A glimpse into Canada’s first-ever federal poverty reduction strategy
Posted July 10, 2018 2:38 pm.
Last Updated July 10, 2018 2:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Newly released documents suggest the federal Liberal government plans to sell its forthcoming poverty reduction strategy as an all-encompassing exercise that will be greater than the sum of its parts.
The effort to craft a storyline to market the plan to Canadians has been going on for almost a year.
Top officials from multiple departments met last November to brainstorm how best to include various government spending programs under the banner of Canada’s first-ever federal poverty reduction strategy, being overseen by Employment and Social Development Canada.
A briefing note, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, says the public strategy will make reference to all existing federal programs that make a contribution to reducing poverty.
Stakeholders are growing weary the final plan may offer little in the way of new money or bold policy.
A spokesman for Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says the government has already taken steps to reduce poverty and increase opportunity in Canada and plans to release the strategy “very soon.”
