Economist Stephen Gordon said yesterday of the federal budget “there is indeed very little in the budget for low-income people. Many measures such as the nonrefundable tax credits - are simply not applicable to those with very low incomes.”

Below you will find an alternative budget developed by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives that sets poverty reduction targets for the millions of Canadians and more than a hundred thousand Calgarians who live in poverty. This alternative budget could have painted a very different picture for low-income Canadians than the one given yesterday and even though it appears very likely that the federal budget will not stand, we’d like people to have a view of what is possible for the future if we want it.

You can find 10 suggestions for the federal budget at the link below, reduce poverty by 25% within 5 years is Number One on the list.

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2011/03/AFB2011_Ten_Solutions.pdf

You can find the full Alternative Federal Budget at the link below. Poverty Action and Income Inequality begins on pg 87 of the report, which includes a plan to reduce poverty in Canada by 25% in five years and by 75% in 10 years.

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2011/03/Alternative_Federal_Budget_2011.pdf  

You can find the Alternative Federal Budget in Brief at the link below. Poverty Action and Income Inequality begins on pg 26 of the report.

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2011/03/Alternative_Federal_Budget_2011_Budget_in_Brief.pdf  

While we recognize that a budget is a complicated thing, and that the government has many groups to try to please, in our view, not a single Canadian should be happy with this budget, or any other, until we address the poverty that over 6 million Canadians face living in every day in this country.