TAKE ACTION NOW!

Here's what to do:

  1. Click on this link to send an email to Mayor Brian Bowman and all of City Council's Executive Policy Committee
  2. Use the subject line: "Pass the City of Winnipeg's Poverty Reduction Strategy"
  3. Copy & paste the text below into your email and send! Or, feel free to write your own letter, include your story, or tell the Mayor and EPC why you think Winnipeg needs to pass its Poverty Reduction Strategy.

Template email text - copy & paste!

Dear Mayor Bowman and members of Executive Policy Committee,

We are keenly awaiting the vote on the City of Winnipeg’s first-ever Poverty Reduction Strategy at Executive Policy Committee on November 17, 2021.

I am writing to express my support and encourage you to adopt this strategy. 

Roughly 1 out of 8 Winnipeggers live in poverty, and this situation has been made worse during the pandemic. The time to act is now.

Three years ago, the community called on the City to Lead on addressing poverty by releasing the Winnipeg Without Poverty report. This report included a strong case for what the city’s role can and should be as well as fifty recommendations for a comprehensive plan within the city’s jurisdiction. 

As we reach this milestone, we applaud the Executive Policy Committee, members of council, the Public Service as well as community-based organizations and people with lived experience who lent their expertise, time, and ideas to the strategy.

We hope that you will lead the City’s Poverty Reduction Strategy and be public champions for addressing poverty. This includes advocating to other levels of government for areas they are primarily responsible for, while taking leadership on actions the City can take within its own resources and governance tools.

There is a massive need in our community for addressing poverty, made more apparent throughout the last 18 months. I support Make Poverty History Manitoba’s call to pass the strategy as well as implement these 8 priority areas within the strategy and city budget.

Thank you for your time and leadership on this crucial issue facing our city.