"The recent report on child poverty in Canada indicated that over one million children in this country live in poverty and Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest rate in the entire country," said Jones. "This report deserves to be treated seriously and the provincial government should immediately implement some of the recommendations and move to develop a comprehensive plan to deal with child poverty."

The Liberal MHA says the Federal Government has a role to play and one of the ways it can have a very positive impact would be to invest some of the budgetary surplus to increase the Child Tax Benefit. "It is interesting to note that if it were not for the Canada Child Tax Benefit we would have twice as many children living in poverty in this province as we do. The report noted that this program plays a critical role in preventing children from sliding into poverty and I call on the Federal Government to expand this program to benefit even more children."

Jones says so far the actions of the current provincial government have caused more poverty rather than alleviate it. "The cutbacks of this government have impacted some of the most vulnerable people in our society and created a social deficit in this province."

Jones pointed to the reduction of damage deposits for social service recipients as something which makes it more difficult for poor people to find good housing. She also pointed to the serious problems being caused by the backlogs which exist at social services offices as evidence of the hardship this government is causing poor people.

"We have had letters from social workers at the Janeway explaining that young children are not receiving the medical attention they need because of the backlogs which exist at HRLE offices in terms of processing payments for medical needs. This is a very real example of how this provincial government is falling down in dealing with child poverty issues."

Jones pointed to several things which the provincial government should immediately undertake to help the 24,000 children in this province who live in poverty. "The Danny Williams government has to put in place the necessary resources to clear up the backlogs which currently exist at HRLE offices. They have to implement a housing policy that makes it easier for social assistance recipients to get affordable housing so children don’t have to live in substandard housing and deal with the related health problems. Government should substantially increase the minimum wage so that working people don’t continue to live in poverty. The province should be working with the federal government to implement early childhood education and childcare programs that meet the needs of poor families. Also, the provincial government should be pressuring the Federal Government to make significant increases in the Child Tax Benefit. These are all things that can and should be acted on immediately.

"It is not enough for the Minister responsible, Joan Burke, to express outrage at the rates of child poverty, it is her responsibility to do something about it. She can’t walk away from her responsibilities."