Pembina Valley's Hidden Poverty Revealed During Forum In Carman

Carman United Church hosted a public forum Tuesday to discuss poverty in the Pembina Valley as part of the Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy.

One of the organizers, Minister Karen Tjaden of Crossroads United Pastoral Church, says those in poverty throughout the Pembina Valley are often overlooked.

"We do have people who are poor in our communities, and in some ways, poverty can be quite hidden to many of us," she says. "We are quite an affluent community and wealthy in other ways. People can overlook the realities of poverty for citizens who are impacted by it daily."

While the Government of Canada doesn't have an official definition, poverty is often assessed by measuring the number of Canadians with lower incomes, looking at several indicators such as;

-Low-income cut-offs: Income thresholds below which a family will devote a larger share of its income on the necessities of food, shelter, and clothing than the average family.

-Market basket measure: Low income based on a specific set of goods and services that represent a basic standard of living.

-Low-income measure: Low income as being below a fixed percentage of income.

In 2014, 8.8% of Canadians were assessed to be impoverished based on low-income cutoffs.

One of the action items identified, Tjaden says, is the need to create more awareness for the poverty programs and services that already exist, as well as making residents aware of the poverty in their communities and taking steps to address it.

"It's important to have a voice in this Federal Poverty Reduction Strategy plan, this is one small part of that," she says. "Lending our voice, letting our Federal Government know there's a little group of people in Carman and the Pembina Valley who cared enough about poverty reduction to give up a summer morning, to come together and talk about it."

The discussion will be made into a report and sent to Employment and Social Development Canada.