Human Resources committee  Thanks for the question. Certainly, economic recovery will help. There's no question that, whether it's provincial or federal, a stronger economy generates more tax revenues. I think that as we get through the worst of the recession, federal revenues will begin to recover. I th

Human Resources committee  That's correct.

Human Resources committee  That's correct.

Human Resources committee  I'm trying to come up with a solution that will gain all-party support. We have to recognize that high-income young people with children under the age of six are going to be a small percentage of the population. Perhaps some people with inherited wealth will be in that category,

Human Resources committee  Yes. Those of us involved with affordable housing were very pleased that the provincial government adopted a ten-year plan to end homelessness. In some ways, one of the arguments we're making is that it should be extended to perhaps a ten-year plan to end poverty, because homeles

Human Resources committee  I just want to respond very directly to Mr. Martin's question. Ed Broadbent, someone I think you know, wrote a very interesting opinion article in the Globe and Mail on November 24, the 20th anniversary of the Eliminating Child Poverty resolution. One of the things he suggested

Human Resources committee  Thank you for that question. You had mentioned strong economic performance. Certainly in Alberta, since the late 1990s until about a year ago, we had a very strong economy. Probably that was the main contributor to some reduction in poverty in the first years of the 21st century

Human Resources committee  I just want to make a comment as well, because I agree with you generally that in terms of both the federal and provincial governments, there's a tendency to cut initiatives that are important to low-income Canadians, low-income Albertans, when governments start to run into defic

Human Resources committee  That's true.

Human Resources committee  Well, that's because of the way it was passed through, because of the increase in the way the benefit is structured. The people who received most of the benefit were people who had incomes at the edge of the first income tax bracket, so you're right. In fact it was something that

Human Resources committee  Thank you. On behalf of the Edmonton Social Planning Council, I am pleased to participate in these hearings. The Edmonton Social Planning Council is an independent, non-profit social research organization that focuses on issues of poverty and low income. Our goal is to build a m

Finance committee  Yes, certainly. I really think that particularly when we're investing in children we're investing in Canada's future. There has been some really good research done in recent years, basically demonstrating that by allowing child poverty to persist we're actually creating more soc

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The proposals are similar in the sense that we both recommend that the non-refundable child tax credit be eliminated and basically folded into the refundable child tax benefits, enhancing them. The reason is very simple. The only way you get benefit fro

Finance committee  Thank you. Thank you to committee members. The Edmonton Social Planning Council is pleased to participate in these pre-budget consultations. The ESPC is an independent, non-profit social research organization focusing on issues of poverty and low income, with the goal of build