Poverty Reduction Plan Moving Forward

PRINCE GEORGE – The province is moving closer to a Poverty Reduction Plan and a special provincial committee is moving it along.

Income, affordable and safe housing, transportation. Those are the Big Three identified in a multi-community survey conducted in recent months. The results of that survey were turned over to the Minister’s Advisory Forum on Poverty Reduction, which has two representatives from Prince George. The results will serve as a guide to help draft a Poverty Reduction Strategy by the fall.

“At the meeting, we were given a report called “What We Heard.” And so this really talked about the extensive consultation that took place. SPARC, or the Social Planning and Review Council of BC, conducted that review and gave us this huge report. It really talked about all the things people said about what it’s like to live in poverty.”

The Province has announced plans to introduce legislation this fall, setting out the groundwork for a Poverty Reduction Plan. BC is currently the only province in Canada without such a plan.