(OTTAWA) October 16, 2016 – The Green Party of Canada released the following statement on World Food Day and to mark the 5th annual Raise the Rates Welfare Food Challenge in British Columbia:
“World Food Day offers Canadians a chance to commit to eradicate hunger in our lifetime. To this end, I applaud my fellow Green Wes Regan in taking the Raise the Rates Welfare Food Challenge, which calls on people to live on a grocery budget of $18 a week,” said Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada (MP, Saanich-Gulf Islands). “It is time for provincial and federal governments to seriously consider a guaranteed liveable income and other poverty-alleviating measures for all Canadians.”
“A weekly grocery budget of $18 – that is not a typo. While the cost of living has continued to increase in B.C., our levels of income support to those most in need has remained unacceptably low, unchanged in nearly a decade,” said Wes Regan, GPC Urban Affairs and Housing Critic.
“At a time when governments have grossly maintained corporate welfare to oil and gas companies, we need to get our priorities straight and engage with the compassion and empathy that I know exists in Canadian communities,” Mr. Regan said. “Though my intention is to complete this challenge, I may not be able to make it on less than $20 a week. But that is really the point – nobody should be expected to live on such a meagre income.
“In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, it is inexcusable that governments have allowed poverty and hunger to persist for millions across Canada," Ms. May said.
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