By Sarah Stone

Food bank witnesses cycle of poverty following new report

Oct 30, 2014 | 6:21 AM

Even as Saskatchewan’s economy booms and poverty reduces, those most vulnerable are dropping deeper in the hole.

According to a new report put out by the Poverty Costs campaign, this costs the province $3.8 billion a year in missed opportunities and heightened service use.

Charles Plante, lead author, said the economy is doing well, but unfortunately that means the cost of living is also increasing.

 “It’s good because it increases our standards of living, but as that standard rises it makes it harder for people that aren’t able to jump onboard and take advantage of those opportunities, to keep up,” Plante said, adding 10 per cent of people are still living in poverty.

“Poverty actually prevents people from taking advantage of opportunities; employment opportunities, educational opportunities, community opportunities that those of us that aren’t poor, tend to take for granted.”

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According to the report, there is a heightened risk of falling into poverty for children and women, as well as aboriginal groups and disabled people.

“Some people face more barriers than others … women often bear a disproportionate child bearing and domestic burden.  They also tend to be more likely to be discriminated against in labour markets,” he said.

 Plante said to help children stay out of poverty it’s not just about creating more education program for that group, but also about creating more opportunities for parents to get themselves out of poverty.

“Women’s poverty in particular is more closely related to child poverty because the greater share of children live with their mothers,” he said.

Although the statistics used in the report are, largely, from 2010, Plante still feels they’re largely true based on the increased use of food banks.

This holds true at the Share-A-Meal food bank in Prince Albert.

Co-manager Wes Clark said over the past two years they’ve seen close to double the amount of people they usually service.

“The most significant part of our hampers is families without a doubt,” he said, explaining they’re seeing more and more people that do have some form of employment but still need the food bank.

Out of those they service, half of them are children.

 “We do see the children as well.  It’s disturbing.  How in a nation as wealthy as Canada can we possible have people living in poverty?”

With all numbers going up at the food bank, Clark said he’s concerned for the future.  Right now operation of the establishment, which includes salaries, rent and utilities, is reliant on public donations.

“It’s the single biggest problem we face,” he said.  “We have no choice.  We’re going to have to do some refocusing.”

As for food, they have a little more support.  Clark said they get food from public donations, as well as some funding from Northern Lights Community Development Corporation and ministry of education, to purchase it.

“We’re just hanging in there really.  Really we see a need to do things differently,” he said.

“I would like to see the government step up, absolutely.  Ya know a few dollars so that we’re not constantly bothering the public when there are so many worthy organizations out there that need help.”

Clark wants to try and figure out how they can help people not just with food, but with a hand up to help end the vicious poverty cycle — and that is part of their refocusing strategy that will be looked at.

Poverty Costs is also pushing for the government and the public for a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy in Saskatchewan, which is only one of two provinces in Canada that doesn’t have one.

“We’re reaching a place where we really have to engage all of our citizens in our economy to continue to grow and take advantage of the boom times,” he said.

It seems the provincial government also sees this as a priority.  In the speech from the throne, it outlined the government’s agenda for the sitting—and that included a poverty reduction strategy.

“My government is pleased to announce the development of a Poverty Reduction Strategy and thank the organization Poverty Costs for its work on this important issue…” read Lieutenant-Governor Vaughn Schofield last Wednesday.

A poverty reduction strategy is a document that sets goals, lays out a plan to address the root causes of poverty in the province and should include targets, timelines and an accountability mechanism.

The Poverty Costs campaign ran in the spring and released the report this October to reach the entire province.  The main purpose is to raise awareness the cost of poverty in Saskatchewan and provide an opportunity for people to voice their support for a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy for the province.

To read the report click here.

sstone@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahstone84