Right now there are 841,000 people every month that access a food bank just to put food on the table. Our Conservative Government has had virtually no strategy to deal with poverty since they’ve been in power and under their less than watchful eye we have seen food bank usage rise. As Canada struggled through the worst recession since the great depression our federal government was all but absent in the lives of Canadians who were struggling just to feed themselves.
“In the first three months of 2014, two trillion dollars’ worth of goods and services were produced in the country. How, in the midst of such wealth, do so many people need to access food banks just to have enough to eat?”
2014 Hungercount Report
As Canada emerged from the recession food bank usage dipped only slightly from its high in 2008. Today we are still seeing food bank usage at levels significantly higher than before the recession. How can a country as wealthy as Canada have so many people living with food insecurity? According to the 2014 Hungercount Report issued by Foodbanks Canada “Canada ranks 11th out of 186 on the United Nation’s Human Development Index. In the first three months of 2014, two trillion dollars’ worth of goods and services were produced in the country. How, in the midst of such wealth, do so many people need to access food banks just to have enough to eat”
This is unacceptable. In 2014, in a country as wealthy as Canada, no one should be wondering where there next meal is coming from. If selected as the Liberal candidate at the upcoming nomination meeting I will work closely with members of the community and members of the Liberal caucus to help establish a national strategy to deal with poverty in Canada. Stephen Harper wants to hand out nearly $5 billion dollars to some of Canada’s top earners in the form of income splitting, but has no plan to deal with the hundreds of thousands of children whose parents have to access food banks every month just to feed them.
