Motions to council, and other elements of an advocacy toolkit for elected officials.
Sample Motion/Resolution for Municipal and County Councils (adapt as necessary)
Title: Developing a Provincial Poverty Reduction Strategy
Whereas: poverty is a significant social problem in Alberta, not just for those living in poverty but for the entire province; and
Whereas: Alberta is one of three provinces/territories in Canada that has not created or currently working on creating a provincial/territorial poverty reduction strategy; and
Whereas: the Government of Alberta can create an effective and measureable poverty reduction strategy in concert with multiple sectors of society, who’s support is critical to implement such a strategy; and
Whereas: best practices from other provincial/territorial governments in the creation of such a strategy includes a “whole government” cross-ministerial approach to identifying targets, goals, timelines for completion and outcome evaluations;
Therefore Be It Resolved That: the Government of Alberta in cooperation with all orders of government, create and implement a Provincial Poverty Reduction Strategy, to increase social participation, enhance social inclusion and promote greater dignity for all Albertans.
Or Submit an Administrative Inquiry such as the one below:
Administrative Inquiry: Steps to an Edmonton Poverty Reduction Strategy
In an initiative started by the Inter City Forum on Social Policy, in partnership with a number of other organizations, progress is being made towards a Poverty Reduction Strategy across among municipalities and other partners in the Province.
In the course of moving this initiative forward it has become clear that a number of Cities in the Province including Red Deer, Calgary, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat have also started initiatives of their own.
Given that the City of Edmonton has already done significant preventative and long term change work through efforts like its Homelessness Strategy, REACH and Neighbourhood Revitalization intitiatives that recognize that poverty is one of core impediments to real change in these areas,
Can the administration report back to Community Services Committee on the following:
1.) Some of the key components of an effective poverty reduction strategy
2.) A summary of poverty reduction work currently underway in other municipalities across Canada and specifically Alberta.
3.) A summary of poverty reduction work already being undertaken by key community building stakeholders in Edmonton (i.e. the United Way)
4.) The possibility of partnerships in developing our own Edmonton strategy with those other stakeholders.
5.) A summary of other Provinces that have implemented poverty reduction strategies and their effectiveness.
6.) Alignment of a poverty reduction strategy with relevant City of Edmonton key strategic documents and current initiatives (i.e. The Way we Live, Ten Year Homelessness Strategy, Housing Strategy, REACH, and our Neighbourhood Revitalization Strategy).
Submitted by Councillors Ben Henderson and Karen Leibovici
23 January 2012
Or Petition the federal government to act like this motion passed by the City of Hamilton:
Committee Date: April 6, 2011
Presented by Councillor Merulla
Re: Development of a National Poverty Strategy That the Mayor and Council correspond with the Federal Cabinet Committees (The Hon. Tony Clement, Chair of the Economic Growth and Long-term Prosperity Committee, The Hon. Christian Paradis, Chair of the Environment and Energy Security Committee, The Hon. John Baird, Chair of the Operations Committee, The Right Hon. Stephen Harper, Chair of the Priorities and Planning Committee, The Hon. Diane Finley, Chair of the Social Affairs Committee, and The Hon. Stockwell Burt Day, Chair of the Treasury Board Committee) and the local Members of Federal Parliament (Chris Charlton, David Christopherson, David Sweet, Wayne Marston, and Dean Allison) requesting that the Federal Government adopt a cross-Ministry approach to tackling poverty in Canada and that a National Poverty Strategy be developed that includes investment in early learning and child care, affordable and accessible housing, employment and skills development opportunities and meaningful income support programs.
A tool for elected officials to review the impact of potential policies and approaches for improving the quality of life of constituents.
The World Bank, Poverty Reduction & Equity
Toolkit for Evaluating the Poverty and Distributional Impact of Economic Policies
A website of toolkits put together through the World Bank group's collaborative effort to build and test various techniques and tools that evaluate the poverty and distributional impact of economic policy choices.
