A credit-worthy idea

The Daily Bread Food Bank has made its suggestions on how to put an end to hunger in Toronto and elsewhere:

The plan, which was outlined in the agency's annual profile of hunger in the GTA, recommends the creation of a new Ontario Child Benefit up to $92 per child per month for low-income families. It also suggests Ottawa establish a new refundable tax credit for the working poor and low-income earners.

That federal credit would consist of two parts – a working income benefit of up to $2,400 a year or $200 a month for the working poor and a basic refundable tax credit of $1,800 a year or $150 a month for all low-income earners including the working poor...

Other highlights of the action plan include: a request that all levels of government to continue to invest in affordable housing and rent supplement programs and the federal government reverse its decision to end the national learning and child care program.

The report provides a stark snapshot of poverty in the GTA. Thirty-eight per cent of people relying on food banks are children. A total of 894,017 people used food banks in the last year. That’s up only slightly — 1.3 per cent — from the previous year, but up a whopping 79 per cent since 1995.

The annual report also found that 22 per cent of children go hungry at least once a week while 45 per cent of adults say they go hungry at least once a week. And 24 per cent of households using food banks have at least one person working. The median income of food bank households is $954 a month. The net income of the average size family is $11,448 a year.

While the suggestions on housing and child care don't appear likely to be positively received by the federal government, it's worth seeing whether Harper will consider extending his favoured tax-credit idea to the task of helping Canada's poorest workers. Such an idea could be a winner from both a political and a policy standpoint, likely softening up the current and well-deserved perception that Harper isn't interested in helping Canada's worst off while helping to alleviate poverty in a cost-effective way.

But if (as seems all too likely) Harper isn't interested, then it'll remove all doubt that his concern isn't so much with relieving harmful tax burdens as with buying votes. And even those who are currently benefitting from the Cons' largesse shouldn't have much trouble seeing the longer-term problems with that type of mindset.