Election issue No. 2 – Poverty

All political parties recently signed onto a House of Commons report laying out recommendations for reducing poverty in Canada—but all disagree about how.

It’s reassuring that Canadians believe poverty is an important issue facing the country today. However, in a recent study conducted by The Salvation Army many still don’t understand the issue.

For example about a quarter of Canadians feel that people are poor because they are lazy and have lower moral values than average; and nearly 40 percent believe people who live in poverty in Canada “still have it pretty good.”

One in 11 Canadians live in poverty today. The Salvation Army believes that human dignity is a fundamental right for all and that everyone should have access to basic rights such as nutritious food, health care, education and economic opportunity.