Thanksgiving is a time for considering the good things in your life while simultaneously stuffing yourself with turkey and pie and dodging political discussions with relatives.
Most of us have a roof over our heads and food in our bellies, but for a few Canadians, those essentials aren’t a given. For those people, every day can be a struggle, especially if poverty has long been the norm in their family.
This spring Comedian Colin Mochrie was one of 750 Canadians who took the 2015 Live Below The Line challenge, explaining in Maclean’s magazine how he coped with a daily $1.75 grocery budget for five days, and how difficult it was to live below the poverty line.
The challenge, to live below the poverty line, had 50,000 participants in more than 70 countries. It raised about $233,000 in Canada, and globally more than $10-million for charitable organizations, claims the organization. Other notable participants are Bonnie Wright, best known for playing Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter series, and actress. Bridget Moynahan.
“I can’t imagine what you would do with $1.75 a day,” said Megan Hooft, deputy director of Canada Without Poverty. “You’d be very limited, in Vancouver you can’t get a bus pass…you’re going to be walking and you're going to be at the food bank.”
How does food insecurity affect people?
“Children in schools are more likely to be distracted, not be able to focus, some of them have behavioural issues,”Hooft said. “These are children who aren’t getting proper nutrition so they’re not able to fully participate in their lives, whether it be activities or in the classroom. What the information is telling us is that people who are hungry can’t concentrate, can’t think, can’t be fully themselves, and are going to have some issues because of that.”
Other poverty initiatives in Canada
“ChewOnThis is is an event we’ve been doing [along with Citizens For Public Justice] for three years on October 17, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty,”Hooft said. “It brings awareness about the number of people who are food insecure and the number of people in poverty in Canada are quite shameful and we need a poverty plan to address this.”
According to the charity, 833,000 people in Canada visit food banks each month, and one in eight people in Canada experience some level of food insecurity, and one in three food bank patrons are children.
Homelessness
Earlier this month about 80 people slept in Halifax’s Victoria Park, raising $32,000 for Shelter Nova Scotia. Why sleep on a piece of cardboard in a downtown park, when even the organizer admits that one night doesn’t come close to replicating the true struggle of homelessness that many face?
“This event is founded on empathy and is about creating awareness and much needed funds for the 1100 people that Shelter Nova Scotia cares for each year,”says the charity on its website.
What is poverty?
In Canada “there’s no official poverty line,”Hooft said. “We consider poverty broadly. That means it’s a complex issue and it touches on a number of areas, not just income security but also discrimination, social exclusion, and it’s a violation of human rights, so we see poverty as being a matrix of a number of challenges, and to come at that, that’s why we’re suggesting a broad anti-poverty strategy that considers the various obstacles that people face, whether it be childcare discrimination, housing issues, food, etc.”
Does pretending to be poor help?
Hooft said people do come at these initiatives with good intentions, and finds people say “how can I help, what can I do?”
“When you have someone saying ‘okay, sleep out for the night,’it’s sort of a raising awareness of homelessness and hopefully raising the profile that homelessness is a problem in this country, Hooft said. “Does that means they understand homelessness? No, not necessarily, but I notice that these groups aren’t saying that that is the outcome, or that is something that they’re striving for. I think they’re striving to raise awareness, saying ‘this is still happening.’”
What can we do?
“The election is a great time to talk about issues and things that you’d like policy makers to consider,”Hooft said. “The Chew On This campaign is doing a social media Thunderclap on Saturday, and we were aiming for 250 people to sign up and we’re already over that, so we’re going for 500 people to sign up and get this going across the social media airwaves. It essentially says #weneedaplan, and we want to see action on poverty and hunger in Canada.”