John Kort moves between groups of people huddling together in front of the Salvation Army food bank on George Street in Ottawa’s ByWard Market. He’s braving the cold, sharing a cigarette, a laugh and a story with the many friends he has made. Kort has lived on the streets most of his life and still clings to the same idea that drives him everyday: hope.
“They are attacking this head-on, and I think our government could get a lesson from the people who work here.”
Kort knows how dependency on the food banks can be a vicious cycle. “People need services like this to give them a leg up, not a handout,” said Kort, who lives at the Salvation Army, which feeds him daily through its kitchen and food bank.
John Kort, a long time food bank client, warms his hands in the November chill outside of the Salvation Army in downtown Ottawa. THE JUNCTION/Cody MacKay.
Kort made his comments just after Food Banks Canada released its annual Hunger Counts report at a news conference on Parliament Hill, where the group challenged the Liberal government to stick to its promises of providing relief for low-income Canadians.
“Food bank use has not dropped below 700,000 every month in the last seven years,” said Katharine Schmidt, executive director of Food Banks Canada. “The government has to make the changes we need to provide us for a better future, a better country.”
According to the report, Canadian food banks feed 850,000 people each month, 80,000 of which are first-time clients. While the use of food banks in Ontario declined by 4.2 per cent in March 2015 compared to last year, the total number of monthly users exceeds 338,000.
Local food banks cater to roughly 50,000 people a month, said Samantha Ingram, Ottawa Food Bank communications director. Close to 40 per cent of users are children.
“We understand that we are not the solution to hunger,” Ingram said. “But, until that solution comes along, we are here to help for those who need it.”
Ingram also said despite a marginal decline in the number of food bank users in Ottawa, the rate of first-time users has increased 28 per cent since 2013.
Philippe Ozga (left) and Katharine Schmidt (right), from Food Banks Canada, discuss need for the service at Parliament Hill Centre Block on Tuesday morning. THE JUNCTION/Cody MacKay.
“These are people that have never used food banks before and find themselves in a situation where they need to get that emergency food relief — now,” Ingram said.
“Our goal is to keep up with demand. We are always ready for the challenge, and no matter what we are here to help people who need it,” she said. “It’s not a success until I’m out of a job.”
Food Banks Canada is proposing the government implement a guaranteed minimum income plan for all Canadians.
“The current social assistance program is ineffective,” Schmidt said. “The amount of social assistance money for a single person is $8,000 a year, compared to what it used to be.” In 2008, she said, that number was $18,000.
Food Banks Canada said this could be achieved through tax reforms, by discontinuing non-cash tax credits and reorganizing inefficient government bureaucracies.
Schmidt said she hopes the Liberal government will be an ally to low-income Canadians by keeping its promise to invest in low-income housing and increase support for adult education and training, among other things.
