Mr. Speaker, our government is making an important commitment to developing a Canadian poverty reduction strategy. Government can make a difference, but we cannot do it alone. That is why the member for Bay of Quinte and I are fortunate to have a new program in our ridings called “Creating Community”, run by the Hastings & Prince Edward Poverty Roundtable.
With the help of an Ontario Trillium grant, this program brings together people who have personally experienced poverty in order to educate our community on the complexity of the issue and to bring the diversity of perspectives together, with the goal of action on poverty reduction. This project deepens our understanding that poverty is not an individual experience, but a community one, needing responses at all levels.
Community consultations are now under way on the causes and impacts of poverty, and solutions to it. Poverty often has a local context, so we look forward to collaboration between our government and these community initiatives.