Community Coalition Launches 'Colour of Poverty' Campaign
September 04, 2007
September 4, 2007
For Immediate Release
COMMUNITY COALITION LAUNCHES “COLOUR OF POVERTY” CAMPAIGN
Poverty in Ontario is growing at an alarming rate. On September 5, 2007 at 10:30 a.m., a press conference will be held at the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, at 18 Thorncliffe Park Drive, Toronto, Ontario to announce the launching of the Colour of Poverty Campaign - a community project to help raise public awareness about the serious problem of poverty within the racialized communities of Ontario.
Funded by Canadian Heritage, the Colour of Poverty project has developed a series of Fact Sheets addressing different aspects of racialized poverty and its negative impacts on education & learning, health & well-being, employment, income levels, justice and policing, immigration and settlement, housing and homelessness and food security.
“We call this project Colour of Poverty because today in Ontario, those who are poor are most likely to be people of colour. While there has been increasing awareness among the general public about the growing disparity between the rich and the poor, few people realize that poverty in this province impacts communities differently,” said Avvy Go, Clinic Director of Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic (MTCSALC).
“Racialized communities are experiencing a disproportionate level of poverty. In Toronto, they are three times more likely to be poor than others because of the barriers and challenges they face in the job market” explained Grace-Edward Galabuzi, a professor at Ryerson University and the author of Canada’s Economic Apartheid – The Social Exclusion of Racialized Groups in the New Century.
In addition to MTCSALC, the project is a joint effort of several organizations including: African Canadian Legal Clinic, Canadian Arab Federation, Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter, Hispanic Development Council, Midaynta Community Services, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, and the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (SALCO).
“It is important to understand the connection between race and poverty if we are to launch a comprehensive strategy to reduce poverty levels in this country, especially in urban centres that are as diverse as the GTA. If we comprehend the causes of poverty, our solutions will be appropriately systemic and not just causal,” said Uzma Shakir, Executive Director of SALCO.
Along with the launching of the fact sheets, the press conference will include the PREMIER presentation of a new video on Race and Poverty in Ontario, which presents several stories of individuals and families living in poverty and the daily challenges they face. Representatives from the project will also be speaking at the media launch.
For more information, please contact:
Avvy Go (MTCSALC) at (416) 971-9674
Amy Casipullai (OCASI) at (416) 322-4950 ext. 239