Council approves recommendations from poverty reduction report

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814 participants took the survey back in february asking what they believe should be prioritized to fight poverty. The report comes after a recent rise in community advocacy and protests for those in poverty including one that took place in front of the courthouse last wednesday.

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“The federal government has been talking about it for a long time but more recently there’s been a lot more conversation and a lot more action, around the actions that they will be implementing as well. I think the time is perfect, Prince George is acting in a very timely way. So I’m very excited by the opportunity that was have presented to us now.” said councilor Murry Krause.

Six areas were covered in the recommendations:

1. Stigma and Discrimination
2. Housing
3. Access to services and support
4. Food security
5. Education and employment
6. Transportation.

There were a total of 19 recommendations. Two key immediate recommendations was taking input from people experiencing poverty, and creating more affordable childcare spaces for kids.

Another pressing issue was the creation of a food security committee, which would focus on mapping and creating food supplies throughout the city.

“I think it is a very emerging issue. It’s always been an issue in Prince George. I think we gotta acknowledge that our supply line is sometimes precarious and at any time if something major happened along our highways we could be in trouble for food security.” said Krause.

Krause says that the beginning of the pandemic highlighted the need to secure a food supply here in the north.

“It really brought it to light that last year, last march at the beginning of the pandemic, people did panic and there was no blame assigned to that. People were concerned, nobody knew what the future held.” said Krause.

In the published report, 38% of those surveyed say having a food security council should be a top priority. The committee for food security hasn’t been created yet but councilor Krause says that it’s still a top priority and there is support from other members. They are planning to meet sometime in July to discuss on how to create that committee and what responsiblities it have would have.

The poverty reduction report has been submitted to TogetherBC Poverty Reduction Strategy which aims to reduce BC’s poverty by 50% by 2024.

You can read the full report here