Regina groups call for poverty fixes from new government

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Four anti-poverty agencies in Regina have made a passioned plea to candidates campaigning to be in the next provincial government to commit to fixing a list of problems contributing to growing poverty in Saskatchewan.

“We don’t feel that these issues have received enough focus in this election campaign,” said Peter Gilmer of the Regina Anti-Poverty Ministry at a press conference held Thursday.

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He was joined by Florence Stratton from End Poverty Regina, co-chair Russell Mitchell-Walker of the Warm Welcome Coalition, and Emile Gariepy, harm reduction manager at Newo Yotina Friendship Centre.

Together, they called for action to fix the Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) and Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability (SAID) programs, to add renter protections, back supportive housing and fund harm reduction — all linked as major contributing factors to poverty and houselessness in Saskatchewan.

“Comparing today to a decade ago, things are much worse for people on income security,” said Gilmer. “And pretty much everybody that we’re working with feels worse off now than they did four years ago.”

Gilmer said the coalition purposely voiced its concerns Thursday — on the United Nations’ International Day to Eradicate Poverty — to reiterate how interconnected all of these issues remain amidst this provincial election period.

“When governments set income assistance, disability benefits and living wages too low, they are legislating poverty,” he said.

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A first step to address high rates of poverty would be to raise Saskatchewan’s minimum wage — currently the lowest in the country at $13 an hour — to match the estimated livable wage of $19, said Gilmer.

Another immediate improvement would be changing SIS to include utilities in benefit allocations, and to ensure that SAID clients who receive the coming Canada Disability Benefit don’t experience a clawback from the province.

Gilmer called the latter “an easy ask,” as it would cost no extra dollars for the province to implement.

He added that the broader call is to raise SIS benefits altogether to at least match the poverty line at an income of $1,868 per month, and for SAID to match minimum wage. Clients on SIS are currently living $800 below the poverty line, and those on SAID $500 below, said Gilmer.

“This gap needs to be closed,” he said.

Next was a call from Stratton to help people maintain stable housing by banning “renovictions” and introducing rent control legislation, capping annual rent increases at 2.5 per cent, similar to Ontario.

Mitchell-Walker encouraged voters to ask both municipal and provincial candidates to support a cold weather strategy for the unhoused. He also emphasized the need for a plan to reintroduce 3,000 vacant housing units under the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation back into the housing stream.

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“Our leaders need to be forward thinking to address the wider issues of houselessness and support housing-first programs,” said Mitchell-Walker.

Gariepy, also a paramedic, added that these issues are interwoven with mental health and addictions needs, overlapping and at times spilling over to put pressure on health care. He said the decision to stop providing clean needles and pipes by the Ministry of Health was a “terrible step back” in addressing the opioid crisis, and called for the program’s reinstatement.

Harm reduction strategies, like safe injection sites and needle exchanges, are a critical stepping stone for people to make it into treatment or detox — not a move to encourage drug use as has been claimed, Gariepy said.

“The purpose of harm reduction is to reduce harm,” he said. “It needs to be worked in conjunction because treatment is a great step, but what happens before treatment? We need to keep them alive until they become ready to go into treatment.”

Gilmer said to not address any of these systemic gaps is costing taxpayers more than taking action would.

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He cited University of Regina researcher Paul Gingrich, who in 2019 estimated the cost to raise every person in Saskatchewan out of poverty was $547 million. Poverty-related spending overall was seven times more, at $3.8 billion annually.

“We can end legislative poverty in Saskatchewan if we choose as a society to do so,” said Gilmer, “but it’s going to take the public and the political will together.”

lkurz@postmedia.com

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