In the morning at 9:00 am, of June the 1st we will gather at the Royalty Junction of the Charlottetown Confederation Trail. We have invited other persons and groups to join us as we progress along the trail from the start point (Royalty Junction) to the city (8 Km). We estimate that our walk will bring us to the UPEI area at approximately 10:00 am. and probably arriving at the Founder’s Hall. (the end of the Charlottetown Trail) at approximately 11:00 am.
We have invited the Premier, Robert Ghiz, and all MLAs to join us as we continue to bring awareness of a great need in PEI for a Strategy to Eradicate Poverty.
COPY OF THE LETTER
May 27, 2010
Honourable Robert Ghiz,
Premier of Prince Edward Island
Dear Premier Ghiz,
Greetings to you on this beautiful May day. I’m not sure if you are aware that a group of Islanders are walking from Tignish to Elmira in support of a Poverty Eradication Strategy. The group, comprised mainly of the members of the Christian Living Community, is part of the Poverty Eradication Coalition founded by the MacKillop Centre for Social Justice and Poverty Bites. They understand how important it is to make Islanders aware that the province will hold public hearings – hopefully by the end of summer or early fall. They also want to raise public awareness of the importance of P.E.I. establishing a Poverty Eradication Strategy.
Besides the human suffering of those in poverty the whole population of the province is affected as poverty is costing a great deal financially and in other ways. In January 2011, at the request of the MacKillop Centre for Social Justice and Poverty Bites, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Nova Scotia, produced a research paper entitled, Cost of Poverty in Prince Edward Island. Their findings were quite startling. Their estimate, which they stated was on the conservative side, placed the cost at about $1,720 and $2,265 per person per year, using the Market Basket Measure (MBM). This measure suits the reality of Atlantic Canada much better than the Low Income Cut Off (LICO) measure. Those figures illustrate that the collective cost is between $240 and $329 million per year, or 5% to 7% of GDP. The authors, Angella MacEwan and Dr. Christine Saulnier conclude that the cost of poverty can be seen in four major areas, health, crime costs, intergenerational costs and productivity losses, all of which they costed in their paper.
The Poverty Eradication walkers will be at Royalty Junction at 9:00 am on Wednesday, June 1. They will be met by a number of supporters and potential walkers. We ask you to join us at 9:00 am at Royalty Junction and offer some words of encouragement. We ask your office to pass on this invitation by e-mail to all Members of the Legislative Assembly. We are also inviting the media to attend the event.
We would be grateful if you could let us know if you will be present. Some of The walkers will continue to Founder’s Hall following the stop at Royalty Junction and they expect to be there at 11:00 am.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Mary Boyd
For the Poverty Eradication Coalition
Tel: 892-9074
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