This morning, from the Community Cares Outreach Centre in Sydney Mines, Rankin MacSween articulated his position on child poverty and its elimination in the CBRM.

“Why are we not talking about this as municipal leaders?” MacSween asked the crowd. “What is more important to the future of this community than the physical, emotional and intellectual well-being of all of our children? Citizens are talking about this issue. Families are talking about this issue. Organizations like Community Cares, the Whitney Pier Youth Club, and Undercurrent Youth Centre are talking about this issue. Why are we not talking about it?”

In the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, recent estimates show that more than one-third of children in the region live in poor households. Of children under the age of fifteen years, more than 4,000 live in poverty.

“As a community, we have to say that together we are determined to eliminate child poverty in four years. As a province, we have to say that we are determined to eliminate child poverty in Nova Scotia in four years. As a country and as one of the wealthiest nations on earth, we have to say that we are determined to eliminate child poverty across Canada in four years.”

In highlighting child poverty and its lifelong effects on individuals and communities as one of just four main campaign issues, MacSween is looking to raise the profile and urgency of this conversation in the community.

“There are too many things that our municipal leadership is not talking about,” says MacSween. They are not talking about our tax rates being the highest in the province, they are not talking about our losing 1000 people every year and they are definitely not talking about child poverty. None of these are isolated problems. They are all symptoms of a very broken system, a very broken perspective, and some very broken priorities.”

Since 1998, Community Cares has been working to assist young people living below the poverty line to connect with relevant programs and resources, mentors, employment counselling, housing and more.

How can you help? 

You can LIKE or SHARE this post. 

You can LIKE and SHARE our Facebook Page below. 

You can Donate to the campaign, Volunteer with the campaign and/or Request a Lawn Sign

Sign Up for Updates for the latest news, events, and releases from the campaign.