We're waiting with bated breath for BC Budget 2019

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Published on Friday, 08 February 2019 10:28
Written by editor
NationBuilder r1 BC Poverty Reduction Coalition

With less than two weeks until BC Budget 2019 when we hope to see big investments for the first... year of the government's poverty reduction plan, we're giving a final push to let them know what will make a difference for people in poverty.

Budgets are a reflection of values, so we'll be looking for a comprehensive framework with significant spending to tackle deep poverty, including increasing income supports like welfare and disability rates and a BC child benefit.

Join us in sharing our graphics on Facebook and Twitter, where we're reminding the government what they heard during their poverty reduction consultations. Their "What We Heard About Poverty in BC" report clearly demonstrates the need for an accountable, bold and comprehensive poverty reduction plan.

And send a final email at ABCplan.ca to let the government know what you want to see in the upcoming budget.

Reflecting on this past year and looking ahead to what needs to be done, our community organizer Trish wrote,

"It’s no secret that I’ve been critical of the time it takes to build, and I will continue to be critical while people are living in the depths of poverty in B.C., but I acknowledge that it is harder to build good, long-lasting public services than it is to destroy them... So I welcome a government that is attempting to strengthen community through progressive policy change, and I urge them not to stop until everyone is out of the hole and fully included in our communities.

With this in mind here are some of the other things we are looking for in Budget 2019:

  • We'd like to see significant investment in creating affordable public transit across the province including funding #AllOnBoard's recommendations of free transit for children and youth aged 0-18 and a sliding scale monthly pass system based on income.
  • We prepared a brief about eliminating stupid rules and changing service delivery to meet the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction’s goal of providing accessible, effective and dignifying income and disability assistance. The brief was prepared with Raise the Rates, Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods, the Richmond Poverty Response Committee, Together Against Poverty Society, West Coast LEAF and UFCW 1518.
  • The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives compiled five key investments that could set the Poverty Reduction Strategy up for success.
  • The BC Poverty Reduction Coalition and many of our member groups made submissions to the BC budget consultations in the fall. Our submission was referenced several times in the bipartisan budget committee's report. We've gathered these references as well as all of our Member's submissions on our website.

We'll be in the budget lock-up on February 19th hearing directly from government, so we'll be back in touch that afternoon. Keeping our fingers crossed for good news!

Sincerely,

Trish, Viveca, Christine, and Omar

BC Poverty Reduction Coalition · Canada
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