Nearly a month after the submission of the fourth Plan to combat poverty, the anger of community organizations is showing little sign of abating.
On Tuesday, four major organizations whose concerns affect people on welfare, collective kitchens, homelessness and housing for young people in difficulty also denounced this plan, which they consider “disappointing and insensitive towards people in poverty.”
The government’s 2024-2029 Action Plan to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion, which was eagerly awaited by the community, was presented discreetly on the Friday before the long National Holiday weekend. The Minister of Social Solidarity and Community Action, Chantal Rouleau, made no announcement and simply posted the plan on the Quebec government website.
Several organizations have denounced the fact that it only has an envelope of $750 million, four times less than the previous plan of $3 billion.
Condemned to poverty
This time, the organizations that spoke out in public in Montreal on Tuesday are protesting against the fact that it is “the only plan that does not propose any new program to increase the income of people in poverty,” in addition to being devoid, according to them, of clear objectives to reduce poverty in Quebec.
They claim that “the plan condemns people in poverty to remain there. First, by not providing any new measures to [les] help address the housing crisis.” They also criticize Minister Rouleau for focusing on food support organizations, seeing this as a tendency to maintain “the dependency of vulnerable people rather than strengthening the food autonomy they desire.”
As for the addition of the work income supplement, which they initially described as “very meager”, they criticize the government for refusing to “take the full measure of the inability of certain people to find and keep a job”.
The four organizations are the Common Front of People on Social Assistance in Quebec (FCPASQ), the Regroupement des Auberges du Coeur du Québec (RACQ), the Regroupement des cuisines collectives du Québec (RCCQ) and the Montreal Network for Assistance to Single and Homeless People (RAPSIM).
The minister “aware” and “listening”
The minister’s office was quick to respond to this statement, relaying her comments by email to The Canadian Press. “I am aware that many Quebecers are going through a difficult time due to the rising cost of living, particularly those receiving social assistance programs,” she wrote, saying she remained “listening to community groups.”
She recalled that her government has invested, since 2018, “more than $12 billion” to act on poverty, in particular for the construction of social or affordable housing, the improvement of programs supporting the payment of rents, the raising of the exclusion threshold linked to alimony and the increase in the tax credit for support for seniors.
Continuing with this list of measures, she also calls for improved emergency support for homelessness, infrastructure and the purchase of food for food banks.
The minister says her goal remains to “lift people out of poverty.” Community organizations, however, deplore the fact that there are no measures to increase the income of poor people, the only way, they argue, to lift people out of poverty.