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By Derek Craddock

FIGHTING POVERTY

Why Sask. received a low grade for poverty efforts and what advocates want to see changed

Sep 27, 2023 | 3:16 PM

When it comes to dealing with poverty, Saskatchewan got one of the lowest grades in the country, posing the question, how did it get that bad?

Earlier this week, Food Banks Canada released the Poverty Report Card, grading every province and territory on its poverty reduction efforts. The grades were nothing to be happy about as the majority of provinces received a D grade or lower for their efforts, with Saskatchewan getting one of those D grades.

According to the report, some of the contributing factors to this grade included a lack of access to basic services, particularly those in rural and remote communities. Another factor is the large number of low-income households spending 30 per cent or more on housing costs.

Advocates like Dr. Miguel Sanchez who helped publish the Saskatchewan Child and Family Poverty report in 2020, said they’re not surprised at the report.

“It’s the logical result of policy that is destined to leave a number of people behind.”

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Food banks across central and northern Saskatchewan said they are feeling the pinch and their numbers are only going up. The Prince Albert Food Bank said they gave out nearly 1,300 hampers last month, helping about 3,400 people. That number was just over 700 in 2017.

The Melfort Food Bank handed out over 150 hampers last month, in a city with a population of just over 5,700 people.

Both food banks said more clients are coming in, many for the first time and most are from working families hit hard by the rising cost of food and housing.

One big question being asked amid this report card is how Saskatchewan got such a bad grade and what is and isn’t being done to address the problem.

Peter Gilmer from Poverty Free Saskatchewan (PFS) spoke to paNOW about the ongoing issues surrounding poverty in the province. He also works with the Regina Anti-Poverty Ministry which earlier this year, filed a Charter challenge against the Government of Saskatchewan over the province’s Assured Income for Disability program because many in the program are dipping into pension funds just to get by.

Issues with that program and Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) are just some of the reasons Gilmer believes the province is failing when it comes to addressing poverty.

“Across the province what you see is the people on the SIS program have to meet all their needs…for less than $1,000. People in rural and northern Saskatchewan get even less when it comes to shelter allowance and it doesn’t improve with family size either,” he said.

He stated that from 2015 to last spring those on the program did not see an increase in benefits as cost-of-living expenses continued to go up.

The current SIS program is a merger of the former Saskatchewan Assistance Program (SAP) or Transitional Employment Allowance (TEA). It’s been criticized since its inception in 2021 not just because of the amount given per month but also because it’s not directly paid to landlords, causing issues with utility and rent payments.

Affordable housing is another issue Gilmer addresses and points to the number of current vacant social housing units in cities like Regina, Saskatoon, and Prince Albert. That issue was brought forward by the Sask. NDP after discovering through Saskatchewan Housing Corporation documents that there were over 3,000 vacant units at the end of last year.

In response, the Sask Party government told The Canadian Press that it’s spent roughly $75 million per year on maintenance for these units, repairing homes so people can safely live in them, noting some have been vandalized or damaged from past flooding.

Social Services Minister Gene Makowsky explained homes that are rentable may not be suitable for some applicants. For example, he said units might not be able to accommodate someone’s accessibility needs or they could be too small for a family of three.

But for advocates like Gilmer, that explanation is not enough.

“There’s obviously an irony and it’s very hurtful when you have some of these people that are dealing with homelessness at the same time you have these units that aren’t being brought up to speed to be habitable.”

Issues of wages was another concern that Gilmer brought up and despite the province raising the minimum wage to $14 an hour as of Oct. 1, many households can’t keep a roof over their head with that money.

When it comes to food bank usage, Gilmer said it is alarming that these charities are seeing an increase in demand, considering that they were only supposed to be a temporary solution. The first ever food bank in Canada opened in Edmonton in 1981 with the Canadian Association of Food Banks created a few years later.

READ MORE: ‘We’re addressing the symptom, not the cause’: A look at food banks across Canada

“They’re basically there to fill in the gap and when food banks started to appear and grow in the 1980s, the idea was that this was a short-term mechanism that would ultimately not be necessary as we move towards having more adequate systems to deal with the issue of poverty,” Gilmer said. “Unfortunately it’s only gotten worse rather than better.”

Gilmer believes that Food Banks are being used and praised by governments to prevent them from implementing appropriate social policies for people to meet basic needs.

“There shouldn’t be a reliance on governments on charity systems because those systems are not set up for that purpose,” he said.

Another glaring issue presented in the Food Banks Canada report was the large number of Indigenous people using food banks and relying on government programs to fight poverty.

According to the report on Saskatchewan Child and Poverty from the University of Regina, the child poverty rate for Indigenous in Saskatchewan was just over 49 per cent in 2016, compared to 17 per cent for those of non-visible minority.

In 2021, the same report found that the federal riding of Desnethé-Missinippi–Churchill River had the second-highest child poverty rate in the country at 57.7 per cent.

Sanchez said those numbers have not changed since the report was published.

“We have the continuation of the same policy with the same social services available to people, therefore we do not expect any change, on the contrary, what we should expect is that the situation deteriorates.”

Gilmer said it’s impossible to look at eradicating poverty without addressing the needs of First Nations in Saskatchewan.

“We can’t look at the issue of poverty without looking at the issues that relate to colonialism and our history,” he said. “At the same time, when we look at the failings of our income security systems and our public policy in general, it’s fallen most heavily on Indigenous people.”

In a statement responding to the Food Banks Report Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Social Services said the province introduced targeted, affordability measures in the 2023 budget including increasing payments to seniors, those living with a disability and people on income assistance.

“Saskatchewan offers one of the lowest utility bundles in the nation and is the most affordable province in Canada when considering taxes, utilities, and housing costs,” the statement reads.

“In 2023-24, people with low-income, families and seniors will receive an additional $26.6 million in benefits to meet their basic needs through the Ministry of Social Services. This includes increases to benefits with the Saskatchewan Income Support and Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability programs as well was the Seniors Income Plan and Personal Care Home Benefit.

“The Government of Saskatchewan will continue to develop and implement advantageous policies for residents facing inflationary and cost of living pressures.”

Sanchez said that unless the government makes major changes, nothing will be resolved.

“You would need a government that is concerned about the number of children who are living below the poverty line…until the government realizes that then the situation is not going to change,” he said.

-With files from The Canadian Press

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com