October 17 Event Successful: Comprehensive Strategy Needed This
is the fifth in a series highlighting CPJ’s recommendations for
the 2013 federal budget in Promoting the Common Good. In part
four, we looked at how addressing inequality is important in
achieving equitable, sustainable progress. This week we share
what happened on October 17, the International Day for the
Eradication of Poverty, and our recommendation that Canada
establish a national multilateral poverty elimination strategy.
“If poverty was a disease, we’d be pouring money into it. And it
is: people are dying from it in this country.” This was how
Linda Lalonde, a community advocate and someone who has
experienced poverty first-hand, called for action against
poverty in Canada on October 17, the International Day for the
Eradication of Poverty. The day began with three leaders of the
All-Party Anti-Poverty Caucus, NDP MP Chris Charlton, Liberal
Senator Art Eggleton, and Conservative Senator Don Meredith,
gathering on Parliament Hill, alongside