The 2030 Project

In the final episode of this special season of the 2030 Project Podcast focused on the Canada Disability Benefit, we are joined by the Honourable Kamal Khera, who was recently appointed Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities on July 26, 2023. In the season finale, Minister Khera discusses how the Canada Disability Benefit will help break barriers down by fostering accessibi...

In this episode, we are joined by one of the key policymakers behind the Canada Disability Benefit, The Honourable Chantal Petitclerc, a gold medal Paralympian and a sitting Senator from Quebec. Senator Petitclerc shares her perspectives and experiences as a policymaker living with a disability, and discusses her efforts in the Senate to ensure that the Canada Disability Benefit takes into account...

A key objective of the Canada Disability Benefit is to reduce, and potentially, eliminate poverty among people with disabilities while ensuring that people are not left worse off than they were before. This means that the amount of the benefit needs to be adequate to lift people with disabilities out of poverty, which raises the billion-dollar question: how much money is needed to eliminate povert...

As we examined eligibility of the Canada Disability Benefit in the previous episode, we now turn to accessibility, and explore how the government can ensure that application and appeals processes are accessible to all people with disabilities. Should it be automatic qualification by proxy if someone is already receiving other disability benefits? What are the downsides to using the tax system to r...

As the federal government begins to develop the Canada Disability Benefit, the question of who's eligible, and how they will qualify for this program, comes to the forefront. Who determines the eligibility of this program? How will the federal government work alongside provincial and territorial governments, and private insurance companies, to ensure those who need it actually get it? How does it...

With the passage of Bill C-22, the Canada Disability Benefit Act, advocates and activists across the country are at the frontlines pushing the federal government to make good on its promise of co-design regarding the development of regulations. In this episode, we are joined by Rabia Khedr, the National Director of Disability Without Poverty (DWP) and CEO of DEEN Support Services; Neil Belanger, C...

After three years of consultations, legislative crafting, committee reviews, and political pushing and pulling in the House of Commons and in the Senate in Ottawa, the Canada Disability Benefit Act finally received royal assent on June 21st, 2023. It's intended to raise those living with disabilities in Canada out of poverty. But can it? Will it? Join us for Season 3 of The 2030 Project Podcast, a...

In this episode, we are joined by Daily Bread Food Bank CEO Neil Hetherington and VP of Advocacy and Research Diane Dyson. We dive into the stark and harsh realities of a growing food security crisis in Canada. Daily Bread published its annual Who's Hungry Report on November 14, 2022 and the overwhelming message is we need urgent, immediate and effective government response in order to mitigate an...

The COVID experience made it abundantly clear that the federal CERB program rescued millions of Canadians from the economic disaster brought on by the pandemic lockdowns. Yes, there were problems, considering the speed with which the program had to be rolled out. But it is undeniable that $2000 a month for those in need kept families and businesses afloat in the face of an economic disaster. Why w...

Can we ever solve the affordable housing crisis when the housing supply only become increasingly unaffordable on a monthly basis? Who needs to take the lead on the housing issue? What role should private developers play? How does the not-for-profit sector support affordable housing? Where does community-building factor into that vision? On this episode of the 2030 Project, we’re joined by Ian Jone...

Among the values expressed by the Daily Bread Food Bank is the commitment to pursue, create and support evidence-based solutions. So, to that end, new research from the University of Calgary draws a solid, direct line between food bank visits and specific government policy. The report found that the number of food bank visits directly rises with increases in rent and falls with increases in minimu...

We are now into the 3R phase of the pandemic. The COVID crisis is receding and now it’s time for to focus on the recovery and the reckoning. Recovery will be the easier of the two if it simply means cutting larger government cheques. But that will only make the reckoning all the more challenging. How will we pay for the post COVID recovery? Service cuts? Program cuts? The reckoning phase may only...

In this episode of the 2030 Project, what is the real cost of having our kids go to school without breakfast? Or, what is the ROI of a universal breakfast program? – No means testing - just an expectation that every child attending school will start the day with a proper, nutritional meal. We are joined by Judith Barry. Co-Founder & Government Relations Director. Breakfast Club of Canada, John...

It's become apparent that we have grown communities, intentionally or otherwise, in such a way that access to food is not as readily available as we might have otherwise thought. In some cases, we’ve made it more difficult, particularly for vulnerable communities to get access to food. We have created food deserts in urban communities across Canada. In this episode of the 2030 Project, we welcome...

The crisis it immediate. The call for action in this season of the 2030 Project is a call for immediate change. I n the past two episodes we discussed the heightened awareness of poverty in our midst. We explored our mis-conceptions of poverty – of what it means to live in poverty. The growing number of food bank visits alone tell the story. More people are falling into poverty every month in Cana...

In this episode of the 2030 project, we start with the basics. What is the MEANING of Poverty. How do you and I interpret poverty? In the last episode Diane Dyson, VP of Advocacy and Research at Daily Bread Food Bank suggested we have developed a new or heightened awareness of POVERTY during the course of our collective experiences during COVID-19. She may be on to something. So we’ve invited Ujwa...

In this episode of the 2030 project, our focus has shifted from a public health crisis to a looming hunger and poverty crisis. Whether it’s the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian War in Ukraine, or extreme climate events, inflation rates and interest rates around the world are driving up the cost of living, driving up the cost of everything from groceries and energy to transpo...

The 2030 Project is a Story Studio Network podcast sponsored by Daily Bread Food Bank, a Toronto based charity, whose mission is to collaborate with all to eliminate food insecurity and advocate for solutions to end poverty. What would it take to eliminate poverty in Canada by the year 2030? When we spelled out the content for season one of the 2030 project, our objective was twofold. One was to s...

We have covered a lot of ground in the past 10 episodes of The 2030 Project. We dove into the Federal Poverty Reduction Strategy and asked "What works, what doesn't work?" We explored the unintended obstacles in a support system that is intended to help those in need. We dealt with the issues of stigma and near invisibility of those living in poverty. And we started an important discussion about w...

Over the past 9 episodes, we’ve framed our discussion around Canada’s Federal Poverty Reduction Strategy that’s based on three foundational pillars. DIGNITY OPPORTUNITY and INCLUSION And... RESILIENCE AND SECURITY. And it’s on the final pillar where we focus this Roundtable episode of The 2030 Project. RESILIENCE and SECURITY are going to be key components in the recovery and reckoning stages as w...

In this episode…we get to the chicken and egg dilemma in the efforts to reduce poverty in this country. We’ve already talked about the current programs that have been successful at raising the more vulnerable Canadians out of poverty. So, there are best practices we can build upon. But there are two chronic issues that stagger the mission. One is a growing income gap and a diminishing middle class...

In this episode, we explore the need to address social infrastructure, which includes everything from universal daycare to high-speed internet access; from food nutrition to Peppa Pig. The argument is, it’s necessary to broaden our definition in order to create a foundation for a future that provides resilience, not just for the system, but for the citizens who are struggling with poverty. And we'...

Over the past number of episodes, we’ve heard from front line workers and social assistance recipients who will tell you there are programs in place right now that are successfully reducing poverty rates in some demographics across Canada. But they have universally told us, it’s not enough. If we’re going to have any hope of tackling poverty, there needs to be a “floor” that provides income stabil...

In this episode of the 2030 Project, we’re going to find out more about the FORGOTTEN POOR – they are Working age singles who are three time more likely to live in poverty as the average Canadian. To discuss it… We’re joined by Sherri Torjman. Sherri is a social policy consultant and the former Vice President of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy and is currently the Vice-chair of the Disabili...

In the last episode, Garima Talwar Kapoor at Maytree talked about the WELFARE WALL. It refers to the unintended consequence of social support programs that effectively discourages people from supplementing their pension, their welfare or social assistance cheques with a part time job. Thousands of individuals with serious disabilities end up on welfare. And many of them inadvertently become trappe...