We are one of the most generous provinces in Canada in terms of giving to charity, yet we have had the highest poverty rate in Canada for the last 13 years. It’s time for a different approach!
Social change can happen in many ways. You and your MLA have an important role to play in making it happen! The decisions MLAs make for our province affect what’s happening in your local community.
In most places that have established poverty reduction plans, it was community pressure that convinced their government to take action. You can be part of this effort to make BC’s government take action against poverty.
Please meet with your MLA and ask them to commit to tackling poverty directly through a strong poverty reduction plan with legislated targets and timelines.
It’s easy, here are step-by-step instructions (it’s most effective to meet your MLA in person but, if you’re short on time, skip to Step 6):
1. Use this MLA finder to find your local MLA, and then phone or email them to request a meeting. They’re not sitting in the Legislature right now so they’re available in your community.
2. Connect with others in your community to go as a group – there’s strength in numbers! Find your Community Champion here or, if there isn’t one, volunteer to take that role.
3. Use these resources to help you focus on the issue:
- 5 things you should know about poverty in BC – factsheet (take copies to give your MLA)
- If your MLA is Liberal, use our Meet your MLA – Liberal guide
- If your MLA is NDP, use our Meet your MLA – NDP guide
- What does a poverty reduction plan for BC look like?
- Op-ed in the Vancouver Sun: Poverty Reduction Plans Work
4. Share through Facebook and Twitter, and ask your friends to get involved.
5. Make sure to let us know how your meeting went!
6. It’s most effective to meet your MLA in person but, if you only have:
- 10 seconds, email the Premier (and other provincial political leaders) here.
- 1 minute, email your local MLA directly:
- Find your MLA’s email address through this MLA Finder.
- Copy and paste this sample text or write your own email.
- 5 minutes, write to your local MLA:
- Find your MLA’s address through this MLA Finder.
- Use this sample letter or write your own.
“Revolutionary change does not come as one cataclysmic moment (beware of such moments!) but as an endless succession of surprises, moving zigzag toward a more decent society. We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can quietly become a power no government can suppress, a power that can transform the world.”
Howard Zinn, 2010