 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dignity for All
February 16, 2010 - 03:45am EST |
 |
Dignity for all
If you have a job, you can’t be poor. False! According to the National Council of Welfare about 25% of poor families had a major income earner who worked full time for the full year. Some jobs just don’t pay enough to get by.
This is one of the facts discussed on Monday February 15th at Local 27. CAW PEL 4 week course students Pete Koyounian, Brian Tomkins and Imran Ahmed organized a dinner to bring awareness of what can be done to reduce poverty on all levels Municipal, Provincial and Federal. This dinner was supported by London Muslim Mosque, CAW Local 27, CAW Local 1520, Steel Grill, London Linen and a group called Dignity for all.
The evening started out with a welcome from Tim Carrie (President Local 27) followed by a wonderful dinner and many guests speakers those of which included Rob Rainier from Canada Without Poverty, Jacqueline Thompson from Life Spin, Marion Overholt from Legal Assistance of Windsor, Steve Watson from CAW as well as some of our local MP’s including Ed Holder MP London-West, Irene Mathysen MP London-Fanshawe, Khalil Ramal MPP London-Fanshawe, Carolyn Bennett Liberal MP, Ryan Dolby NDP Candidate St.Thomas – Elgin, Peter Ferguson NDP Candidate London-West, Bert Dykstra Warden Huron County and Gina Barber City Councillor.
The guest speakers covered topics ranging from their own personal experiences with poverty to ways in which we can help end it in Canada. About half way through the program I encountered a woman in tears in the washroom, I heard her say, "You would think that after all these years in this business I would be used to this sadness and wouldn’t let it get to me." She was referring to a story that had been told moments before by Dr.Carolyn Bennett Liberal MP about a woman who took her life for the shame she felt over her own poverty when she was faced with meeting her birth child that she had given up years before.
Topics at the roundtable discussions included Affordable Housing, Childcare and Food just to name a few…..One of the most influential illustrations I have seen in a long time was of a homeless man sitting on a street corner holding a handwritten sign that read. "Keep Your Coins, We Want Change!" What a simple but powerful statement. Please visit the following two websites to learn what you can do to aid in ending poverty in Canada and create a change.
www.ncwcnbes.net and www.dignityforall.ca
Special thanks to everyone that helped make this evening a success!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
