ERADICATION OF POVERTY

Members of the Poverty Eradication Strategy for P.E.I., spearheaded by the MacKillop Centre for Social Justice and Poverty Bites together with the Christian Life Community and other groups are working hard to achieve an effective poverty eradication strategy for P.E.I. To that end they are sponsoring a Confederation Trail walk from Tignish to Elmira. The Poverty Eradication Coalition believes that the federal and provincial governments need to effectively address the root causes of poverty and help bring an end to a situation that causes a great deal of suffering, ill health and feelings of marginalization.  Research has demonstrated that it costs the province much more to maintain the current situation of poverty than to eliminate it.

The P.E.I. government has committed to a Poverty Eradication Strategy and is preparing for the necessary public hearings that such a strategy requires. It is hoped the hearings will take place in late summer and early Fall. The Coalition believes that people who attend the hearings will have a better understanding of the root causes of poverty. To that end it is important that low income people come out and participate in the hearings and tell their stories. The walk which begins in Tignish at 10:00 am on May 18 and finish in Elmira on June 12, will emphasize the importance of attending the public meetings and encouraging low income people to tell their stories as a way of educating the public and the government about the realities of poverty.  

For further information please contact Ann McRae at (902) 831-2484 or visit the walk blog at http://www.povertypei.blogspot.com/