We are a First-World country,
and this is a Human Rights crisis“
Photo contributed by Holly Grover
This House “seek(s) to achieve the goal of eliminating poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000”. House of Commons Campaign 2000 Declaration, 1991
Despite promises made over 30 years ago from the House of Commons, 1 in 5 children continue to live in poverty in British Columbia. Access to health care services and other social supports, which are essential for promoting good health and monitoring and treating medical disorders, is often limited for children who live in poverty. In times of need and distress, children from low-income households also have fewer resources available to them. The 2021 BC child poverty report card showed 3,320 (or 16.1%) of all children in Kamloops were living in poverty. High rates from census tracts were unsurprisingly saturated in the Downtown area near the Thompson River, as well as the North Shore near Tranquille Road.
Poverty is not evenly experienced
Living in poverty denies all children affected their fundamental rights, and interferes with their ability to thrive, making it a human rights issue. However, this human rights issue is not evenly experienced. Often-marginalized communities such Indigenous reserves, show an overwhelming majority in overall statistics In 2019 the average on-reserve child poverty rate on sixty-four BC Indigenous reserves was 40.9%, with roughly 5,510 children living in poverty. The rate increased on rural reserves (47.3%) versus on urban reserves which showed (35.4%), with 2,980 children living in poverty and 2,530 children on urban reserves living in poverty.
What Is Kamloops doing for its children?
The Kamloops Food Bank offers two programs that provide children and babies with the food and supplies they need so they can continue to grow up healthy.
The first program offered is the Starfish Backpack. Children who have been recognized at the school level as not having enough food are deemed qualified and added to this program. Volunteers at the food bank fill the backpacks with simple-to-prepare and nourishing foods before delivering them to the schools. Every Friday, the school staff gives the kids their backpacks. The year 2021-2022 the program delivered 190 backpacks across 18 schools in the community. Furthermore, they provided 57,000 meals and snacks throughout the school year. The program can be supported by donating and as well as sponsoring the cause.
The other program the Food Bank offers is the Baby Bank. It provides a monthly supply of diapers, formula, baby food, and hygiene items are given to infants and toddlers. The availability of these supplies through our Baby Bank relieves families of a significant financial burden and guarantees that infants in our community have access to the nourishment they need for normal physical growth. Their annual Basics for Babies campaign in November provides the majority of the money needed to guarantee constant product availability.
Though child poverty is still a continuous issue in our community, the government has been contributing to a resolve. In 2019, the B.C government provided 5 million dollars to the UBCM fund (Poverty Reduction Planning and Action Program). As well, the year after sixty-three local governments received a total of 1.6 millions for thirty-four poverty reduction plans and projects. As well as programs reaching out to individuals in the community that are informing and educating on the topic and statistics. Donations including school supplies, food, money and other necessities were also made.
Unfortunately there is no obvious way to predict what outcome lies ahead. However, If there is no immediate change, the data and statistic will continue on the same trend, and the outcome will be dire . Our question is, at what height will the line on the graph have to reach before real and lasting changes are made? Poverty places children, our most vulnerable, at its center, and is undeniably a human rights issue.
