Thank you very much. It's wonderful to have the opportunity to share some of the things we've experienced in our little group.
Voice of Real Poverty is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to improve the quality of life, dignity, and the fair treatment of people living on or below the poverty line within the province of New Brunswick through awareness, education, and advocacy to the public, to government and other organizations and agencies, and to provide support to each other.
We meet at the soup kitchens and the shelters in Moncton, staying close to the grassroots. Sixty per cent of our board is required to be living on or below the poverty line to ensure our focus stays there. We have reviewed the Newfoundland and Labrador poverty reduction strategy and fully support this type of multi-faceted approach, but we emphasize the need for it to be developed and directed, monitored and evaluated from the federal government level.
We need national standards. Currently the social assistance rates in New Brunswick rank the worst or second-worst in all categories of social assistance within this country. The lowest level requires a 70% increase just to be up to the Atlantic average. In New Brunswick we had a waiting list for low-income people of over 4,000, while low-income apartments and homes sat empty, and yet still they were being heated and electricity was being paid and landlords were receiving the same value for their rooms.
In New Brunswick we have steadily ranked the lowest in terms of minimum wage in the entire country, year after year. The working poor are growing.
In New Brunswick we do not have any regulations to operate a boarding room. Amendments were made, passed in the legislature, and received royal assent in 2006, yet they are only passed from departments. It was at Justice, and now at Service New Brunswick. We are the only province in this country that does not have boarding room regulations under the Residential Tenancies Act.
In New Brunswick we need a low-income energy rate so that people do not freeze to death in their homes, as one did last April, on April 6, here in New Brunswick. When people here are delinquent, not only do they lose their hydro, but they are removed from the housing list. We need to ensure that all people have a roof over their heads. In New Brunswick, low-income people are penalized if they try to share their expenses, if they try to share rent, hydro, groceries, child care. They're cut off or they lose their white card. This is known as the economic unit calculation.
In New Brunswick, low-income people are not encouraged to work to get out of poverty, as they are restricted to a mere $150 or $200 a month that they can earn over and above their social assistance amounts.
In New Brunswick, we put mentally ill people in jail instead of providing them with the care they need. We've had several judges publicly state that they are tired of putting mentally ill people in jail, that we need a plan.
I could go on, but I know my time is limited here.
With 14% poverty here in New Brunswick--that's over 100,000 people out of our small population of 730,000 who are living on or below the poverty line--we plead with you, the federal government, to step in. Help us. We need help in New Brunswick. We know that this province has just kicked off a poverty reduction strategy and has included some of our comments in their plan so far, and we hope to be part of that second stage, but we need help. There is poverty across this country, but not every province is taking it as seriously as others.
In closing, I thank you for this opportunity. Voice of Real Poverty would gladly help in any way we can to see the conditions improve for these desperate people. One of the biggest mistakes that government and organizations and agencies make, I believe, is assuming all people can take care of themselves.
We see severe depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, to mention just a few. We see the loss of marriage, ruined lives from children being taken away, verbal and sexual abuse, drug addiction. Often, this leaves people helpless to a point where they can't even tap into services that are there.
We trust that you will help us, and we thank you so much that you are here today and that you're listening to us. Thank you.