Barry Artiste Op.Ed
Truly a shame in a country of vast wealth such as Canada, who is to blame? Well successive Provincial governments all gave a resounding grandstanding performance every election time, yet when in power, nothing more was given except a furrowed brow, perhaps a cursory glance at the stats, and possibly even a harumph, tsk, tsk, followed by a pensive finger under chin moment and finally a solution and media blitz proclaiming “We live in the Bestest Place on Earth”, There that should do it, and cure the ills of the hungry, nothing like provincial Pride on an Empty Stomach. NDP get all up in Arms and say Elect us, we will do something about this serious issue!! Yeah, Right!
B.C.’s Shame: The highest child poverty rate in Canada
Updated: Mon Mar. 30 2009 19:04:41 ctvbc.ca
Josephine Watson is a single mom who brings in about $2,000 a month — and half of that goes to feed her three teenage boys.
There’s not much left for other essentials. Even though the boys try to pull their weight with a paper route, it’s nearly impossible to make ends meet.
“We notice when our mom is stressed and everything affects us,” said Josehpine’s son Matt. “We are living through a hard time.”
Her children are part of a troubling statistic for the province: B.C. has the highest child poverty rate in Canada.
Sixteen per cent of children in this province live beneath the poverty line. That’s despite success in other provinces that have brought their rates down.
In Alberta in 1997, the child poverty rate was 15 per cent — and now it’s been cut in half. In 2006, the rate was 7 per cent. But B.C.’s child poverty rate has stayed stubbornly high.
Source: ctvbc.ctv.ca
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