Tony co-signs Layton letter to national religious leaders

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FEDERAL NDP

************************* NDP to champion national poverty plan

NDP outlines priorities in letter to Canadian Council of Church leaders

OTTAWA - Poverty in Canada reveals an “unjust society, a sign of failure and a challenge to do better,” said NDP leader Jack Layton in a letter to religious leaders in which he pledges that the NDP will continue pushing for a national poverty-reduction strategy.

NDP poverty critic Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie) co-signed the letter.

“Overwhelmingly, Canadians believe in justice, equality and human rights. Fighting poverty is directly related to our commitment to creating opportunities for people and communities to prosper,” said Layton to 21 Canadian Council of Church (CCC) leaders.

In November 2007, the CCC wrote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper urging his government to implement a national poverty plan.

The NDP introduced a wide range of legislation as part of their poverty-reduction strategy, including an Early Learning and Child Care Act for affordable nation-wide child care, 10 bills to fix the broken Employment Insurance system that doesn’t help most unemployed, and a Canada Post-Secondary Education Act to tackle crushing student debt.

In addition, they have brought measures forward such as income security for persons with disabilities, raising the child tax benefit, restarting a national housing program and better help for new immigrants.

The NDP stated that corporate tax cuts pushed by Liberals and Conservatives undermine fighting poverty.

Reductions in the general corporate income tax rate rob the country of potential revenue for social spending.

“Those tax cuts shrink our collective capacities to help one another,” Layton wrote. “It's not fair and it brings Canada in the wrong direction. The NDP is committed to standing up for middle-class Canadians and no Canadian is left behind.”

Layton noted the NDP’s newly-formed Faith and Justice Commission which has some NDP MPs and party members working from their faith traditions on issues such as poverty reduction, a clean environment and peace-making.

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