Good start, but not enough: Advocates pick through new cost of living plan
$22M in new support, including more money for provincial income supplement, income support, seniors' benefits
Advocates for Newfoundland and Labrador's most vulnerable populations say new funding and programs to help alleviate the rising cost of living will help — but more needs to be done.
Any amount of help is welcome, said Mark Nichols, an organizer with Workers' Action Network Newfoundland and Labrador which advocates on behalf of low-wage and vulnerable workers across the province. But he said he's not sure the measures announced Tuesday by the provincial government are sufficient.
"There's a lot of workers who are struggling, and if we're looking at people who are making $15 an hour or less," he said. "You're not going to convince me that those folks are not really hurting right now. There's almost 38,000 of those workers right now."
The government's five-point strategy will see $22 million added to the provincial income supplement, income support, seniors' benefits, electric vehicle rebates and a rebate for transitioning from oil to electric heating.
Nichols said the money being spent on electric vehicle infrastructure won't necessarily help those who are being hit hard by the increased cost of living, and the heating rebate should have been in place long ago as an environmental measure.
"I find it hard to consider those two measures as trying to get help to the people who need it the most," he said.
Nichols said there's a need for immediate government relief for people struggling with inflation but he wants to see more done for all low-wage workers, not just those receiving the income supplement or income support.
"I think we have to find a way in the budget and beyond to address this systemically so we have safeguards in the system that we're providing people with a level of income that allows them to make ends meet or that they're able to earn an income that enables them to make ends meet," he said.
A moving target
Dan Meades, provincial co-ordinator of the Transition House Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, told CBC News the initiatives suggest the provincial government is "taking poverty seriously."
"We haven't seen that in a while and it's been a really nice change to see them understand the urgency that this inflation effect is having on our economy and how people living in poverty are having to make difficult choices every day," he said.
According to the province, about 162,000 individuals and families receive an income supplement tax rebate, and about 20,000 individuals and families receive income support, but Meades says those numbers are outdated.
"Because of these inflationary pressures that we've seen, it fundamentally increases the poverty line," he said.
"Those individuals who were above the poverty line before are below the poverty line now.… The rising cost of living has pushed an awful lot more people below the poverty line. We don't know that number yet. We'll know it next year."
Broader systemic changes
Doug Pawson, executive director of End Homelessness St. John's, said Tuesday's announcement was a recognition from the provincial government of the struggles of those live below the poverty line.
"Now there's an acknowledgement that those folks who are living on low income, a substantial portion of the population, are struggling and will continue to struggle beyond these one-time measures," he said.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see that number rise."
While the increase in funding is helpful, Pawson said, it also highlights the need for broader systemic changes, including increases to income support and the minimum wage.
He said a substantial portion of the population can be considered "the working poor" and there needs to be consideration for that subset who are struggling to make ends meet.
"These cash transfers tend to be more effective with lower-income populations, but tax credits and programs like that tend to be a little more productive with those working poor populations," said Pawson.
"This is a five-point plan that's really one-time measurements.… I think the importance here is that it acknowledges the struggles that folks are living with and the inadequacies of those low wages, of those income support rates, those pensions, and it needs to be improved."