Echoes of Inner City Voices (in PDF) is a follow up report to a series of stories that ran in the Winnipeg Free Press between 1997 and 1999. The series tried to give a voice to inner city people. The recent report looks at how the inner city and the lives of inner city people have changed, as well as providing statistics on the inner city and commentary on the effectiveness of policies and programs.

As Manitoba gets set to vote at the end of May, an article in Canadian Dimension, says poverty is the missing issue in Manitoba's election, despite the fact that Manitoba continues to have one of the highest rates of child and family poverty in the country.

Manitoba has announced a four year program called "Rewarding Work" for welfare recipients. Read more in the CBC article, "Manitoba initiatives aim to break down 'welfare wall'" and in the Manitoba Government Rewarding Work backgrounder. Here are some details of the plan:

• Manitoba Child Benefit - Benefits of $35/month per a child to families with annual incomes up to $20,000. For people receiving income assistance, this benefit will replace part of the benefits they receive through welfare. (i.e. welfare recipients will not receive any more benefit.)
• Child Care Fees - Fees for subsidized child care will be reduced from $2.40 per day per child to $2. Amount parents can earn will be increased by 13%.
• Job Seekers Allowance - $300/year for single adults and couples who are actively looking for work.
• Employment Stipend - Up to $1200/year for work clothing and transportation.
• Enhanced Training and Education - Up to 24 months available for skills training.
• Single Parents keep up to $115, and 25% above this amount from work each month.
• Income Assistance for Persons with Disabilities will increase by $300 to $1260/month in January 2008.

Information on the 2007 Manitoba Budget

• 2007 Manitoba Budget Highlights
• 2007 Manitoba Budget Summary (in PDF)
• CBC article - "Manitoba initiatives aim to break down 'welfare wall'"
• Canadian Dimension article - "Manitoba Budget: A timid blueprint-NDP is expert at thinking inside the box"

The Manitoba government is giving all families who are getting Employment and Income Assistance, the full federal Universal Child Care benefit. This policy is part of several adopted by the Manitoba government to help low income earners and welfare recipients. Manitoba Family Services and Housing's news release further explains the benefit.

Manitoba's NDP government is attempting to enforce national laws regarding interest rates of payday loan companies. Consumer rights advocates are supportive of this government action and hope that the Canadian government will give the provinces the power to truly enforce regulation. For more information see the CBC news story, "Manitoba to crack down on payday loan companies."

"Hard Night Out," an event organized by Manitoba's Harm Reduction Network, was an opportunity for community leaders to get a taste of the stigma and difficulties suffered by the homeless. The event was intended to raise awareness about issues of homelessness and encourage community leaders to take action. The CBC's story regarding 'Hard Night Out' gives more details about the project and its effects.

The Social Planning Council of Winnipeg have an electronic copy of their summer newsletter (in PDF).

The first soup kitchen opened up in the small Manitoba city of Steinbach. Although poverty is perhaps most visible in large cities, the woman who opened the Steinbach soup kitchen says that poverty exists in smaller, rural areas, where there are fewer resources for the poor. The community has gotten behind the project and many groups have donated money, time, supplies and space to help feed Steinbach's hungry. For more information there's a CBC article profiling the soup kitchen project.

One of the Canadian Council for Policy Alternatives recommendations to the Manitoba Government Workers Compensation Review Committee would see injured workers receive 100 per cent of their net income if injured in the workplace. Read the Manitoba Government Workers Compensation Review Committee news release.

A homeless count in Winnipeg illustrated that the majority of the city's homeless were aboriginal. Anti-poverty activists and first nations leaders say that the federal government is largely responsible for the situation because they stopped investing in a program which created more affordable housing for aboriginals. Manitoba's Housing minister says that there needs to be an effort by the federal government to ensure not only housing in major Canadian cities but also on reserves. For more information a CBC article, "Native leaders blame Ottawa for aboriginal homeless problem."

Manitoba will stop clawing back the National Child Benefit Supplement from individuals on social assistance. The changes, including details of improvements in basic income assistance rates, were announced in Winnipeg. More information is available by reading the Manitoba Government news release regarding the changes and by visiting the Manitoba Family Services and Housing Ministry's page of links to fact sheets related to Employment and Assistance programs in Manitoba.

The UN Platform for Action Committee (UNPAC) is devoted to women's experiences in the economy. Stats, articles, and activities on women and poverty, childcare, paid and unpaid work, the wage gap, economics 101, economic alternatives, women and globalization, and more. Features personal stories of 30 Manitoba women.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) has released an alternative budget for Manitoba. Read the Manitoba Alternative Budget 2003-04 (in PDF), and the CCPA's press release entitled Stop Putting Debt Reduction, Tax Cuts Over Equality.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has released the 2002-2003 Manitoba Alternative Budget (in PDF) and a press relaease regarding the budget entitled, A Budget for a Healthy, Sustainable Manitoba.

An Aboriginal women's shelter for victims of family violence, held a ceremony for its new facility which will open in Winnipeg in the coming weeks. For more information read the Manitoba Government press release.

In a move which recognized that discrimination against poor people will no longer be tolerated, Winnipeg City Council passed a new by-law today on "obstructive solicitation" which made no reference to panhandling. The by-law, which replaces a former anti-panhandling by-law, was accepted by the National Anti-Poverty Organization, a group which had legally challenged the panhandling by-law for its violation of poor people's rights to free expression and to equal treatment under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. For more information read the NAPO press release.

For immediate release
September 20, 2000

In a move which recognized that discrimination against poor people will no longer be tolerated, Winnipeg City Council passed a new by-law today on “obstructive solicitation” which made no reference to panhandling. The by-law, which replaces a former anti-panhandling by-law, was accepted by the National Anti-Poverty Organization, a group which had legally challenged the panhandling by-law for its violation of poor people's rights to free expression and to equal treatment under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Laurie Rektor, NAPO's Executive Director, pointed out that this victory signals a new trend, one that shows an increasing recognition of poor people's rights in Canada. “Our political and legal representatives are beginning to realize that the rights of low-income Canadians must be protected in order to create a just and democratic society. There is growing recognition that poor people experience discrimination as a group, and that this situation cannot continue. The tide is certainly beginning to turn.”

There is a growing body of evidence that indicates that the recognition of poor people's rights is becoming firmly established:

• the recommendation by the Canadian Human Rights Act Review Panel that 'social condition' be recognized in the Act as one of the prohibited grounds for discrimination
• the introduction of federal access-to-banking legislation into the House of Commons in June, which will ensure that employment and an initial minimum balance are no longer conditions for opening a bank account
• the recent announcement in Manitoba that families receiving social assistance would no longer have the National Child Benefit clawed back
• the decision this month that landlords in Ontario may no longer refuse to rent to low income households which would be paying more than 30% of their income on rent

Ms. Rektor noted that the cumulative impact of these decisions could be enormous. “If this trend continues, it will mark a sea change in how Canadians and our public institutions view poor people,” she argued. “As each barrier is brought down, the potential for poor people to participate as full and equal members of society is closer to being fully realized.”

NAPO has been working to end discrimination against poor people since its inception in 1971. The organization is currently involved with a challenge to a similar panhandling by-law in the City of Vancouver. That challenge is expected to go to court on January 15, 2001.

For more information, contact:
Laurie Rektor, Executive Director, at (613) 789-0096
Michael Conner, Legal Counsel, at (204) 985-5220

n a move which recognized that discrimination against poor people will no longer be tolerated, Winnipeg City Council passed a new by-law today on "obstructive solicitation" which made no reference to panhandling. The by-law, which replaces a former anti-panhandling by-law, was accepted by the National Anti-Poverty Organization, a group which had legally challenged the panhandling by-law for its violation of poor people's rights to free expression and to equal treatment under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In a move which recognized that discrimination against poor people will no longer be tolerated, Winnipeg City Council passed a new by-law today on "obstructive solicitation" which made no reference to panhandling. The by-law, which replaces a former anti-panhandling by-law, was accepted by the National Anti-Poverty Organization, a group which had legally challenged the panhandling by-law for its violation of poor people's rights to free expression and to equal treatment under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.