When Canada’s premiers convene this week in Niagara-on-the-Lake, there are three compelling reasons why they should call on the federal government to join them in addressing poverty, which increasingly touches the lives of all Canadians.

Across Canada, 4.2 million people, including 967,000 children and their families, live in poverty. That’s about one in eight people living in dire straits in our wealthy land. Poverty rates are even higher among historically disadvantaged groups, including women, people with disabilities, immigrants, racialized and Indigenous people. That 40 per cent of Indigenous children in Canada live in poverty is one troubling example of the scope of poverty among the most affected groups.

For the health of individual Canadians, the economy and the Canadian federation, the premiers need to strengthen and measure their poverty reduction efforts. They can do so by calling on the federal government to adopt its own comprehensive plan. A well-developed plan, in cooperation with other levels of government, civil society, non-profit organizations, the private sector and environmental stewards, will help to sustain the Canada we want. That’s a Canada where no one has to choose between going hungry and paying the rent, where employment and a living wage is the norm, and where federal-provincial cooperation achieves environmentally sustainable ways to better the lives of all. https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/07/08/ottawa_edges_away_from_public_medicare.html

The end of the Canada Health Transfer and the Canada Social Transfer next year raises red flags for those concerned about poverty. These transfers are essential financial tools that help provinces and territories prevent and alleviate poverty, establish a foundation for wellness and lifelong health and provide health care services based on need, not wealth. Add in the scheduled phase-out of $1.7 billion in federal expenditures for social housing over the next five years, and we have a perfect storm in which key federal programs addressing the social determinants of health are at grave risk.

Income is a key determinant of a person’s health, and the social and economic costs of poverty are high. Insecure housing and homelessness remain persistent and widespread across Canada. Hunger, inadequate nutrition and unsafe housing create hardships for families and result in higher expenditures for health care and social services. In fact, Dr. Anna Reid, president of the Canadian Medical Association, told the federal Anti-Poverty All-Party Caucus in June that 20 per cent of health care spending goes to care for diseases that can be attributed to low income and poor housing.

We should also be concerned about the remedial costs of the criminal justice system. It is estimated that crime and justice-related expenditures alone range from $22 billion to $48 billion a year. Recent legislative changes that add new mandatory minimum sentences and increase maximum sentences for some crimes will increase costs even more for provinces and territories.

Nor can we afford to waste the economic potential of all Canadians. When children in low-income families participate in quality early childhood education and care programs, it helps them succeed in school. Investing in the early years will pay huge social and economic dividends in the future. It is estimated that for every dollar invested, seven dollars will be returned to society. When low-income people are skills-ready and employed – as most want to be – their increased earnings benefit themselves as well as all Canadians through increased productivity and tax contributions.

Finally, Canada’s high levels of poverty are not only bad for the economy, they jeopardize social solidarity.

To deal with anticipated growing expenditures on health care and other services, it’s prudent to use all the tools at hand to boost low incomes and narrow the growing income inequality gap.

Provinces and territories control minimum wages, employment standards, some consumption tax credits and provide health care and social services. However, the federal government must be a partner in funding, in creating a fairer tax system, and providing key income security measures including Old Age Security/Guaranteed Income Supplement, the Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance, and the Canada Child Tax Benefit/National Child Benefit Supplement.

When all governments work together they can reduce poverty, build social solidarity and develop confidence in our governments. Great social advances have come when provinces and territories lead (as in medicare) and work with the federal government (pensions, social housing, child benefits, child care). Indeed, the 2010 House of Commons report, Federal Poverty Reduction Plan: Working in Partnership Towards Reducing Poverty in Canada, supported by all parties, outlines what is needed to move forward.

A growing number of Canadians understand the compelling civic, moral and economic reasons why poverty must be tackled. Now is also the time for the united voice of the provinces and territories to call on the federal government to take up their responsibilities to reduce and eventually eradicate poverty in Canada.

Laurel Rothman works at Family Service Toronto, where she coordinates Campaign 2000: End Child Poverty in Canada. Dr. Andrew Lynk is president of the Canadian Paediatric Society and a consultant paediatrician in Sydney, N.S.