Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long calls addressing Parliament for the first time “a surreal experience”. He decided to focus on the need to do something about reducing poverty which he calls unacceptably high in the city.
Long says one of Prime Minister Trudeau’s mandates is to develop a poverty reduction strategy and everything’s on the table. Former Conservative Senator Hugh Segal has spoken out in favour of the guaranteed annual income to replace the patchwork of social assistance.
Long says if there is a pilot project as part of a new anti-poverty strategy, he would like to see it tried out in Saint John.
