EXCERPTS
The premiers' meeting this week in Vancouver provides a vital opportunity to deal seriously with critical issues related to the Canada Social Transfer (CST) and the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) - two major federal funding programs that touch the lives of all Canadians.
The CST supports the provinces and territories in their efforts to reduce and eventually eradicate poverty in Canada. Services for children, including early childhood education and care, and income support programs for economically vulnerable people, certainly rely on federal funding to accompany provincial or territorial money. CST support for post-secondary education, delivered by colleges and universities, helps to develop Canada's talent pool and prepare our young people for the labour market. Publicly funded and delivered health-care services - like your family doctor, the local hospital and community health centre, depend on predictable funding from the CHT (note that health-care analysts credit the current CHT agreement with shorter waiting times for high-demand surgery and achieving improved access to health care services).
As we move toward 2013/2014 when the current, multi-billion dollar CST and CHT will expire, we want to emphasize that these public investments are mutually reinforcing and contribute substantially to our national economy. These transfers contribute to our social and economic infrastructure so that more Canadians can continue to raise their families, hold down jobs or run their businesses. These transfers go a long way toward minimizing the impact of poverty on the lives of millions of people. In an era when health-care expenditures are assuming ever greater proportions of provincial and territorial budgets, it is important to note that poverty eradication is a highly effective cost containment strategy. Simply put, Adequate Transfers = Reduced Poverty = Better Health for All.
Both the CST and CHT are essential investments that can achieve poverty reduction and eventual eradication. Adequate, predictable, accountable and sustained federal transfers are required in areas critical to poverty eradication, including, but not limited to, affordable housing, early learning and child care, child benefits, extended health coverage (drug, dental, vision) and training.
Canada continues to experience a slow-motion economic "recovery." The most recent statistics demonstrate the impact of the recession and economic disruption on Canadians. With more than four million Canadians, including more than one million children, living in poverty, we must collectively and urgently act to reduce poverty.
The persistence of poverty in Canada means that far too many adults and children experience chronic cycles of hunger and hardship. Unaffordable housing means that limited food money is used to pay the rent. Too frequently, adults and families find themselves homeless and relying on emergency or transition supports. Deprivation is the fate of one in three low-income children whose parents work full-time. Disproportionately high levels of poverty afflict aboriginal people, persons with disabilities, sole support mothers, racialized minorities and recent immigrants.
Federal transfers also help mitigate the detrimental effects of our current economy on low-income people. The Conference Board of Canada recently reported on the growing income disparity in Canada and reflected on how income inequality can impair Canada's economic growth and social cohesion. It has expressed similar concerns over our child poverty rate, when compared to other OECD countries.
On behalf of all Canadians, we urge the premiers to vigorously renegotiate enhanced CST and CHT agreements that support publicly funded and administered health care, child care and public housing systems.
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- reprinted from the Toronto Star