An anti-poverty organization wants the provincial government to increase funding for social development in the next budget.
The New Brunswick Common Front for Social Justice says some social assistance recipients haven’t seen monthly rate hikes since 2010 while for others it was 2014.
Provincial coordinator Jean-Claude Basque says inflation has meant less purchasing power over the years.
Basque adds two recent reports have painted a grim picture.
“The report from Food Banks Canada was saying the number of people going to food banks in New Brunswick has increased. We just heard also that next year there will be an increase in food prices from 2 to 4 percent,” he says.
The Common Front has written to all MLA’s and will meet with party leaders about the issue.
Basque believes the social development budget needs to be boosted by more than $18 million to make up for money lost because of inflation.
After that, he says over the next years the basic rates should be adjusted for inflation.
By not tackling poverty, he says the cost to government is even higher with a greater burden on public services such as health care.
Basque adds New Brunswick is not adhering to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees that everyone has an adequate standard of living.
He notes how close to 35,000 social assistance recipients in the province are all living below the poverty line.
