Poverty in Manitoba the 2006 report from the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg

Friday this week the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg released its report on poverty in Manitoba.

This year, the report shows that for 2004, the child poverty rate in Manitoba is 19.2%. The best province in Canada is Prince Edward Island with a rate of 10.8%, with Alberta and Quebec second and third best. Manitoba is seventh best or fourth worst. Manitoba's record is not good enough. As Liberals we see that we need to set a goal to reduce the incidence of child poverty in our province to 11% in four years and have the plan to deliver on this goal.

Particularly disturbing for Manitoba is the high rate in Winnipeg (22.6%), a rate which is the second worst of any major urban area in Canada. Also disturbing is child poverty rate in familes where the mother is a single parent. It is 48% in Manitoba - a rate which is far too high.

As part of the report, Trudy Lavallee, with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, presented a carefully researched assessment of the situation in First Nation communities in Manitoba. She reiterated, once again, her call for the implementation of Jordan's principle (see also http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2005/12/jordans-principle-putting-interests-of.html ).