The 2012 budget cuts are dismantling the National Council of Welfare (NCW). The cuts will shut down the council and affect 8 employees.
Since 1969, the NCW has collected valuable research on poverty across Canada. The organization works directly with the minister, raises awareness of poverty issues, and provides a means for Canadians, especially low-income Canadians, to make their concerns about poverty known to the government.
Megan Yarema and Laurel Rothman for the Huffington Post write:
With no federal poverty strategy, no official poverty measurement tools, and now, no Council of Welfare, how can we assess how we are doing? In the current economic climate where employment has yet to stabilize and rising costs leave many families scrambling to make ends meet, the loss of critical information makes governments less prepared to face challenges.
These cuts are an important resource to track the level of poverty in the country. It’s another example of the Conservative government attempting to hide data on subjects they don’t like.
Read more about the NCW on the Huffington Post here: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/megan-yarema/national-council-of-welfare_b_1454263.html
