BC's Poverty Reduction Coalition anticipates some good things in the budget for those living in poverty across the province.
The Coalition's Trish Garner is looking for significant investment in BC's first ever poverty reduction strategy:
" We are really hoping to see something that will tackle deep poverty. So for us, that's really focused on income and disability assistance. Very low rates that we have here in B.C., so we're hoping to see a meaningful first step there, and hopefully a plan to increase that over the years to meet the poverty line which matches the basic cost of living."
In B.C. a single person on welfare lives on $710 a month right now, and that has to cover everything from food, rent, utilities and clothing.
Garner says a poverty reduction strategy also requires a coordinated approach:
" So we want to see building on the investments government's already made in housing, and childcare and education. And perhaps some extra piece there around investing in public transit, or investing in dental and optical care and prescription drugs. So we really want to see that coordinated approach.
Garner says an estimated 557-thousand people currently live in poverty in B.C.