Gary Coons

British Columbia has had the highest child poverty rates in Canada for five years in a row. During those years the British Columbian economy was apparently booming. I t seemed like all the government ever talked about was how rich we all were getting, and how much better everything was than it used to be.

However, the real tale of the economy seemed to be incomplete. The story that the B.C. Liberal government failed to tell us was the story of real incomes in British Columbia, and the real British Columbians who couldn’t make ends meet on those incomes.

Our booming economy was only ever booming for the richest people in our province. The richest ten per cent of British Columbian families with children increased their income by more than $47 000 per year from 1989 to 2006, while the incomes of poorest 20 per cent of British Columbians dropped.

We need to revisit the way we look at the economy. The huge profits of a few British Columbians can’t be seen as gains for everyone. Looking back, it’s easy to see how misleading statements about the economy were used as excuses to avoid solving the very real problems facing the people of this province.

First Call’s 2008 report card on child poverty in British Columbia shows that the majority of children who live in poverty in our province live in families where the adults have at least one full-time, full-year job.

All children deserve to be raised in stable homes, and stability simply isn’t possible without some measure of financial security. It’s discouraging that any child should be forced to suffer from poverty, especially in a country as rich as ours. However, it is even more of a concern to learn that parents are working hard, in full time jobs, and still unable to provide the opportunities their children need and deserve.  

The minimum wage in British Columbia hasn’t gone up since 2001.

It isn’t surprising that our child poverty rates continue to be high when incomes for most families remain stagnant or in decline. The economy should not to be measured by the riches of the top tenth of one percent of people in this country, but by the dollars in the pockets of ordinary individuals and families.