Saint John-area woman chosen to advise feds on poverty reduction

A longtme social justice advocate from New Brunswick is one of 17 people from across the country chosen to help the federal government come up with its new poverty reduction strategy.

Brenda Murphy, who lives in Grand Bay-Westfield and works with the Saint John Women's Empowerment Network, was selected from more than 400 nominees to sit on the Advisory Committee on Poverty.

She sees the one-year position as a privilege and a responsibility she takes seriously.

"We're going to be a bit of a sounding board" to Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Jean-Yves Duclos, said Murphy, who is in Ottawa this week meeting with fellow committee members — leaders, academic experts and practitioners working in the field of poverty reduction, and individuals who have experienced poverty first-hand.

I think it's important that a national strategy really does connect with what's happening at the local level and also at the provincial level, too, because that's where the work on the ground is taking place and where we are seeing some success.- Brenda Murphy, advisory committee member

"We will be giving some feedback into whether we think the poverty reduction strategy is going in the right direction and also trying to bring our experiences from the local level into that conversation."

Murphy has been involved with a number of anti-poverty programs in the greater Saint John area over the years and says she feels committed to sharing that information.

"I think it's important that a national strategy really does connect with what's happening at the local level and also at the provincial level, too, because that's where the work on the ground is taking place and where we are seeing some success."

She hopes to focus the discussion on people she believes are at risk of living in poverty, including the Indigenous community, people with disabilities, and members of visible minorities.

Murphy also thinks it's important to look at poverty "through a gender lens" and from a human rights perspective.

"Everyone has a right to basic income, people have a right to housing, people have a right to food," she said.

Homelessness is of particular interest for Murphy.

"We have quite a crisis, I think, around housing."

9% live in poverty

Although all three levels of government have talked about reducing poverty for years, Murphy is optimistic. There has never been a national poverty reduction strategy before, she said.

"It seems to me, at least, there's quite a commitment from this government and across all of their departments … to really make a difference and to look at this and see how we can make change and see change, so I think that is different."

The federal government has said it is committed to reducing poverty and improving the economic well-being of all Canadian families so they can "have a real and fair chance to succeed."

Getting public involved

Poverty affects more than thee million Canadians — about nine per cent of the population, the government has said.

Duclos has a mandate to develop a Canadian poverty reduction strategy that will set targets to reduce poverty as well as measure and publicly report on progress.

The committee will discuss ideas on poverty reduction generated through the government's public engagement process, recommend priority areas for the strategy, identify innovative approaches and offer advice on how to align the objectives of the strategy with other government priorities.

Members will participate in meetings throughout the coming year in person, by teleconference or by online videoconference.