CANDIDATES AGAINST POVERTY
WEBSITE
SPONSORED BY
THE
RELIGIOUS SOCIAL ACTION COALITION OF NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR
TEN QUESTIONS
TO CANDIDATES
For more than three decades, public policies in Canada have resulted in a growing gap between rich and poor. We are particularly concerned that stimulus policies – and deficit reduction policies during “recovery” may perpetuate this injustice.
1. Do you pledge to make the reduction of the gap between rich and poor the prism through which you will view economic policies?
2. Will you vote to fully fund and implement the Kelowna Accord so that Aboriginal Canadians can be lifted out of the Third World poverty many of them now know?
3. Would you support creating an accountability mechanism – such as a "Federal Poverty Commissioner" – to report on progress in eliminating poverty and ensure that targets and timelines are met?
4. Will you vote to keep Lester Pearson's promise that
Canada will dedicate 0.7%
of our
GDP to foreign aid?
5. Will you support the use of tax policies to reduce inequality?
6. Will you vote for a fully funded federal/provincial Child Care system as a good way to provide early education and cut poverty among working families?
7. Will you vote for a federal/provincial Pharmacare program as a good way to strengthen health care and fight poverty?
8. Will you support increased federal funding for affordable housing, including social housing?
9. Much as the Canadian government made the elimination of federal deficits a high priority in the 1990s, do you support the idea of making the elimination of poverty in Canada the first priority of Canadian government in the coming decade?
10. Will you work to establish a specific timeline and targets (similar to the deficit elimination targets) for the End of Poverty in Canada within the coming decade?