B NEWS Continued from 22 presenting one in 10 chil dren. She called a all levels of*'governmentto support this strategy. "If the Canada Poverty Reduction Strategy is go- ing to work for those in our community, it must have full provincial' sup- port. More importantly, we will only see measur- able and long-lasting re- sults if municipalities and regional levels of govern- ment are engaged in the national conversation," said Sabihuddin. "All levels of govern- ment need to come togeth- er to create supports ded- icated to addressing the underlying issues of pov- erty such as: Mental and physical health, afford: able housing, food seouri ty and arobust income se-» curity program, such as a basic income." Gary O'Neil, executive director of the local Chris- tian charity organization, Kerr Street Mission, also called the strategy a great step and said it was excit- ing to see the government taking the issue of pover- ty seriously enough to put this strategy together. "I think it is excellent that they have spent time doing research and gone out into the community to ask questions and get a better understanding of what is really going on. So that I applaud them for," said O'Neil. EE I ---- "If the Canada Poverty Reduction Strategy is going to work for those in our community, it must have full provincial support. More importantly, we will only see measurable and long-lasting results if municipalities and regional levels of government are engaged in the national conversation." "When you look at the fact that one in eight Ca- nadians are living in pov- erty you see that this is a very serious issue." He emphasized more needs to be done with re- gard to affordable hous- ing. O'Neil said the cost of living in Oakville is so high that the existing sup- - Sarah Sabihuddin, Director of Community Engagement with the Halton Poverty Roundtable * ports are enough. "We were recently working with two seniors and they are living just on their Canada Pension Plan and they are falling into debt every month and not able to survive," he said. "We are working with a number of families where simply not WE DIG DEEPER ON La R310 my T MATTER Were 4 MONTHS ON SELECY 2018 FORD F 150 MODELS ler Ba BRENT WINTER 905-891 Be 53 , PAINTING DELIVERY ALLOWA Ee °5,000 alte PERT ES 1 FOR DETAILS, VISIT FORJ.CA there is a single mom on Ontario Works or on disa- bility and things are still so tight they can barely or are just not able to rent a one or two bedroom apartment ... Their fami- ly, community and their history is here, so moving away to where you don't know anyone is not a solu- tion either." TRY GYMNASTICS! WEEKLY CLASSES, DAY CAMPS Rooster On-line today! Gymnastics - Trampoline - Tumbling THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: In August, the federal Libera govemment unveiled the | nation's First Poverty Reduction Strategy, which outlines i concrete poverty reduction Milton Sports Centre - 605 Santa Maria Blvd. 905-878-5030 . a oy {BUILT i LCi] | Gallin MILTON Gallingeres/, ) a nice place todo business 655 MAIN STREET E., -- wo uojjeyepisul