From today’s Toronto Star:

Canadians care deeply about poverty and its consequences in this country. That is evidenced by the fact that more than 4,200 Canadians and 330 organizations across the country have offered their views on the issue and the need for a nationwide strategy to solve it since mid-October, when the National Council of Welfare posted a questionnaire online.

The survey will run until tomorrow when the council, a federally mandated body that advises Ottawa on social policy, begins analyzing the results and drafting solutions.

The call for a national strategy comes in the wake of two council reports last summer that showed the poverty rate in Canada has not budged in a generation and the poorest among us are getting poorer.

Despite a raft of reports and countless initiatives, one in six Canadians is still poor, the council reports. That amounts to 5.3 million people who struggle to survive at low-wage jobs or on social assistance, disability benefits or limited pensions. What is needed to combat poverty is a comprehensive plan with clear goals and funding to meet them. Among approaches worthy of adoption are raising minimum wages and taking minimum wage earners off the income tax rolls, investing heavily in training, increasing welfare payments and beefing up drug and child-care support.

In Canada, both Quebec and Newfoundland have adopted anti-poverty strategies that are paying off.

The goal of a national anti-poverty program must be to create a national system that provides a decent level of income for all families in need.

Lend your voice to the call and fill in the welfare council’s questionnaire at http://www.ncwcnbes.net by tomorrow. Politicians must know that Canadians care about this important topic.