| TOGETHER,
CHANGING POLICY FROM THE OUTSIDE IN
Report
of the New Brunswick Conference on Poverty and Policy
Rothesay N.B. April 22-24, 2003
INTRODUCTION
This conference gathered
together 63 invitees including those living in poverty, public officials
& administrators, representatives of labour, business, and a variety of
community groups. The title, “Together, Changing Policy From The Outside
In” captures the conference goal to learn mutually acceptable ways
for people in both the community and the government to develop effective
public policy. Invitees were encouraged to attend in the spirit of working
together, to reduce each other’s isolation and to explore ways to work
from the ‘outside’ community to the ‘inside’ government:
Through several presentations,
case studies and working groups participants probed strategies for successful
policy change by sharing and learning from each other ~
- How public policy
is developed
- Successful policy
change stories
- The “outs
& ins” of creating policy
On the last day of
the conference, the group explored four current principle policies of
the Government of New Brunswick which have an impact on N.B residents
living in poverty, including:
- Economic Unit/Household
Income
- Transitional Supports
(health card, child care, transportation)
- Wage Exemption
- Limited Housing
for Non-Elderly Single Persons
Having learned more
about the “hows & whys” of policy creation at the public level and some
of their impacts at the community level, participants were challenged
to offer policy directions which would be mutually respectful and would
offer alternatives and solutions to make them more effective for all stakeholders.
DAY
1 - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2003
CONFERENCE
OPENING
Following comments of welcome and background on the history and development of the Urban Core
Support Network (UCSN) by their chairperson - Bonnie McGraw, she introduced the Honourable Erminie
Cohen who officially opened the conference. Her presentation was very warmly received as a challenging
and motivational message. Her commentary reflected her passion for working on poverty issues and
equally, her broad, insightful understanding of poverty at the community and public policy levels. |