Thank you.
I'm the director of Emergency Services for Lookout Emergency Aid Society. I also would like to thank you for the opportunity to address the standing committee.
As I'm sure you're well aware, poverty has been a long-standing problem in British Columbia. For the most part, government responses have been insufficient and ineffective. Poverty rates, nationally, peaked in 1996 and then went down, but in British Columbia, poverty continued to increase until 2002. Only then did it start a downward trend. Some cities, such as Burnaby, do not have shelters for their own homeless residents. There is not even space for an emergency shelter during periods of extreme weather, when it's too much of a health risk for people to sleep outdoors.
Lookout has been on the front lines of the fight to eliminate homelessness in the Lower Mainland since 1971. We're the safety net for men and women who have no other housing alternative. Last year, though, we turned away more than 5,000 people. In addition to shelter, we provide transitional and permanent housing. There are 2,000 people on our wait-list, though, and turnover, not surprisingly, is minimal.
Homelessness is all about poverty. It's strange to us that there is actually no national definition of homelessness. Regardless, there have been many attempts to count homeless people across the country. Since Vancouver's 2002 count, we've seen an increase of 136%, even though the count included only the street homeless and no one staying in shelters. It did not include the hidden homeless, such as people who are couch surfing or women staying with men in exchange for a place to live. The homeless population includes more and more women, youth, and families as well as a high percentage of people with mental illness. Over half of B.C.'s aboriginal people live in poverty, yet they make up less than 5% of B.C.'s population. This statistic to us is a shameful reminder of our history as colonizers.
In our shelters the working poor are coming in at unprecedented rates. Wage rates have decreased consistently over the last decade, resulting in the high poverty rates we're now seeing in B.C. We recommend that our governments work together to increase the minimum wage to $11 per hour, at least, and set rates regionally to address local economic realities.
B.C. has the highest child poverty rate in Canada. We know that homelessness can be multi-generational. If the federal government would uphold its Campaign 2000 commitment to eradicate child poverty, Lookout would not see these same people as adults.
We've seen a drop in welfare rates. However, it's actually reforms to the welfare system that have led to caseload reductions, not just increased employment. The year 2007 saw the first increase since the early 1990s, but even with this increase, rates do not come close to meeting the basic monthly cost of living.
We have seen some anti-poverty policies work. Without income benefits for seniors or the unemployed, for instance, poverty rates would be dramatically higher than they currently are. Regardless, to truly alleviate poverty, there is a need to commit further to programs that prevent it, such as pensions, social assistance programs, employment insurance, and minimum wage regulations.
Canada's retirement income system is often called a success story, but the reality is that seniors, especially unattached women, have far higher poverty rates than non-seniors. Our employment income benefits provide replacement income only at the approximate poverty line, resulting in more people losing their housing and having to access emergency shelter. We require the design and implementation of a national poverty reduction strategy that would require federal, provincial, and territorial cooperation. We need a framework that will evenly develop housing and supports for people who are most vulnerable.
We can learn from the successful campaign to house the physical disabled throughout our communities. Five percent of all new housing was dedicated to the disabled. Lookout proposes that the same dedication occur for other marginalized populations. Homeless people should not be forced out of their communities in order to access the housing and services they need, nor should communities be able to cherry-pick the people they will serve. We need our federal leaders to make all our neighbourhoods inclusive communities that reflect the diverse populations that make up Canada.
We applaud the federal government's residential rehabilitation assistance program, which offers financial assistance to low-income homeowners for repairs. This program helps people who live in substandard dwellings and cannot afford to pay for necessary repairs. Some of Lookout's housing, though, can be called below par, yet we've been unable to access RRAP funding. RRAP is an excellent program, but it needs more resources.
We also commend our provincial government on some initiatives it has taken in the last two years, for instance retaining the housing stock, as it prevents the Lower Mainland from having an even greater level of homelessness. Improvements to the housing are great, but we would be remiss if we did not also note that rooms are typically around 100 square feet only, with bathrooms down the hall. They're no substitute for self-contained housing. Also, the province modestly increased welfare shelter rates in 2007.
These efforts are isolated, though, and any successful response to poverty must be cohesive and coordinated. There must be set timelines and targets for poverty reduction, as well as different mechanisms to reach goals. There must be commitment for sustainable and ongoing funding to increase the supply of affordable housing. With this in mind, I must note that we are delighted by the initial passing of a national housing strategy, which would specify areas of responsibility for each level of government.
There is no official definition of poverty in Canada. The low-income cut-off is used most often, but as for homelessness, there is still no definition in Canada, which complicates any discourse on poverty. We can only define poverty by implication, for instance by income proportional to average household spending on food, clothing, and shelter. With differing concepts of poverty and no agreed-upon definition, a discussion on poverty reduction seems doomed to fail. We look to our federal leaders to change this.
In closing, we ask that federal, provincial, and territorial governments work together to end poverty by increasing minimum wage rates and unemployment benefits. A percentage of all new housing should be dedicated as affordable, and it goes without saying that Canada must pass a national housing strategy.
Thank you.