Poverty is an issue that hits close to home for Premier Brian Gallant whose speech to the the Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative luncheon audience included stories about growing up in a family that struggled financially.
He says he had a great childhood, a wonderful family with lots of opportunities and support, however, like many New Brunswickers they went through tough times. He says his parents worked at grocery stores and fast food restaurants and that he moved around a lot.
Gallant says he thought it was important to tell the crowd that he understands what it’s like to face these challenges and that’s one of the reasons he’s committed to helping the community in Saint John combat poverty.
The Executive Director of the just-launched Living SJ Cathy Wright says there’s been a lot of groundwork laid already but they’ve got a lot of work ahead of them. She says now, it’s looking at “how do we work differently to move the needle forward.”
The four areas of priority for Living SJ are neighbourhoods, employment, education and health. A report by Living SJ shows 29-percent of children and youth in Saint John are living in povery and a thousand people are on the waiting list for subsizided housing.
Click here to check out the Living SJ website.
