Manitoba loses battle to end child poverty – Winnipeg Free Press

Manitoba is no longer the child poverty capital of Canada, but there's no reason to celebrate.

Saskatchewan earned that dubious title, according to the 2000 Campaign to End Child and Family Poverty in Manitoba report released Tuesday by Winnipeg's Social Planning Council.

Manitoba was ranked second in the report, with both provinces experiencing sharp increases in child poverty.

“Unfortunately, the situation is getting worse,” said Kate Kehler, the council's executive director.

24 percent of Manitobans 17 and younger live in poverty based on their 2021 tax returns.

In Saskatchewan, the figure is 24.2 percent.

Kehler said Manitoba's rate was up 3.3 per cent, while Saskatchewan's rate was up 4.5 per cent from a year ago.

“We've actually increased by 10,000 children in poverty (meaning), about 75,000 children have struggled with poverty (in Manitoba).”

The level of child poverty in the country is 15.6 percent.

The report found that a number of families are trying to get back federal COVID-19 pandemic payments (the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, commonly known as CERB) after being told they're not eligible despite having saved up the money.

He said people who rely on provincial welfare payments of $830 a month are being told to take $25 a month to pay the CERB.

“We're telling the federal government that you need income-based CERB amnesty,” Kehler said. “Whether it's near or below the poverty line, we have to clean it up.

“At $25 a month, it will take years to make it back.”

In 1989, the House of Commons passed a resolution to end child poverty by the year 2000. The 2000 campaign was created to monitor the federal government's progress on this front.

Three decades later, and almost a quarter of a century after child poverty was eradicated, the numbers have only gotten worse.

Sid Frankel, a member of the Campaign 2000 national steering committee, said last year that the committee's report projected that the poverty rate would rise in 2021 after a year-long decline in 2020 thanks to federal pandemic payments.

“It's a reluctant 'we told you so,'” Frankel said.

“We have seen unprecedented reductions in child poverty, largely due to pandemic benefits. This shows that government income transfers can be effective in reducing poverty.”

In addition to the CERB amnesty, Frankel said the committee wants benefit programs indexed to inflation, including the healthy baby prenatal benefit. He also wants the provincial government to speed up passage of Bill 6, the Manitoba Assistance Amendment Act, which would make adult education an option for Manitobans receiving welfare payments.

He doesn't want the NDP to extend its so-called gas tax holiday beyond July 1. The province waives the 14 cents per liter tax on fuel products.

Frankel said the effects of poverty are more obvious: an increase in homelessness and a jump in the number of people forced to use food banks because they can't make ends meet.

Meaghan Erbus, director of advocacy and education for the Harvest Manitoba network, said the food bank is on the front lines of poverty. The number of people using it increased by 150 percent from 2021 to 2023.

“Just this past year alone, we've seen a 30 percent increase,” Erbus said.

“Here at Harvest, we know how hard families are struggling today – 49 percent of our clients are children. We see that people with jobs are accessing our services. 40 percent of those who come here work for a fee.

“(Retired CEO) David Northcott used to say he wanted to fire himself. On the contrary, we were forced to strengthen our operations.”

Winnipeg's Social Planning Board member Josh Brandon said the fuel tax holiday is “regressive tax spending that helps those who are struggling the most.”

According to Brandon, if the money was used to support children in low-income families, child poverty would be reduced by 31 percent in six months and 62 percent in 12 months.

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Kevin Rollason
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Kevin Rollason is one of Winnipeg's most versatile reporters at the Free Press. Whether it covers city hall, the courts, or general reporting, you can count on Rollason to not only answer the 5 Ws—who, what, when, where, and why—but to do so in an engaging and accessible way for readers. .

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