Working Together to REDUCE Poverty in the Province of New Brunswick

Written by the New Brunswick Commmon Front for Social Justice Inc. in preparation for the Dialogue sessions on poverty‏ held on February 17th, 2009.


The New Brunswick Common Front for Social Justice Inc.
96 Norwood Avenue, no 208
Moncton (New Brunswick)
E1C 6L9

Telephone: (506) 851-7084
e-mail: fcjsnb@nbnet.nb.ca
Web page: http://www.frontnb.ca/en/Home_en.htm

January 2009

Table of contents
Page

Executive Summary 3
1. Introduction 6
2. Extent of poverty in NB 6
3. History of recent Canadian poverty reduction strategies 7
4. Proposal for a Working Group on poverty reduction 9
5. Failure of the NB government to legislate a liveable wage 10
6.Insufficient literacy program support 11
7.Absence of pay equity legislation in the private sector 11
8. Lack of a comprehensive child care system 12
9. Lack of affordable housing 13
10. Insufficient federal support for seniors 14
11.Very low social assistance rates 15
12. Inadequacy of some social assistance policies 15
a. Limiting the Wage Exemption of social assistance recipients 15
b. Maintaining the “Household Income” policy 17
c. Refusal of the certified disability category 18
d. Imposing an interim assistance rate of $294 per month 20
e. Focus placed on the investigation of social welfare recipients 20
13. Conclusion 21

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Louise Arbour, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said: “Poverty is rarely accidental or natural or inevitable. Rather it is often the outcome of policy choices”. Members of the Common Front for Social Justice (CFSJ) believe that poverty reduction is a question of justice and not one of charity. That is why they demand that the New Brunswick (NB) government play a key role in the fight against provincial poverty.
 
A number of other provincial governments (Quebec, NF & L, Ontario, etc.) have taken their social responsibilities seriously and put in place their own poverty reduction strategy. In October 2008, the province of NB launched a process in order to develop a Poverty Reduction Plan. Dialogue Sessions will be held from January 19th to February 24th 2009. Round Table Sessions and a Final Forum will take place in the fall of 2009.
 
CFSJ drafted this discussion document to inform its members on several issues to be brought up in the Dialogue Sessions. This Executive Summary regroups the issues and some proposals which should be considered in developing the Poverty Reduction Plan.

Political Will

First of all, there needs to be real political will from within the NB Cabinet and a real buy-in by key departments, namely Social Development, Education, Justice, Health, and Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour and others. Cabinet members have to be strongly behind the Poverty Reduction Plan if it is to bring about significant change.  

Extent of poverty in NB

In NB in 2005, the average income of 10% of the richest families with children was $121,642 while the average income of the poorest 10% of families was only $7,851. Of the 93,000 single people in NB, 49.7% of them have an income of less than $20,000 a year. Based on the 2006 Census, 729,995 people lived in NB, and of these, 100,740 (13.8%) were living in poverty. Approximately 45% of single mothers are poor. Close to 11% of seniors are living in poverty. In December 2008, 38,201 New Brunswickers were receiving social assistance. Approximately 65% of food banks users are receiving social assistance and 10.7% of them have a job. 

Minimum Wage

At $7.75 an hour, NB has the lowest minimum wage in Canada. An individual working throughout the year during 40 hours a week will gross $16,120 a year. The Low Income Cut-off (poverty line) for an individual was $18,544 per year in 2007. When people become unemployed, restrictive employment insurance policies force them into deeper poverty

Recommendation to the government of NB regarding Minimum Wage: Legislate a minimum wage of $10 per hour to reach parity with the other Atlantic Provinces by 2010 or soon thereafter. It should also be indexed to the cost of living.

Recommendation to the government of NB regarding Employment Insurance: Pressure the Federal government to allow access to employment insurance after 360 hours of work in all regions of Canada. Increase benefits to 60% of earnings, based on a worker's best 12 weeks. Increase the period for which benefits can be collected to a maximum
of 50 weeks.
 
Literacy

Nearly 50% of New Brunswickers who are 15 years or older have a high school diploma or less. Only 50% of those aged 16 and over have the literacy skills necessary to function in today’s society.

Recommendation to the NB government: Facilitate access to literacy programs by removing the bureaucracy which poses restrictions to participation.

Pay Equity

The wage gap between men and women is $2.70 an hour. Lower wages for women keep many of them below the poverty line. A high percentage of this wage gap is due to discrimination.

Recommendation to the NB government: Pass pay equity legislation, thus allowing many NB women to move out of poverty

Child care

Families in the province lack daycare spaces. Daycare is expensive and a real burden to working families. Salaries paid to day care workers remain low.

Recommendation to the NB government:
Develop a comprehensive, accessible and affordable non-profit early learning child care system

Provide stable and adequate government funding to programs, with accountability
Offer early learning child care workers wages and working conditions, which reflect the level of training, responsibility and value of the work performed.

Support and promote the implementation, by the Federal government, of a national day care plan.

Housing

Shelter is a basic need in our climate. Wages are often too low for people to afford decent housing. In November 2008, there was a waiting list of 4,200 people asking for subsidized housing.

Recommendation to the NB government: Develop a comprehensive public social housing program which includes cooperative and non profit community housing.

Seniors

Seniors aged 65 years or older, and with no additional income besides the Old Age Security Pension, receive only $14,034 per year. This places them below the poverty line. Poverty is more common among seniors living alone, especially women.

Recommendation to the NB government: Lobby the federal government to significantly increase the old age security pension so as to help all retirees.

Social Assistance Policies

Social assistance rates are unacceptably low and must be raised significantly.

Recommendation to the NB government: Raise social assistance rates to the average of the other three Atlantic provinces. The rates should also be indexed to the cost of living.

The following changes also need to be made to social assistance policies and regulations:
 
a.Wage exemption. People on social assistance can work but there is a limit on the amount they can earn per month, after which the money they earn is clawed back. This policy prevents social assistance recipients from increasing their revenue and can become a barrier to getting into the workforce.

Recommendation to the NB government: Set the wage exemption ceiling for social assistance recipients at $350 per month, and beyond this, allow them to keep, on an annual basis, 50% of their earnings until their total income reaches $12,000 per year.

b.Household Income policy. For the Department of Social Development, an “Economic Unit” is deemed to exist wherever two adults share the same civic address even if they are total strangers or acquaintances but not at all into a spousal relationship. The Department then calculates the total revenue of the household and decides on how much to provide in terms of assistance.

Recommendation to the NB government: Abolish the Household Income Policy.

c.Policy to certify Disability. For the Department of Social Development, “disabled” means a person suffering from a major physiological, anatomical or psychological impairment that severely limits the activities pertaining to normal living. The present criteria applied by the Medical Advisory Board to grant the “Certified Disability” category are too restrictive.

Recommendation to the province of NB: Define the notion of disability more clearly. Allow other qualified professionals to make recommendations based on their knowledge of disabled individuals. Set up an appeal process.

d.Interim Assistance. The group of people between 21 and 55 years old, and able to work but without a job, can access social assistance. They currently only receive $294 per month, an amount insufficient for survival. Only 3.6% of social assistance recipients fall in the “Interim Assistance Program”.
 
Recommendation to the NB government: Eliminate the “Interim Assistance category” and transfer the social assistance recipients in the “Transitional Assistance Program”.

e.Investigation of social assistance recipients. Some people on social assistance feel they are constantly being watched. They feel that the constant surveillance of their activities is not only related to the pervasive societal prejudice against them, but also that the social welfare system encourages informers.
Recommendation to the NB government: Train the Department of Social Development personnel on how to deal constructively with people on social assistance. 

In summary, the Common Front for Social Justice is challenging the NB government to seize the opportunity associated with the drafting of a Poverty Reduction Plan to overhaul all of its policies and legislation as a first step to reduce poverty. This is what Newfoundland and Labrador did at first. Afterwards, its government put in place appropriate measures to transform NF & L, within 10 years, from the province with the highest number of poor to the one with the least amount of poor. Other Canadian provinces are proceeding along similar trends. CFSJ is strongly committed to a “Justice” approach to solve the poverty issues in NB. This will bring about the long-range societal changes CFSJ has been lobbying for. In order to “Bring the pieces together” to develop a poverty reduction plan, it is essential that poor people are not kept out of the loop nor prevented from getting their voices heard. People chosen to participate in the Round Table and in the Final Forum to select action plans, should be able to speak freely. Unwarranted political influence during the entire process is not the way to go if there is to be a buy-in by the population of NB.

“Poverty is rarely accidental or natural or inevitable. Rather it is often the outcome of policy choices” Louise Arbour, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

1. Introduction

Charity and justice are two distinct components within our efforts to create better living conditions in this world. Both encompass an element of caring for the poor and the vulnerable, yet they differ in scope, in methods and in goals. Charity, or outreach, responds to an immediate need. It provides direct service such as food, clothing or shelter. Charity is a private act of caring and is directed toward the effects of what is often a social injustice. Charity is satisfying and is generally non-controversial. But charity alone is not enough! We must go deeper to forge fairer and healthier communities. We must ask more questions. The Common Front for Social Justice chose as slogan “Justice before charity”. While charity deals with immediate needs, justice addresses long-term conditions which promote social change in institutions, policies and systems. Justice is public, political and oriented to collective action for change. It directs us toward the causes of social problems. Such activities are often controversial.

The CFSJ has taken a public stand in support of a justice-based approach to reduce poverty. Volunteer organizations and business groups support food pantries, provide food baskets, support battered women houses, tutor children, provide cultural and sports opportunities, etc. Such good deeds help poor people in their immediate needs. Occasionally, some of these groups go beyond offering charitable services and ask themselves why there is so much distress. Other organizations work at creating awareness around family violence, at promoting gender equality, etc. This is commendable. However, CFSJ believes that a government platform which is pro-poor does much more for the long-term elimination of poverty. Changing administrative policies that cause problems is a much better way of achieving long-term social change.

In developing its Poverty Reduction Plan, the CFSJ urges Minister Mary Schryer to use all the political power she has to correct some current injustices. As will be discussed in this document, this means using all her influence, within and outside Cabinet, to lobby for a higher minimum wage, to change the “Wage Exemption” policy, to revoke the Household Income policy, etc. Justice also demands that seriously disabled citizens be given more assistance. Because social assistance is presented as an “assistance of last resort”, employable persons should not be asked to live on $294 per month. Depending on food banks for survival, being in line for emergency heating during the winter, counting on the good will of the Salvation Army or the St Vincent de Paul clothing depot, all these are ineffective ways to reduce long-term poverty.

2. Extent of poverty in NB

The CFSJ is a coalition of organizations and individuals whose mission is to work for the elimination of poverty. Its members are aware of the extent of poverty in this province. Indeed, many New Brunswickers are poor and the Department of Social Development acknowledges this on its website. Based on the 2006 Census, 13.8% of people in NB live in poverty. In December 2008, there were 38,201 people receiving social assistance. Approximately 12% of NB workers earn less than $8 per hour. Lack of money is evidently the main cause of poverty.

But non money-related conditions may also predispose a limited group of people into financial hardships. Ill health leaves individuals with physical or psychological disabilities and unable to secure employment. Violence or perturbed family relationships can leave a scar on family members and limit their future capacity to work. Racial discrimination may render access to employment more difficult. Substance abuse generally leads some individuals to choose wrong spending patterns.

However, in this province as well as elsewhere around the world, the main cause of poverty is a lack of money. When governments of a state or of a province provide adequate social protection, poverty levels are significantly reduced. All governments must fulfill two important roles: (1) Protect individuals and goods (police and justice) as well as the state (army); (2) Watch over the welfare of their population. This latter responsibility implies that elected officials must put in place a system of social protection1. Therefore, the NB government has the very important responsibility of improving the long term quality of life of its citizens.

In the following pages of this document, the CFSJ will present the history of selected poverty reduction plans as well as a discussion of the major causes of poverty in NB.

3. History of recent Canadian poverty reduction strategies

At the national level, the National Council for Social Welfare has produced excellent guidelines on the essential elements of a poverty reduction plan. This highly respected research group has published a paper which states that poverty can be reduced, thus improving the country’s economy and society in general2. In their view, a national anti-poverty strategy should have four corner stones: (1) A long-term vision and measurable targets and timelines; (2) A plan of action and a budget that coordinate initiatives within and across government and other partners; (3) A government accountability structure for measuring end results and consultation of citizens in the design, implementation and evaluation of the actions that will affect them; (4) A set of agreed upon poverty indicators that will be used to plan, monitor change and assess progress.

Several Canadian provinces have already put Poverty Reduction Strategies in place:
Quebec’s Bill 112 - A law to fight poverty and social exclusion3 was sanctioned in December 2002 and acts as a guide for the Quebec government and its citizens to undertake actions against poverty, to eradicate its roots, to alleviate its effect on individuals and families and to counteract exclusion factors. Its objective is to work toward a Quebec without poverty. Committees were created to ensure that the aims of the Bill are effectively attained.

Newfoundland and Labrador’s Action Plan for Reducing Poverty4 was published in June 2006 and is geared toward changing NF & L as the province with the highest level of poverty to the one with the least number of poor people in the span of ten years. Premier Danny William first established a working group of seven Cabinet Ministers to tackle the issue: Human Resources, Labour & Employment & Housing, Aboriginal Affairs, Education, Finance, Health & Community Services, Innovation, Trade & Rural Development and Justice. Moreover, extensive consultations were carried out with focus groups and with community groups. The government also solicited input from the economic sector, from union groups and from government personnel. The NF & L strategy has been quoted by many writers as a milestone in terms of a well thought out poverty reduction plan.

Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Plan5 was introduced in 2007. The government’s aim is to reduce the Ontario’s poverty levels by 50% by 2018. This plan addresses three priorities: (1) Sustaining employment; (2) Ensuring a liveable income, which means dignity for all Ontarians, including those unable to work; (3) Having strong communities, i. e. affordable housing, early child care, public education and community programs that help people to connect.

Nova Scotia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy6 originated in May 2007, when the NS Poverty Reduction Coalition held a workshop to lay out the broad goals of a poverty reduction strategy for Nova Scotians. Their document, entitled Framework for a Poverty Reduction Strategy in N. S., was released on October 17th 2007. In the Fall of 2007, a private member’s bill was passed to legislate a working group on poverty reduction.

Manitoba introduced its Social Inclusion and Anti-Poverty Act in May 20087. It calls for the government to tackle the province’s poverty epidemic head on by implementing various strategies to achieve the goal of reducing the poverty level. The Bill calls for: (1) A specific target of reducing the 2008 poverty level by 50% by 2012; (2) A Standing Committee with individuals from social justice groups to develop, implement and evaluate the provincial strategy to fight poverty; (3) Ways to improve social inclusion by offering better access to education, housing, employment etc.; (4) An annual report on progress made towards achieving the goals set out in the provincial strategy.

New Brunswick’s Poverty Reduction Plan was released during a press conference on October 16th, 2008. In a prepared video, Premier Shawn Graham said he was pleased to sponsor a new public engagement initiative to develop a poverty reduction plan for NB. He asked Minister Mary Schryer to spearhead the development of a strong poverty reduction plan. The slogan “Bringing the pieces together” is to be achieved through partnerships regrouping community non-profit organizations, businesses and government.

4. Proposal for a NB Working Group on poverty reduction

The CFSJ has been following the processes adopted by other provinces in developing their poverty reduction strategy. This topic was the subject of its annual general meeting in June 2007. In October 2007, the CFSJ brought together twelve NB non profit organizations to discuss this issue8. A meeting with Minister Schryer was held on June 7th 2008 to share views on the establishment of a NB Working Group on Poverty Reduction. The participating non profit organizations made the following suggestions to the Minister:

Gather data on poverty in NB: draw upon available government statistics, information contained in Claudette Bradshaw’s Blueprint for Action, research data collected during focus groups with low-income workers and social welfare recipients and then, complement this with a review of the NF & L Poverty Reduction Plan;

Include in the strategy, early on, Ministers of key government department: Social Development, Education, Finance, Justice, Health, Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour;

Assemble high level representatives from government, municipalities, and community organizations with expertise in specific areas of poverty reduction. Also bring in representatives from the business and union sectors to be part of the group, paying attention to regional and gender balance and to the language issue;

Analyze all these findings to identify guiding principles, key directions and goals;
In a time frame of 6 to 12 months, draft an action plan with specific actions and targets to reduce poverty and submit the Poverty Reduction Plan to the Legislative Assembly;

Most of CFSJ’s thoughtful suggestions were not retained by the present government. They are not involving key provincial ministers at the onset of the process. Municipal governments and union groups are not given much voice. Because the government controls who will participate in the Round Table Sessions and in the Final Forum, representativity will be imperfect. Over a full year will go by before a Poverty Reduction Plan can be presented to the Legislative assembly.



5. Failure of the NB government to legislate a liveable wage

The National Council of Welfare uses the Low income cut-offs before tax as a measurement of poverty (sometimes referred to as the poverty line). In 2007, the Low income cut-off was $18,544 for one person9. For a family of four, it was $34,457. Many New Brunswickers have incomes which are very close to or below the poverty line.

NB workers, at the current minimum wage of $7.75, are poor. An individual working 40 hours per week throughout the year earns $16,120 and is $2,424 short of the low income cut-off. The province of NB has the lowest minimum wage in Canada10. The NB Federation of Labour and many advocacy groups, including the CFSJ11, have stated publicly that a minimum wage of $10.00 per hour or more is needed. In failing to legislate a higher minimum wage, the NB government is maintaining many of its citizens in poverty. Low paid workers have to rely on the charity of food banks. Indeed, 10.7% of NB food bank users have jobs.

CFSJ has requested the NB government to set up a time table indicating when the minimum wage would eventually reach $10 per hour. NB is disadvantaged compared to other Atlantic Provinces. In NS, the minimum wage will go up to $8.60 in April 2009, to $9.20 in April 2010 and to $9.65 in October 2010. In NF & L, the minimum wage is now $8.50 and will go up to $9.00 in July 2009, to $9.50 in January 2010 and then, to $10.00 in July 2010. PEI presently has an $8.00 an hour minimum wage. On January 21st 2009, the NB government announced it will raise the minimum wage by 25¢ on the 15th of April 2009 and by another 25¢ on September 1st 2009.

Minimum wage workers are pushed into deeper poverty if they or some of their family members are sick. With the high cost of prescription drugs, low income workers are disadvantaged with regards to social welfare recipients in that they have no medical coverage. Some of those low income workers often have to pay hefty medical bills and this causes economic hardships for them. In its push toward keeping as many NB citizens as possible in the work force, one measure that would be very effective would be to give access to the “white card” (medical card) to low income workers until they reach the poverty line.

For those working at minimum wage as well as other workers loosing their job, access to Employment Insurance (EI) is very restrictive. Since the last cuts of 1996, less than 50% of workers are eligible for EI. For working women the situation is worse since only 32% of unemployed women qualify for regular EI. Seasonal unemployment is particularly hard because of the restrictive rules surrounding EI. Individuals and families who experience weeks of waiting for a small employment insurance check are truly suffering. The term “black hole” has been coined to describe the period when people receive no money.  The EI fund has an accumulated surplus of close to $54 billion dollars, so there is ample room to make changes in order to help workers who have or will loose their job.

Recommendation to the government of NB regarding Minimum Wage: Legislate a minimum wage of $10 per hour to reach parity with the other Atlantic Provinces by 2010 or soon thereafter. It should also be indexed to the cost of living.

Recommendation to the government of NB regarding Employment Insurance: Pressure the Federal government to allow access to employment insurance after 360 hours of work in all regions of Canada. Increase benefits to 60% of earnings, based on a worker's best 12 weeks. Increase the period for which benefits can be collected to a maximum of 50 weeks12.

6. Insufficient literacy program support

People with a low literacy rate are often deprived of better paying jobs. Being poor is often related to being illiterate and having a low self esteem. These people are among the food bank users.

Access to employment insurance is a problem when one wants to attend literacy classes. How can they improve their conditions when they are being penalized of two weeks of salary when the time comes to apply for employment benefits? Most often, they are given a hard time if they mention that they are registered in an adult literacy program. Officials tell them not to attend classes before they are given permission. Yet, they vegetate at home, doing nothing productive in the meantime.

Parents on social assistance or on employment insurance would benefit from a literacy program if they could have help with child care services or transportation while in class. Opportunities are there in every community, but without financial support, those parents spend their time at home. In the meantime, the children are being deprived. When a family provider doesn’t have enough to put food on the table, his priority is not his education. So the poverty cycle goes on!

Recommendation to the NB government: Facilitate access to literacy programs by removing the bureaucracy which poses restrictions to participation.

7. Absence of pay equity legislation in the private sector

According to data from Statistics Canada, the 2008 NB average hourly rate for men was $19.16 compared to the hourly rate for women which was $16.46. The wage gap between men and women was therefore $2.70, or 14.1% less for women. Lower wages for women keep many of them below the poverty line. Eighty percent of our hourly wage gap is due to discrimination.

It must be said that the NB government has led by example when it implemented job evaluations which will lead to pay equity within organizations that sign contracts with the government for the delivery of services such as child care, home care and transition houses. At the November 25th 2008 Speech from the throne, the government also announced that a new Pay Equity Legislation would be tabled which calls for pay equity in all segments of the public sector.

However, there are no clear directions yet for the implementation of pay equity in the private sector. Indeed, the government’s Wage Gap Action Plan has made little progress on pay equity in the private sector and legislation will be the only way to reach this goal. Pay equity should not depend on employers’ good will. It is a human right! Jean-Luc Bélanger, President of the Association acadienne et francophone des aînées et aînés du N.-B., stressed that pay inequity impacts women throughout their life. “Unequal pay is reflected in women’s pension plans and contributes to senior women’s poverty,” he said.

Recommendation to the NB government: Pass pay equity legislation, thus allowing many NB women to move out of poverty

8. Lack of a comprehensive child care system

Quality daycare programs support the development of children across the economic spectrum and improve children's chances for good health and academic success, while offering support to their parents. The CFSJ calls for a universally accessible system of early learning and child care services as one of the key pathways out of poverty for NB families. The CFSJ supports the recommendations of the NB Child Care Coalition to the provincial government. Child care should be universally available, affordable and of high quality.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reminded us in 200613 that persistent child poverty is a barrier to the potential achievements of early learning and child care services:

The reduction of child and family poverty is a precondition for successful early childhood care and education systems. Early childhood services do much to alleviate the negative effects of disadvantage by educating young children and facilitating the access of families to basic services and social participation. However, a continuing high level of child and family poverty in a country undermines these efforts and greatly impedes the task of raising educational levels.

Currently, the salaries paid to day care workers are low and there is a serious lack of day care spaces, particularly for infants and after school programs.

Clients who are on social assistance may have access to the Day Care Assistance Program for up to a maximum of six months while they are seeking employment. Once employed, their income will be taken into consideration in calculating their eligibility. Maximum daily rates for full attendance on a regular basis for more than four hours per day are $24.50 for children under 2 years and $22.50 for those aged 2 to 13. Part time attendance (two to four hours) is approximately half the amount. Alternative child care is intended for applicants who are not receiving basic financial assistance. The family income determines the rate which will be covered14. Maximum full time daily rates are $18.50 for less that 2 year olds and $16.50 for 2 to 14 year olds. These daily rates are insufficient as day care facilities may cost around $35 per day.

Unless a provincial day care plan is implemented, where programs are publicly funded rather than funded through parent fees, access will remain a problem for low income families. The NB Child Care Coalition15 promotes high quality, universally accessible, non-profit, publicly funded child care, with trained and well-remunerated staff, for all NB children who want or need it.

Recommendation to the NB government:
Develop a comprehensive, accessible and affordable non-profit early learning child care system
Provide stable and adequate government funding to programs, with accountability
Offer early learning child care workers wages and working conditions, which reflect the level of training, responsibility and value of the work performed.
Support and promote the implementation, by the Federal government, of a national day care plan

9. Lack of affordable housing

Shelter is a basic need in our climate. Wages are often too low for people to have decent housing. That which they can afford is often inadequate. Minimum wage earners and social welfare recipients face housing shortages because non-profit housing is in short supply. In the Moncton area, the vacancy rate of houses and apartments was only 2.2% in the fall of 2008. NB has a waiting list of 4,200 people16. In November 2008, the number of people on the waiting list for subsidized housing in Kent, Westmorland and Albert was 89517. There are many buildings, along with possible constructions which could be renovated, along with possible new constructions. This could help to meet the need. In a recession, the possibility of job losses puts people from NB at greater risk for homelessness. To prevent this, government officials should lobby the Federal government for the construction of low-cost subsidized housing.

The CFSJ favours subsidized housing projects that are part of a community initiative. Private Public Partnerships involved in this process are there primarily for profit and this is not to the advantage of poor people.

Recommendation to the NB government: Develop a comprehensive public social housing program which includes cooperative and non profit community housing.

10. Insufficient federal support for seniors

The category aged 65 years or older, and with no additional income besides the old age security pension, receive only $14,034 per year18. This income places them below the poverty line. Their financial hardship is exacerbated if they have health problems. The bulk of prescription drugs cost is paid but they need to pay $9.05 per prescription and, for this benefit, there is a ceiling of $250 per year19. Unless senior’s pension benefits are improved, it means that a substantial number of them will continue to live under very difficult economic conditions.

While many consider Canada’s combined public/private retirement income system a ‘success story’, poverty among seniors is not a rare occurrence. It is most common among seniors living alone, women over the age of 80, visible minorities and immigrants. For a good number of these seniors living in poverty, the prospect of a golden retirement simply does not exist20.

During the current recession, the retirement plans of seniors were hardly hit. That makes it all the more necessary to improve old age security pensions in order to protect today and future retirees. The Canadian Labour Congress recommends that the seniors’ federal pension be immediately increased21.

Recommendation to the NB government: Lobby the federal government to significantly increase the old age security pension so as to help all retirees.

11. Very low social assistance rates

People on social assistance are generally much poorer than the rest of other New Brunswickers. Given that the 2007 poverty line before-tax for an individual was $18,544, the welfare check for individuals only gives them enough money to reach between 19% to 40% of the poverty line! 22. NB’s social assistance rates are among the lowest in Canada. Certain categories of social assistance recipients experience particularly deep poverty. These include women raising families by themselves, single, divorced or widowed women over 65, unattached women under 65, Aboriginal women, visible minority women and immigrant women. Studies have shown that senior women are particularly vulnerable.

Recommendation to the NB government: Raise social assistance rates to the average of the other three Atlantic provinces. The rates should also be indexed to the cost of living.

12. Inadequacy of some social assistance policies

In its 2007-2008 Annual Report, the Department of Social Development states that it is a client-focused organization and boasts that that it is known as a Department that truly cares about people and their issues. It says that “Clients are treated with respect, fairness and empathy”23.

The CFSJ disagrees with these statements and says that some Social Department staff show little empathy when certain social welfare recipients have to beg for financial assistance to cover their travel expenses when they are sick and need a doctor’s appointment. Recently, people with limited knowledge in family management have been deprived of the assistance of provincial Home Economists. Their jobs have been eliminated by the provincial government. Home economists were professionals who did treat social assistance recipients in a respectful and empathetic manner.

In reality, there are many more incoherencies between the statements and the policies upheld by the Department of Social Development and their actions at the grass root level. Following are details of five situations whereby it is the government of NB which is responsible for the hardships experienced by social assistance clients.

a.Limiting the Wage Exemption of social assistance recipients. In the Social Assistance Policy Manual, under “Assets and Income”, it is stated that an individual on Transitional Assistance is only entitled to a maximum Wage Exemption of $150 per month. On the Extended Benefit Program, that person is entitled to a maximum of $250 per month. If on the Interim Program, the individual is entitled to $300. Households of more than one person receiving Transitional Assistance are only entitled to a maximum of $200 per month. Those households receiving the Extended Benefits Program are entitled to a maximum $300 per month; those on the Interim Program are entitled to $350 per month. A month is defined as beginning on the 22nd and ending on the 21st of the following month for purposes of income reporting period.

This policy is a glaring example of how the NB government keeps social welfare recipients in poverty. It is the government’s role to set terms and conditions to access benefits. By preventing social assistance recipients to keep more of their earned wages, the government is preventing them from having any hope of attaining self-sufficiency. This policy is hurting individuals who are trying to penetrate, admittedly in a limited way, the job market.

The monitoring of pay stubs and the obligation of reporting earned wages between the 22nd of a month up to the 21st of the next month is poor use of qualified manpower’s time and an additional burden on employers who find it a nuisance to issue proofs of employment. Such monitoring is also an unnecessary stress on social assistance recipients. The complexity of these regulations to be followed by recipients who sporadically secure gainful employment may result in their avoiding precarious employment altogether24. Two cases, that of Agnes and Brenda, illustrate some of the irritating aspects of the Wage Exemption policy.

There are contradiction between the Department of Social Development’s official aim of getting recipients into the labour market and the obligation to pay back extra earnings.

According to some social assistance recipients, this means ending up working for free. One of them said: “I decided to work for fewer hours… If I worked too many hours and earned more than the maximum allowable income, I ended up working for approximately $2.15 an hour. I
worked just two days in the four weeks. I was allowed $150 and if I made $160, they took away the $10, so instead of working every week-end, I asked to work every second week-end and I had $120 per month instead of $150, so it’s no use for me to work if they take it away from me.”

Why are these complex procedures imposed on social assistance recipients, thus keeping them in poverty? When filing in an income tax return, no requests are made to supply minute details about which day of the month the money was earned. A report of earning over a 12-month period suffices. Why put a wage exemption ceiling of $150 up to $350, depending on the type of social assistance program? At the 1st Summit on Poverty organized by the CFSJ in October 2006, the following proposal was put forth “Earning exemptions for social assistance recipients should be calculated on an annual basis, to compensate for the months where seasonal work is unavailable.”25 At this 1st Summit, which regrouped over 200 participants, there was a consensus that an individual should have a monthly income of at least $1,000 per month to cover his or her basic needs. Another approach would be to up the Wage Exemption ceiling for everybody to $350 and then allow the recipient to keep 50% of earnings beyond that ceiling until the annual salary for an individual reached $12,000 per year.

Recommendation to the NB government: Set the wage exemption ceiling for social assistance recipients at $350 per month, and beyond this, allow them to keep, on an annual basis, 50% of their earnings until their total income reaches $12,000 per year.

b.Maintaining the “Household Income” Policy. In 2004, Dr Ysabel Provencher undertook a study which was financed by the National Consortium in Health Training. In all, 33 people took part in the study, with 25 of them being on social assistance. The participants felt that “for all practical purposes, the Household Income Policy denies social assistance to any adult sharing shelter with one or more other persons (on social assistance or not) even if there is no marital or conjugal relationship between them”26.

According to the Family Income Security Act, eligibility for federal assistance is determined for household units, not for individual applicants. Except for the exceptions listed in the Policy Manual27, all persons living at the same address are considered to form a “unit” and eligibility for assistance is evaluated according to the assets and income of that unit. The case of Rachel, presented hereafter, is a good example of how inflexible the Household Income Policy can be.


New Brunswick rules are different from those of other Canadian provinces in that an “economic unit” is deemed to exist whenever two adults share the same civic address. Elsewhere in Canada, such an economic unit may be determined to exist – to varying degrees – only for two persons of opposite sex sharing household responsibilities (they generally include the costs of food, rent, and facilities) and this arises from a free entry into conjugal relationship. The present NB policy prevents social assistance recipients from sharing shelter with anyone, even though it is commonly acknowledged that shelter is the biggest expense for low income individuals and families. In almost all cases, social assistance recipients will be ineligible for assistance if they share their shelter with other people who are working, whether or not they are involved in a conjugal relationship. Some social assistance recipients would like to have a place together to save on rent. By maintaining the Household Income Policy in place, the NB government is responsible for their additional hardships and prevents them from improving their economic condition.

Recommendation to the NB government: Abolish the Household Income Policy
c.Refusal of the “Certified Disabled” category. In the Regulations of the Family Income Security Act28, “disabled” means a person suffering from a major physiological, anatomical or psychological impairment, as verified by the Medical Advisory Board under subsection 4(5), and that is likely to continue indefinitely without substantial improvement and that causes the person to be severely limited in activities pertaining to normal living. To qualify as disabled, an applicant must meet the following criteria: they are in financial need, as determined by the Department’s regular intake process; they have been certified as disabled by the Medical Advisory Board; and they are aged 18 years or older. The Medical Advisory Board is made up of doctors and a departmental representative, the secretary of the board. It acts only as an independent advisor to Social Development, reviewing applications and recommending whether or not applicants are eligible for disabled or long-term need status. In 2007-2008, the Medical Advisory Board reviewed a total of 1,082 applications in the disability, blind and deaf categories, resulting in the approval of only 436 applications, a 60% rejection rate 29. The criteria for acceptance into the disability category, as applied by the Medical Advisory Board, are evidently very restrictive. The case of Eliza, described here, is an example of a rejection of a very disabled person.

There is a need to define the notion of disability more clearly. The present interpretation does not take into consideration other impairments than those diagnosed by physicians. Mental health professionals and community workers who are on the front line could also make recommendations based on their knowledge of the individuals' functional abilities. 

The decision-making process, as it is established presently, is similar to that of the Canada Pension Plan, except that it has no appeal mechanism which is a serious flaw. Regulation 95-61 should be amended in view of establishing a system
that is more transparent, more accountable and more accessible. Also, the individual should know why his or her disability is not recognized. Finally, given that the disability category does not meet the criteria for a fair process, it should be revamped completely in the light of the above comments. By refusing to classify a social assistance recipient as disabled, the Department is currently depriving that person of $81 per month ($618-$537) or $972 per year. Moreover, disabled persons receive a $1,000 annual allowance. Being short of $1,972 to buy food, medication and other essential needs renders life very difficult for this group of people who are trying to survive. Who could prevent this hardship? Our NB government could do it by striking down the rigid criteria required to be classified as disabled.

Recommendation to the province of NB: Define the notion of disability more clearly. Allow other qualified professionals to make recommendations based on their knowledge of disabled individuals. Set up an appeal process.

d.Imposing an interim assistance rate of $294 per month. If aged between 21 and 55 and employable, the current social assistance rate is only $294 per month. Only when an individual gets a medical report attesting that he or she is unable to work can this person receive the “Transitional Assistance Program” which allows the individual to receive $537 per month. Another problem associated with an attempt of move from the interim assistance category to the transitional assistance is the cost of obtaining a medical certificate (from $10 to $40). And if obtained, this medical certificate is only valid for six months30.

Given that only 3.6% of social assistance recipients fall in the “Interim Assistance Program”, researchers at Vibrant Community – Saint John31, suggested that the NB government should totally eliminate this category. They suggested that the government should develop innovative programs and invite academics and other public policy researchers to evaluate the results of such an elimination, with the aim of improving government policy.

Recommendation to the NB government: Eliminate the “Interim Assistance category” and transfer the social assistance recipients in the “Transitional Assistance Program”.
e. Focus placed on the investigation of social welfare recipients. In Dr. Ysabel Provencher’s study32, where social assistance recipients participated in five focus groups, all mentioned that they felt they were being watched and afraid of being investigated. They felt that the constant surveillance of their activities was related not only to the pervasive societal prejudice against people who sponge off the government, but they spoke abundantly about the fact the social assistance system encourages and supports informers. “The income assistance people listen to all the spiteful gossip they hear, even if there is no truth to it… because they get over 300 anonymous calls a day from people wanting to harm their neighbours.”33

On a different topic, it has been reported that when a needy woman on social assistance was trying to access emergency fuel, her case worker refused her request. This woman then went to her case worker’s supervisor. During the course of an argument between the woman on social assistance and the government employee, the latter said that her word was better than that of the person trying to get assistance. Such a statement is totally unacceptable.

There needs to be an in depth review of the manner in which Social Development personnel relates to social assistance clients. However, it is also necessary to conduct an extensive review of unwarranted social policies which irritate social welfare recipients, who in turn, blame case workers or Social Development personnel.

Recommendation to the NB government: Train the Department of Social Development personnel on how to deal constructively with people on social assistance.

13. Conclusion

As Louise Arbour said, poverty is rarely “accidental or natural or inevitable”. Rather, it is much more often the outcome of policy choices. The CFSJ is challenging the NB government to overhaul all of its policies and regulations as a first step to reduce poverty. This is what the province of NF & L did initially in the implementation of its Poverty Reduction Plan.

The large majority of issues contributing to poverty in NB are well known and well documented. Most of their causes are rooted in societal injustices. Some of the causes of injustices can be attributed to federal government decisions. Examples of these are a lack of a National Public Day Care System, a lack of affordable and subsidized housing, insufficient support for seniors through the old age security pension. The cause of poverty, at the provincial level, can also be associated with the lack of transfer of federal transfer payments in the social area. This leaves the NB government with limited funds to cover all its social needs.
However, there are many New Brunswickers who are poor because the provincial government makes decisions which favour the well-to-do and penalizes the poor. In NB in 2005, the average income of 10% of the richest families with children was $121,642 while the average income of the poorest 10% of families was only $7,85134. This is quite a wage gap! It could be considerably reduced with a fair system of taxation.

The CFSJ is strongly committed to a justice approach to solve the poverty issue in NB. This will bring about the long-range societal changes it has been lobbying for. In order to “Bring the pieces together” to develop a poverty reduction plan for NB, it is essential that poor people are not kept out of the loop nor prevented from getting their voices heard during the Dialogue Sessions, the Round Table and the Final Forum. Unwarranted political influence during the process is not the way to go if there is to be a buy-in by the population of NB.



January 26, 2009.

34. Survey data obtained from Armine Yalnizyan (Numbers based on 1,700 households in 2006. Ms Yalnizyan considers that this is a small sample size).

The New Brunswick Common Front for Social Justice Inc.
96 Norwood Avenue, no 208
Moncton (New Brunswick)
E1C 6L9

Telephone: (506) 851-7084
e-mail: fcjsnb@nbnet.nb.ca
Web page: http://www.frontnb.ca/en/Home_en.htm