
That means one in five children in our province lives in a family classified as low income.
She says that’s totally unacceptable.
“We are one of the wealthiest countries in the world and there just isn’t an excuse any more for people to live in poverty at these rates.”
The Town of Yarmouth has one of the highest child poverty rates in Nova Scotia at 38.9 percent.
Bridgewater’s rate is also high at 26.1 per cent.
Turner is looking for solid action to be contained in the federal poverty reduction strategy.
“Not a short-term thing but really ongoing to where no one is living in poverty anymore.”
The strategy is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Professor Lesley Frank of Acadia University, a research associate with the Canadian Centre For Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia hopes the report’s findings will instill a sense of urgency in Ottawa.
Here is a link to the Campaign 2000 report: http://behindthenumbers.ca/2018/06/18/what-should-nova-scotians-expect-f…
