"I didn't understand this could happen in a developed country" said Marisa Ziyapapa who is originally from Zimbabwe. He lives in downtown Yellowknife. He was talking about the prevalence of poverty and homelessness in Canada and our deficient response to them.
"They just think you are an alcoholic, just a street person, [and it] makes me more depressed" says Noleen Lennie living on the street for many years.
Another Yellowknifer says of the street people many of whom come from N.W.T. "I just say hi to them, if they go beyond that then I know they are going to ask me for money." Poverty and homelessness do severely test the limits of human compassion. And many of us are found wanting.
Annie Thrasher originally from N.W.T. too lives in Yellowknife. Until recently she had also been homeless. N.W.T. Income Support Program came to her rescue and she rented a two bedroom trailer for herself and her 19 year old son. Soon she invited her other homeless children, 16 yr old daughter and 22 yr old son to the safe refuge she had. Income Support balked at the resulting 'overcrowding' and withheld her rental allowance until she kicked out the 16 yr old and the 22 year old back to the street; our sheer inhumanity.
The poverty and homelessness are abundantly evident in most major urban centers across the country. The anti poverty and anti homelessness advocates have been fighting the good fight for decades. These unsung heroes have had some successes. Many governments are aware of the human, social and economic costs of ignoring the reality; but they continue mostly in slumber.
In the October election Justin Trudeau challenged our obsession with balanced budgets at any cost. He recognised the larger role of government in making the economy work, particularly in a downturn. He pledged to get back into a partnership with cities and provinces to provide more affordable housing. He says his proposed Canada Child Benefit once introduced will lift over 300,000 children out of poverty. And the infrastructure spending will do more.
But all of that -while good - will not eliminate poverty and homelessness in the country. We must do more. If he is mindful of his legacy to Canada - he may look back a few years from now - Trudeau will do well to focus on not just reducing poverty but eliminating it.
This is not a treatise on poverty; simply an appeal in the name of the Ziyapapas, Lennies and Thrashers of Canada. We can and must eliminate poverty from our developed country. That would truly usher in the Just Society of P.E. Trudeau.
Mr. Trudeau! Be bold!!
Banish poverty and homelessness from Canada!!!
