The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has an ambition to reduce poverty rates to the lowest in Canada in ten years, but an advocacy group says it’s not necessary to wait that long.

Dan Meades, coordinator of the Transition House Association, says the rates currently are near the highest in Canada. He says if government is serious about the ten-year objective, it should start now by increasing the amount of money that people who require a hand up receive.

“The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador could, while they’re having discussions and writing a plan, admit that income support rates are too low and they’re not indexed to inflation,” says Meades.

“They could make those two changes to show people that they are serious about changing the nature of what it means to live in Newfoundland and Labrador over the next decade and increasing income support and indexing to inflation.”