By Shae-Lynn Noskye

There is a widely spread inaccurate myth that working hard will get you where you “deserve” to be in life, even though reality reflects that the hardest working are continuously exploited. 

In no way do I intend to give the impression that I am ignorant of the fact that there are many people who have achieved the dream of breaking themselves and their loved ones out of the cycle of poverty. I’m simply offering a gentle reminder that there is a difference between “equal opportunity” and equity. 

With equal opportunity, everybody that goes to a job fair is given an interview. Equity ensures that everyone interested in attending that job fair has barrier-free access to the tools needed to get themselves through the door in order for equal opportunity to begin—provided that those hiring do not hold personal biases. It starts with the rejection of the colonial hardline focus on individual success while creating a space for the long known Indigenous wisdom that states that society can only be considered thriving when every member is well. 

Research proves that greater levels of inequality are positively correlated with higher rates of ill-health, lack of community life, violence, drug problems, obesity, mental-health problems, long working hours, and big prison populations (The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, 2009). So why can’t we, as members of society and government, do everything in our power to destigmatize and remove the barriers that stop our most marginalized populations from accessing basic life dignities such as:

• Shelter—even if it’s just a tent or tarp, everyone should be free from the fear of harassment due to “trespassing” based on the recognition of colonial land ownership, which ignores the truth that no one should be homeless on stolen land.
• Home-cooked food—all people should have access to meals with decent nutrition, unlike the high-carb, high-sugar, overprocessed food currently being served by those doing what they can with the resources available.
• Potable water—this isn’t guaranteed in many places still, such as some of the buildings found in the DTES, let alone on many of the reserves in Canada currently living under constant water advisories.

We need to challenge the ignorant idea that people deserve to live with nothing based on the notion that “poor life choices” and a “high-risk lifestyle” led them there. This demoralizes individuals stuck in multiple cycles, be it poverty, homelessness, abuse, health, or substance misuse, and it allows the average person to dismiss those most in need. 

For the first time ever, B.C. has a poverty-reduction strategy. Unfortunately, it’s lacking in accountability measures, bold action, and a truly comprehensive approach. The province claims to be working on stabilizing housing prices, but what about the rental market? Nobody can afford to rent anymore, let alone purchase the title to unceded land.

Though they’ve limited annual rent increases to inflation recently, people are still finding themselves being priced out of their communities. The worst fact is that despite the mention of an income-assistance rate increase being a priority in the 2019 budget consultation, the finance committee does not include a specific recommendation to raise income and disability assistance in the recent final report. Is this indicative that the government doesn’t see raising the rates as part of a wraparound strategy to reduce poverty?

Have we forgotten that there’s no possible way to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and straight out of mental illness? What began as an example of an impossible task in the 19th century has become an expression of independent hard work that we are supposed to strive for.

Instead, let’s recognize all the colonial laws and policies keeping people in poverty and let’s join hands and pull everyone up together.