If you come to our town, we'll shake our umbrellas at you if you do that.
Thank you for this opportunity to address you today. I think this is a very important task force and I'm awfully glad that the government has set it up.
A few months ago a man came to our council to speak at the open delegation segment of our meeting. Our citizens are afforded five minutes. It's a risky move, but I'm proud of my city's courage in allowing an open mike.
This man was almost in tears as he described his situation. Both he and his wife had low-paying jobs and had been managing until he became a victim of a rent eviction. His rent was going to be almost double and he could not find any other affordable accommodation in our city. He desperately wanted to stay in New Westminster, near his work as he had no car, and where his children went to school. This is an example of some of the challenges facing the working poor. This is why New Westminster has made a real effort in poverty reduction, and this is why we have developed a real poverty reduction initiative.
We were the first municipality in Canada to institute a living wage bylaw in 2011, and we are considered to be a municipal leader in the areas of child care, homelessness, and housing affordability. Despite these efforts, however, poverty remains a pervasive issue in New Westminster. We cannot do it alone. We need the support of senior levels of government.
I will share with you our numerous strategies because you have asked specifically for suggestions on how to reduce poverty.
It started, as all municipal things do, with the formation of a committee tasked to develop a strategy. As a result, 29 municipal actions were identified as directly addressing the needs of people, including families, who are living in poverty and with low incomes. These actions include, first, a living wage bylaw that ensures that municipal staff and contracted workers are paid enough to meet basic, locally calculated expenses.
I'm going to give all of these to the committee so I'm hoping that you'll be able to use them. We're very proud of them.
Second is an affordable housing reserve fund and two small sites for affordable housing projects. Third is a secure market rental housing policy. This is to prevent people from changing our rental units into condos. It's not allowed in our city. Fourth is a tenant relocation policy in 2015, and a rent eviction action plan.
Fifth is a rent bank program, and I'll just stray a bit to tell you that Judy Darcy spoke yesterday in the legislature about the rent bank that New Westminster has set up with the help of our local credit unions. This, of course, is to allow people who are going to be late on their rent to come and get money to cover their rent.
Sixth is a child care grant program and a reserve fund. Seventh is having a community and social services asset map for people in need to find out where to get help. Eighth is a newcomer's guide that acts as a resource to newcomers during the first six months and after arrival. There's even a parks and recreational subsidy program and an affordable active living.... We give very cheap swimming lessons, skating, whatever.
Now, this is the thing that we're most proud of. Our full poverty reduction strategy contains 70 actions, which you can find in the reports that I have shared with you. I have made copies for the entire committee.
In addition to the strategies, a chief consideration is to raise community awareness regarding poverty and its impact. As a means of building support for its implementation and to reduce the stigma associated with poverty, the committee prepared “Poverty Mythbusters”, a document. Each week we put one of the myths into our local paper so that people can read and understand what poverty is really about.
Given that I now have the ear of the federal government, I will say what an important role you have to play, as you are best positioned to reduce systemic barriers contributing to poverty. You have the resources to initiate policies, programs, and services, to raise people, including families, out of poverty.
Many of the issues are beyond the jurisdiction or the scope of municipal government and its community partners. We have only eight cents of every tax dollar. That's all that's going to municipalities. You're asking too much of us. We are struggling with infrastructure deficits, provincial downloading, and an aging population.
Please, develop a national housing strategy, and give us more money. I assure you, we will spend it wisely. We interact daily with the problem. We know what to do. Just help us to do it.
Thank you.