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Common Front for Social Justice |
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Common Front For Social Justice 96, ave Norwood, #208 Moncton, NB E1C 6L9 Tel.: 851-7084 fcjsnb@nbnet.nb.ca |
Joan MacAlpine
Family and Community Services Minister
C.P. 6000
Fredericton, N.-B.
E3B 5H1
Miss Joan MacAlpine:
The Common Front for Social Justice is an organization that promotes decent, healthy and safe living conditions for all New Brunswickers. We have been decrying the low level of assistance for poor people in New Brunswick for many years, yet little has changed. For example, a person living alone receives an income that is roughly 20% of the poverty line and, except for Newfoundland and Labrador, is the worst in Canada.
In last week’s newspapers we read that a recent University of Dalhousie study involving 141 low-income, single mothers in Atlantic Canada, many from N.-B., found that 78% were suffering inadequate nourishment. Many of them are starving themselves to feed their children, leading to problems such as anaemia and osteoporosis. This is no surprise considering how little has been done to eliminate poverty. This, however, is an urgent plea for help. Rather than hearing those pleas however, it appears that the government is doing the opposite because last week we also learned that the government had cut 9 million dollars out of income assistance.
Poverty has several social costs including, healthcare, justice, human rights and human development work, and child development which are well documented in the National Council of Welfare Reports entitled The Cost of Poverty. Over the last 10 years, the NB government has allowed impoverishment to increase. If this continues, the conclusions of studies like the Dalhousie study, will only get increasingly bleak and many, many people will suffer. This must change now. It is time to make poverty a priority on the agendas of all the ministers and to take direct action to improve the financial welfare of people on income assistance.
Mary Anne LeBlanc
John Gagnon
Co-chairs
c.c. New Brunswick media, Liberal leader Shawn Graham, NDP Leader Elisabeth Weir, social activists.