Canada: Canada Health Transfer

Canada Health Transfer: Across Canada, 4.2 million people, including 967,000 children and their families, live in poverty. Thats 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, according to The Star. 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 and When Canadas 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. 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. Thats 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. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/07/08/ottawa edges away from public medicare.html (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.