Poverty groups scale back government lobby

Non-profit groups who tackle poverty on P.E.I. are so dismayed with government's new poverty reduction plan they've decided to spend less time with government and more on direct appeals to Islanders.

The Working Group for a Livable Income is a coalition of 11 non-governmental organizations and charities, including the P.E.I. Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Jane Ledwell, policy analyst for the council, called the government's poverty strategy, released last week, a disappointment.

"What's missing is a real sense of vision, that there's a real understanding of the lived experience of poverty in the P.E.I. community," said Ledwell.

"It doesn't have the concrete actions or the concrete targets or timelines that would say what the province is going to do to fulfill its role in working against poverty in the province."

In the wake of the disappointing strategy, the working group has decided to devote more time to grassroots lobbying in an effort to force government action, rather than trying to advise government.

Ledwell said an effective poverty strategy is particularly important now with job cutbacks, changes to EI, and to the HST all expected to have an impact on Island incomes.