Foods Banks Canada has released its inaugural Poverty Report Cards and Newfoundland and Labrador has come out with some rather unimpressive results.
Newfoundland and Labrador was given a D minus rating, tied for second-worst with Ontario. Only Nova Scotia scored worse.
Contributing to NL’s low grade was an above-average poverty rate due to a decline in traditional industries. Most concerning, the organization says, is the high rate of poverty in rural areas and Indigenous populations, with over half of Inuit children in Newfoundland and Labrador living below the poverty line.
Provincial coordinator of the Transition House Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, Dan Meades, says the grade is not surprising. He says of particular interest, is the “experience of poverty” category, where NL scored two Fs.
The first F came in the government supports section, which revealed income support rates are less than half of the poverty line, which means if they were doubled, those people would still be below the poverty line. The second F came from the percentage of income spent on costs besides housing.
He says the report is a real indictment of public policy, as Newfoundland and Labrador’s legislative process also received an F.
Meades says there is no poverty reduction strategy in Newfoundland and Labrador. He says a few years ago government said there would be one, but has since changed the name to a Social and Economic Inclusion strategy.
Meades says it matters that the word poverty is not being used, as it shows it is not the focus of government. He says he is sure that the premier knows poverty is an issue, but he doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it.
