Evidence of meeting #42 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was winnipeg.
9:50 a.m.
Liberal
Anju Dhillon Liberal Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC
Thank you.
Mr. Bisanz, you spoke about a lack of social and cultural resources. Can you talk a little bit more about that?
9:50 a.m.
Co-Chair, EndPovertyEdmonton
That's part of the way we define poverty. We wanted to make sure that poverty wasn't just considered an economic issue. We looked at income, but what we think is important is quality of life, and that has a lot to do with connection to communities. When we think about poverty in Edmonton, we're trying to think not only of income but also of economic and cultural resources.
9:50 a.m.
Liberal
9:50 a.m.
Co-Chair, EndPovertyEdmonton
I can't say we're looking at it as separate communities we're trying to serve. We're trying to serve all of Edmonton, and that means providing strong support wherever it's needed. In your consultation period, we heard lots about where help is needed. That's what led to our action plan, with 35 action starting points. We're intent on guiding a process through a generation that will get rid of poverty.
9:50 a.m.
Liberal
Anju Dhillon Liberal Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC
Would you say the majority of people you serve are from the aboriginal community?
9:50 a.m.
Co-Chair, EndPovertyEdmonton
It depends on the area you look at. In housing, the aboriginal community is underserved. In income, they are not in good shape, although there are plenty of exceptions. Newcomers are a big issue, as are single parents. Single-parent families have a 30% poverty rate, and early learning and care is really important for that.
9:50 a.m.
Liberal
Anju Dhillon Liberal Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC
Would this include the cultural needs of aboriginal people, the early education?
9:50 a.m.
Co-Chair, EndPovertyEdmonton
Yes, early education is relevant there. It's relevant everywhere, really. There was a large study done in Edmonton some years ago called “Families First Edmonton”. One of the key issues that families face is finding high-quality child care so that the parents can engage in the economic system. That's a huge barrier and something that needs to be addressed.
9:50 a.m.
Liberal
Anju Dhillon Liberal Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC
Thank you.
My next question is for Mr. Wise. We didn't quite get to finish before. You were speaking about education. I was asking how to prevent marginalization and guarantee quality and non-discrimination. You spoke about the importance of education, but at the same time you explained to us that education is not a guarantee. I see this too every day. I speak to constituents. I grew up with it. Even if you're educated, you will not be given those opportunities.
How do we guarantee opportunities?
9:55 a.m.
Executive Director, Central Neighbourhoods Development Corporation
I wish I had an answer for you. How do we guarantee it? I'm a firm believer in education, both formal and informal. Formal education will give you a level of expertise that will enable you to get from A to B, but this should be accompanied by practical wisdom, which comes from informal education, from interaction, from access. A first point of poverty reduction and countering racism is interaction, giving access, and making sure populations that historically have been marginalized form alliances by understanding and getting to know one another.
One of the initiatives we have in our city brings aboriginal youth and newcomer youth together throughout the summer or in wintertime with various programming that allows them to share their cultures. We have programming with law enforcement, be it Winnipeg police, the RCMP, or the corrections. We have an initiative called umoja, which is Swahili for unity. Youth in the community who have had negative experiences with people in uniform are brought together with members of the police to play hockey, basketball, and football. This way, they grow together and recognize that under that uniform is a human being, while the other side recognizes that there is more than one way of doing things.
It takes a long time to put these things in statistics, to quantify them. The school life of a child starts from K to 12, and even if we follow that, it's not going to happen overnight. We need time.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Anju Dhillon Liberal Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC
As MP Zimmer just said, I too believe in finding solutions. We have a lot of statistics, but do any of you have something to add to what Mr. Wise just said?
9:55 a.m.
Director, Community Inclusion and Investment, Citizen Services, City of Edmonton
Yes. I'd like to say that what Allan said triggered for me what's really important, we think, in shifting the culture in this whole country around ending poverty, which is to engage our next generation.
We've seen the same thing. We've seen the challenges that both indigenous and newcomer youth face, but we've also had amazing young people in Edmonton who have come forward. The John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights single-handedly helped shape our task force report by bringing in that human rights lens and saying “this is what it's about” in the criminalization we experience. The need to focus on human rights is really how we have to come out of poverty.
I think we're talking about a generational issue here. We need to make sure that our next generation, as Allan has said, is helping with those solutions.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bryan May
Thank you.
We have about two minutes left, but that's it for your turn, Anju, I'm afraid. I'm sorry.
Karen. It's sort of your turn, but I don't know if you....?
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Karen Vecchio Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
I'll take 10 seconds.
You have that adverse event study that you did a couple years ago regarding children in situations of trauma. Is there a way for us to share that with the committee as well, if you don't mind?
9:55 a.m.
Vice-President, Research and Innovation, Institute of Urban Studies, University of Winnipeg
I'm sorry. I'm going to admit that at the At Home project, we've published probably 150 publications. I'll send you that one in particular, but there are a few good ones.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Karen Vecchio Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
I'd like to look at that one specifically.
I'll share my time with whoever has questions.
9:55 a.m.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
Thank you.
Mr. Wise, I'm familiar with the neighbourhood renewal corporations' really good work up north. I know that obviously you're facing some insecurity here at home. In terms of the work you do, I'm wondering if you can speak about the importance of sustained government funding at the federal level, obviously, but at the provincial level as well.
9:55 a.m.
Executive Director, Central Neighbourhoods Development Corporation
My agency has not received much federal funding. We had some federal funding some years ago, but we haven't had that.... I know of agencies that do receive federal funding. Currently, our provincial funding is up in the air. We are under review. All 13 corporations are. We have started a campaign of engaging the provincial government to highlight what we have achieved.
In Manitoba, neighbourhood renewal corporations started in 1990. Prior to that, it was done in one neighbourhood in the north and by the Mennonite Central Committee.
For the provincial government, we have highlighted our efforts over the past 20 years in a report called “The Collective Impact of Neighbourhood Renewal Corporations”. I would be more than happy to share that with you.
10 a.m.
Liberal
10 a.m.
Conservative
Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC
Thank you.
I want to say to Allan that I think it's unfortunate that you face that discrimination again. I look forward to the day when we don't see skin colour anymore and we don't see each other as any different, but just as one human being sitting across from another. It's one thing.... I grew up in an aboriginal community, and I don't see a difference there. I know that some do, but I look forward to the day we all can view each other this way.
I have a question for Kate Gunn.
You say that affordable housing is a right. Is that correct? Did you say that?
10 a.m.
Director, Community Inclusion and Investment, Citizen Services, City of Edmonton
Yes, we do.
10 a.m.
Conservative
Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC
I know that our time is limited, Chair, so stop me when you need to.
What does that look like? For what you're suggesting, it would cost billions of dollars in Canada to pull that off. I'm not saying that's bad, but I'm going to ask you two questions. Where is the money going to come from? How many people would that affect?
How many people do we need to provide housing for? Understanding that this is a Canadian committee, this means 35 million people. This is a pan-Canadian study. What is that going to look like as a Canadian all-inclusive? What is that going to cost? For how many people is it going to be required to provide housing?
10 a.m.
Liberal
10 a.m.
Director, Community Inclusion and Investment, Citizen Services, City of Edmonton
Yes, it is a big question.
I would say that in EndPovertyEdmonton we do believe that housing is a right for all Canadians: the right to have a safe and comfortable home to bring up a family in. I think the important thing.... It's a huge number of dollars that you're talking about. We know that in Alberta alone $7 billion to $9 billion is spent every year on poverty, on things that are related to poverty, whether that's the health care system or the criminal justice system. You look to see where the money goes and what the huge costs are, but there are huge costs that are going on now—