A provincial pilot project launched in Prince George and six other communities to develop local plans to address poverty is drawing fire from the B.C. NDP.
New Democrat social development critic Carole James said the provincial government continues to dodge its responsibility to develop a province-wide poverty strategy.
"For eight years in a row we've had the worst child poverty rate in the country. We've tabled a poverty reduction plan ... at least three times in the last eight years," James said. "My worry in these pilot projects ... is we're seeing more window dressing from this government. If the government was serious they would also hold themselves responsible."
Under the pilot project, announced on Thursday by Minister of Children and Family Development Mary McNeil, a committee from each of the seven communities will develop a local action plan to address poverty over the summer. The plan will be developed in consultation with the provincial government and the community, with implementation set to begin in September.
What is not included in the project is a commitment of funding to support the individual community plans, James said.
"I worry we're going to be downloading responsibility to communities," James said. "It says to communities, 'you have to talk more, you have to reduce redundancies.' The community organizations I know have been doing that incredibly well. They've had to stretch dollar, they've to do find efficiencies to survive."
While developing localized plans to respond to specific community needs is important, they need to be in the context of a larger provincial plan, she said.
Without a strong understanding of how many families are living in poverty in B.C., and firm targets to reduce that number, its difficult to know if localized responses are being successful, she said.
"Provinces of all political stripes ... have all recognized the importance of a province-wide plan. Then the resources and supports can differ from community to community, to respond to local needs," James said. "This plan from the government has none of that."
