On Monday, the New Brunswick Common Front for Social Justice organized a march through downtown Moncton to renew their commitment to the fight against poverty and show solidarity with the poor.
The event took place in an urban setting, but conditions of poverty also exist in rural and semi-rural areas like Tantramar.
“I live in a rural area,” said Janelle LeBlanc, provincial coordinator of the NB Common Front. “I’ve seen, in the communities around where I live, unhoused people on the street.”
It’s a phenomenon she never witnessed growing up. And it has happened in tandem with massive increases in rent that have affected tenants in cities and the countryside.
Earlier this year, the provincial government implemented a temporary rent cap that expires on Dec. 31, 2022.
Listen to the interview with Janelle LeBlanc, provincial coordinator of the NB Common Front:
Event organizers estimated that about 75 people showed up for the march from Riverfront Park to Saint George’s Anglican Church, which offers social services to homeless people in downtown Moncton.
The event featured testimonies from people that have struggled with poverty, including a young woman with autism who experienced homelessness.
She called for better government support and fewer police, saying law enforcement is waging a ‘war on the homeless.’
The event also featured a speech by New Brunswick Independent Senator Nancy Hartling, who spent more than 30 years in Moncton as a social worker before she was named to the Senate by Justin Trudeau in 2016.
She called for Canadian lawmakers to adopt Bill S-233, Senate legislation that would require the Minister of Finance to develop “a national framework to provide all persons over the age of 17 in Canada with access to a guaranteed livable basic income.”
In an interview, Hartling, who grew up in rural Nova Scotia, noted that people experiencing poverty in rural areas have limited access to resources, especially if they don’t have a vehicle.
Listen to the interview with Senator Nancy Hartling:
Earlier on Monday, the provincial government announced that it’s investing roughly $100 million dollars to build 380 units of public housing, and to renovate 110 vacant units.
It will be the first example of new government-owned housing in 38 years, according to the province.
One-hundred and twenty of the new units will be in New Brunswick’s major cities: 40 each in Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John.
Sixty-eight units will be in northern areas of the province. The remaining 192 units will be in the “areas of greatest need,” according to a statement from the government. It’s unclear if any will be in the Tantramar area.
On Tuesday morning, Rebecca Howland, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Development provided an emailed statement to CHMA:
“This initiative is in the very early stages and there is still some planning to be done,” she said. “Work will be done with municipalities to determine which areas need these units.”