Thank you very much for your question. Welcome to Nova Scotia.
The Community Coalition to End Poverty in Nova Scotia actually represents a multitude of groups, organizations, health boards, the Dalhousie Legal Aid Service, and front-line service organizations. CCEP is a large group from across Nova Scotia.
Our framework for a poverty reduction strategy was developed in collaboration with them and their voices at the front lines with people living in poverty. That is one of the very important jobs we in the non-profit organizations do: ensure that their voices and their needs are at the forefront, because they know best how to improve their lives.
Our collaboration within the community is there and it is strong. When we talk about a framework for poverty reduction at the provincial and federal levels, we have spent years having marches, rallies, and workshops--long, three-day workshops. There have been countless hours of work by some advocates. We actually have five pages worth of recommendations for the federal government that have been clearly thought out, debated, and discussed for years.
There are a lot of immediate things the federal government can do. We need the federal government to increase its investment in the Canada social transfer. That is paramount.
We need a supportive housing policy that will promote housing retention and stability. We need to have available funds prioritized for non-profit-housing providers. These are just a few of the many things the federal government can do.
As I said, I am the executive director of a non-profit organization. We all work very closely together. In our organization, we see everything: addictions, mental health, family breakdown, violence, and crimes against the individuals we work to support. We support 115 people, the most marginalized in society, with a few staff and funding that has remained at the same level for 15 years. This is not just at our organization. This is for women's centres and transition houses. We need that kind of support to be better able to do our jobs. We also need the provincial and federal governments to step up and help to take responsibility for this, because over the years, we've continually felt that it is, “Go to the non-profits, go find a charity, go to the food banks.” A lot of responsibility has come down on us, and we are just being weighted down and weighted down.
To go back to the poverty reduction strategy, the community has done this work, and has been doing this work for years, and has sat in countless meetings. Again, we really need to have the political will. We have studied at length Quebec and have looked towards that model. I will say that there are a lot of things in Quebec right now that we're a little envious of. Let's just say it that way.
Thank you for the question.