Human Resources committee  Thank you. The questions are longer than the comments. I would say that I had 48 hours to prepare this brief. We will be doing a longer submission to your committee. When you're talking about costs and who pays for it, you have to also take into account the costs that you are s

Human Resources committee  Can I have time to respond to this question, or comment?

Human Resources committee  I'd just reiterate that I haven't costed the program. I'm a voluntary coordinator, not an economist. I do read a lot on the costs of poverty, and I would refer you to that literature. I will probably be writing a—

Human Resources committee  I'm very much aware of that.

Human Resources committee  Thanks for that question. No, we haven't costed out the recommendations we want to make, but there is a lot of information out there on the costs of polity, especially for the health care system. Somebody might want to look at that. It's out there somewhere. The other comment

Human Resources committee  I just want to make one point.

Human Resources committee  The Canada child benefit is going to result...in fact, the old national child benefit resulted in fewer single parents on income assistance. In fact, it was halved in Nova Scotia. Most of those people are now employed and contributing to the tax system, so benefit programs do not

Human Resources committee  Yes, but please, please look into this. Thank you.

Human Resources committee  Yes. I'd agree with everything that Georgia Barnwell just said. We have to remember that early learning and child care are key. I think that was mentioned by the previous speaker as well. Let's remember that women are also a diverse group, and racism is a factor for some communi

Human Resources committee  I'll just move to the conclusion.

Human Resources committee  As the above examples demonstrate, we need a coordinated and comprehensive approach to poverty reduction. We need enhanced federal income security programs, but the federal government could also help with more effective public transportation as well. The federal government coul

Human Resources committee  —that at a minimum would ensure that the provinces could close the gap between welfare incomes and any standard measure of poverty.

Human Resources committee  My seven minutes went very fast.

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much for this opportunity to present. I was only invited to participate about 48 hours ago, so I'll give it my best try.

Human Resources committee  Thank you. The Community Society to End Poverty in Nova Scotia, or the CSEP-NS, now working under the name End Poverty Nova Scotia, is a community-based organization with the overall goal of ending poverty in Nova Scotia. We advocate for social policies and programs that reduce