Federal Budget Consultations 2021
February 18, 2021
We are at a crossroads. Effectiveness of the national poverty reduction strategy has stalled. Between 2015 and 2017 we experienced a 9.7 % decrease in the child poverty rate (Census Family Low Income Measure, After Tax); but progress had not continued. By 2018 and there was deterioration in the child poverty rate in many provinces and territories and a growth of food insecurity to unanticipated levels. Beyond this, significantly higher rates of Coronavirus infection in low income neighbourhoods, among racialized and Indigenous groups, and precarious essential workers, especially female workers – all of whom have higher poverty rates – has tragically laid bare the risks of poverty. The federal government must take responsibility under section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect the life, liberty, and security of the person and of all children living in Canada. The federal government must now stop the continued subjection of so many of our children and families to the vulnerability inherent in poverty.
Today, Campaign 2000 submitted a suite of recommendations for a budget that truly creates an intersectional and feminist recovery plan that centres marginalized communities.
Included in the list of priorities are: 1. A CERB repayment amnesty for anyone living below or near the low income measure; 2. Extending the pandemic top-up to the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) for all children under 18, and removing barriers to access for people with irregular immigration status, as well as customary care, kinship and families outside of formal care arrangements; and 3. The creation of a parallel income benefit delivery system for marginalized people who are outside of the personal income tax system and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
Read the full submission here.
The consultation process for the 2021 federal budget is open until February 19, 2021. You can have your say by sending in your own submission or filling out the survey on the government website .