Join the campaign
Stay informed with what Campaign 2000 and our 120 partner agencies are doing by joining the End Child Poverty Now! enews list. »
Make a donation to Campaign 2000. Click the button below to donate online via our host agency, the Family Service Toronto.
Current Issues
Campaign 2000 Responds to the March 2010 Federal Budget
--Women and children still last: No thank you, Mr. Flaherty!
The March 4th, 2010 federal budget doesn’t even remotely make a dent in Canada’s abysmal rate of child and family poverty. The Throne Speech claims that “Canada is the best place in the world to raise a family.” Sorry, Mr. Prime Minister, Canada is nowhere near the podium! says Campaign 2000, the national coalition of over 120 partners working to end child and family poverty in Canada. There is no new support for our most vulnerable families – especially the 637,000 low income children and their mothers – who feel the double burden of job loss at the workplace and at home. Read it in full in English and French here.
Campaign 2000 joins many Canadians in urging our Parliamentarians to get back to work
At the start of 2010, Canadians from sea to sea to sea face economic turmoil and significant challenges. Leadership by our federally elected representatives is essential to ensure that there is assistance for children and their families living in poverty today and that more do not fall into poverty as local and global economies recover. Following Campaign 2000’s successful release of the annual Report Card on child and family poverty, Campaign 2000 and its partners wrote to their Members of Parliament. Read the letter in full here (English or in French).
Canada’s New Senate Report Keeps Poverty High on the Political Agenda
The Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology released its landmark report on poverty, housing and homelessness in Canada, In From the Margins: A Call to Action on Poverty, Housing and Homelessness, on Tuesday, Dec. 8th, 2009.
Among its 74 recommendations, the Committee proposes:
That the federal government adopt as a core social policy poverty eradication goal that all programmes dealing with poverty and homelessness are to lift Canadians out of poverty rather than make living within poverty more manageable and that the federal government work with the provinces and territories to adopt a similar goal [Recommendation 1];
That the federal government establish with the provinces a goal that individuals and families, regardless of the reasons for their need, receive incomes totaling at least after-tax LICOs [Recommendation 4];
That in recognition of both Canadian obligations under international human rights law, and their importance in claiming access to appropriate programs and services, explicitly cite international obligations ratified by Canada in any new federal legislation or legislative amendments relevant to poverty, housing and homelessness [Recommendation 31];
That the National Child Benefit be raised, incrementally and predictably, to reach $5,000 (in 2009 dollars) by 2012 [Recommendation 34];
As Toronto Star columnist Carol Goar put it, ‘Inspired by the groundbreaking report on poverty tabled by the late Senator David Croll 38 years ago, a committee of seven senators has spent the past two years producing a new blueprint for a new century. Their report ... is comprehensive, thoughtful and – for its time – courageous. The senators, headed by Liberal Art Eggleton and Conservative Hugh Segal, knew from the outset that Prime Minister Stephen Harper had no interest in a plan to break the poverty cycle. They watched the economy weaken and the deficit balloon.
Yet they concluded unanimously: "Eradicating poverty is not only the humane and decent priority of a civilized democracy, but absolutely essential to a productive and expanding economy." Those are bold words in today's Ottawa.’
House of Commons Unanimously Resolves to End Poverty for All
As a direct result of months and years of efforts and collaboration between MPs and Campaign 2000 partners, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) submitted a new motion, which was unanimously passed by the House on November 24th 2009; it reads:
That, with November 24th, 2009 marking the 20th anniversary of the 1989 unanimous resolution of this House to eliminate poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000, and not having achieved that goal, be it resolved that the Government of Canada, taking into consideration the Committee’s work in this regard, and respecting provincial and territorial jurisdiction, develop an immediate plan to eliminate poverty in Canada for all.
On Tuesday, November 24, 2009 Campaign 2000 and its partners released the new Annual Report Card on Child and Family Poverty
On November 24, Campaign 2000 and seven of its provincial partners marked the 20th anniversary of the unanimous House of Commons’ all-party resolution to end child poverty in Canada with the release of special national and provincial report cards in various cities across the country. At the same time, there were countless special events being held in communities and provincial capitals calling for all levels of governments to take action to address this shameful situation. Find out how you can join in the efforts by visiting our Take Action page.
Also on Nov. 24, the House of Commons passed the following motion as agreed to by the House of Commons’ HUMA Committee:
That, with November 24th, 2009 marking the 20th anniversary of the 1989 unanimous resolution of this House to eliminate poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000, and not having achieved that goal, be it resolved that the Government of Canada, taking into consideration the Committee’s work in this regard, and respecting provincial and territorial jurisdiction, develop an immediate plan to eliminate poverty in Canada for all.
Click to download our new report cards and learn about the issues, find out workable solutions we are calling for and what action you can take to make a difference:
Email your MP to voice your support towards ENDING CHILD POVERTY in Canada!
November 24th will mark the 20th Anniversary of the unanimous Resolution to End Child Poverty in Canada. Unfortunately little has changed. Email your local MP to let them know that this is unacceptable and that we demand real change NOW!
Campaign 2000’s submission to Federal Pre-Budget Consultation (Aug. 2009)
Campaign 2000, a non-partisan, cross-Canada network of over 120 national, provincial, territorial and community organizations, urges that federal tax and program spending measures focus on those individuals, families and communities who are vulnerable and feel the greatest impact of this recession. Nearly two decades after the unanimous 1989 House of Commons resolution to end child poverty in Canada, 637,000 children and their families – almost 1 child out of every 10 – still live in poverty. Read our full brief by clicking here [pdf] .
Urging All Provincial Premiers on the eve of their annual meeting in Regina, Saskatchewan (July 2009)
As Premiers, the fallout from this recession is landing squarely on their shoulders. Without an adequate EI program, Canada’s unemployed will be turning to social assistance, food banks, homeless shelters, and other provincially funded programs. Provincial poverty rates are bound to soar – with dizzying speed in some regions.
For too long, there has been a leadership void at the federal level. We urge Canada’s Premiers and Prime Minister to do everything it takes to bring the federal government to the table, and to act in a cooperative, coordinated way to address poverty before the situation gets worse. According to an Environics poll, 89% of Canadians say the Prime Minister and the provincial Premiers need to set concrete goals and timelines to reduce poverty. Click here to read the full op-ed, which was published in the Toronto Star on Aug. 4th, 2009 [pdf]
Report from the June 1 Town Hall Meeting on the Federal Role in Poverty Reduction
On June 1, Campaign 2000 and the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction (Ontario) held a Town Hall Meeting to get community input on what the federal role should be in reducing poverty in Canada.
The event coincided with the Toronto hearings of the Federal Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and
the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA).
This Town Hall provided an opportunity for community groups and people with lived experience of poverty to speak about issues affecting people in Ontario: employment equity, racialization of poverty, employment insurance, income supports, affordable housing, childcare, aboriginal issues, support for newcomers, support for people with disabilities, and more. Read full report [pdf] >>
Campaign 2000 urges all federal parties to work together, in collaboration with the provinces and territories to adopt a Poverty
Reduction Strategy for Canada (PRSC) that includes:
• targets and timelines;
• dedicated fiscal and human resources;
• accountability including public reporting;
• consultation with Canadians, in particular, with those who have lived experience of poverty; and
• in coordination with First Nations and other Aboriginal communities, Campaign 2000 urges the development of appropriate poverty reduction targets, timelines and indicators for Aboriginal families, irrespective of where they live.
Campaign 2000 Responds to 2009 Federal Budget
Women and children last: No thank you, Mr. Flaherty!
Toronto: This landmark federal budget includes billions of dollars of spending and wrong-headed tax cuts but offers little support for our most vulnerable families – especially the 760,000 low income children and their mothers – who feel the double burden of job loss at the workplace and at home, says Campaign 2000, the national coalition of over 120 partners working to end child and family poverty in Canada. Read it in full by clicking here [pdf] (Response in English & Response in French).
The Case for a Poverty Reduction Strategy for Canada
Campaign 2000 presents its perspectives to the federal government on what the new budget should look like and why Poverty Reduction is key to Canada’s short, medium and long-term economic health.
Read Campaign 2000’s proposal as the federal government prepares for the 2009 federal budget (out on January 27, 2009): Family Security in Insecure Times: Poverty Reduction as Poverty Prevention. Read article
Family Security in Insecure Times
If you are concerned about the stubbornly high rate of child and family poverty in Canada and in various provinces across the country, you can join thousands of others and take an online action. Please take 2 minutes and go here http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/en/child-poverty/take-action to send an email message to our Prime Minister & Federal Opposition Leaders by following the link to the Make Poverty History site.
Growing Support for
Poverty Reduction Strategies
In Canada and internationally, governments are using the Poverty Reduction Strategy approach to try and move children and families out of poverty. That means setting targets and timetables and looking for measurable results.
Why Poverty Reduction?
Growing international and Canadian evidence shows government leadership is needed to develop and implement multi-year plans to reduce poverty that will bring our child and family poverty rates down and keep them down.
Support for this approach is growing across the country. Provincial governments in Quebec, Newfoundland, Labrador and Ontario are implementing poverty reduction strategies. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are committed to consulting on the development of provincial strategies. The federal Liberal Party has announced bold targets for poverty reduction. Local communities are developing community strategies.
• Release of 2008 Ontario Report Card on Child Poverty in Toronto
Campaign 2000 - Ontario (21 Nov 08) - TORONTO – Ontario Campaign 2000 just released the 2008 Report Card on Child & Family Poverty in Ontario on Friday November 21 at the Queen’s Park Media Studio in Toronto.
• Campaign 2000 Released Report Card on Child Poverty in Canada
Campaign 2000 (21 Nov 08) - Toronto - Campaign 2000 will release its annual Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Ottawa on Friday, November 21st. Federal party leaders have been invited. MP Justin Trudeau, MP Olivia Chow, MP Nicole Demers, and Green Party rep David Lewis will be available to respond at the end of the media conference.
