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B.C. government poverty strategy tour set to begin

Victoria first for B.C. committee, province-wide until next March
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Man sleeps outside Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria, October 2017. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

The B.C. government’s committee to develop a poverty reduction strategy begins its province-wide consultation in Victoria next week.

The committee is co-chaired by Vancouver-Kensington MLA Mable Elmore and Dawn Hemingway, chair of the social work department at the University of Northern B.C. It has 28 members and a budget of $1.8 million to conduct forums and consultation across the province between now and next March.

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Input on ways to reduce poverty can be submitted by email to BCPovertyReduction@gov.bc.ca or on the website here. People can also phone and leave a voice mail message at 1-800-663-7867.

Further meetings are being planned for Vancouver, Surrey, Maple Ridge, Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Fort St. John, with information on the website as it becomes available.

The first meeting is at the Da Vinci Centre in Victoria, Monday, Nov. 27, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Other scheduled stops include:

Prince Rupert: Thursday, Jan. 11

Terrace / Kitimat: Friday, Jan. 12

Smithers: Saturday, Jan. 13

Kamloops: Thursday, Jan. 18

Kelowna: Friday, Jan. 19

Nanaimo: Monday, Jan. 22

Port Alberni: Tuesday, Jan. 23

Campbell River: Wednesday, Jan. 24

Williams Lake: Friday, Feb. 2

Quesnel: Saturday, Feb. 3

Prince George: Wednesday, Feb. 7

Cranbrook: Thursday, Feb. 8

Nelson: Friday, Feb. 9