Earlier this month Hamilton City Council supported Mayor Fred
Eisenberger’s motion to commit $50M towards poverty reduction.
Eisenberger (right) had brought the motion to the City's General Issues
Committee in April.
Among other things Council approved:
- A $20 million allocation to increase affordable housing and improve the state of good repair of housing.
- $3 million a year over 10 years for poverty reduction with the funds coming from the merger of Horizon Utilities Corporation and several other local utilities.
- Engagement with partners to help develop a strategy.
- Leveraging of funding commitments. Loans and grants from senior levels of government, school boards, and foundations as well as other potential contributors from the private sector will be sought.
City staff have been directed to develop a detailed 10-year integrated
poverty reduction plan by October.
Mayor Eisenberger attended a conference in Edmonton recently. The
conference, called Cities Reducing Poverty - When Mayors Lead, obviously inspired
Eisenberger to do just that.
(Here are some reflections from Danielle Klooster of the Central Alberta
Poverty Reduction Alliance on the conference http://vibrantcanada.ca/blogs/capra/cities-reducing-poverty-when-mayors-lead-reflection)
Back to Hamilton, where there was some opposition in the community and from
two members of Council to the city taking some leadership. Predictably, such opposition is based on
myths and misunderstanding and/or just plan ignorance about poverty.
You’ve heard them.
These problems
are the responsibility of senior governments.
You are encouraging
more generational welfare and poverty by making more money available.
It will duplicate
services.
Howard Elliott did a fine job of addressing these myths and others in an
editorial in the Hamilton Spectator.
You can read it at
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