Poverty remains present even in an advanced economy like ours. And certainly the recent recession did nothing to improve matters. Since most Canadians regard poverty as unacceptable, they would hope for actions from governments towards eliminating or at least reducing it.

So far six provinces, including the two with the largest populations, have put in place poverty reduction programs, and the witnesses we heard in the course of our study confirmed that Canadians want the federal government to go ahead with its own poverty reduction plan for Canada.

We are recommending that the federal government join with the provinces to introduce an action plan for reducing poverty in Canada, based on the recommendations in this report. The plan should be accompanied by a poverty reduction fund that could be used to support provincial and territorial initiatives. One department should be responsible for following up on progress achieved.

Most of the recommended measures involve programs for our society’s most vulnerable members: children, low-income earners, Aboriginal people, seniors, people with disabilities.

The Committee realizes that some of its recommendations will take time to be implemented, but on others the government can act rapidly.

The members of the Committee earnestly hope that this report, which is the result of long and rigorous work, will lead to the adoption of a federal poverty reduction plan that will improve the quality of life of low-income Canadians and substantially reduce poverty in Canada. The investments made over the next few years could prove highly profitable, since it is recognized that reducing poverty leads to reduced costs for health care, the criminal justice system, social programs and so on, and increases the economic contribution of a part of the population whose talents are not currently being exploited to their full potential.

The Committee’s members want to thank wholeheartedly all the witnesses and organizations that participated in making our study a reality, either by appearing before the Committee, submitting briefs to us or welcoming us into their communities. Without their informed support and their patience, this report could never have been completed.