Ryan Meili to be joined by Broadbent Institute's Mira Oreck and local progressive leaders

WHITEHORSE—Dr. Ryan Meili, author of A Healthy Society and founding director of Upstream: Institute for a Healthy Society, is coming to town with the message that positive change is possible through people-centred grassroots action. Dr. Meili will speak at Yukon Change Makers, an event co-organized by the Yukon Federation of Labour (YFL), the Broadbent Institute and Upstream that will enhance local community organizing.

Surrounded as we are by the tunes and decorations of the holiday season, Industry Minister James Moore’s recent uncharitable comments about child poverty and hunger invoke inevitable comparisons to Charles Dickens’ famed miser Ebenezer Scrooge. One could easily imagine Scrooge haughtily asking his nephew, “Is it my job to feed my neighbour’s child? I think not.”

The spirit of Moore’s comments offend the many Canadians who do think that if their neighbour’s child goes hungry it ought to concern them, that our responsibility for each other goes beyond the walls of our own homes. The attitude behind such comments is far from admirable, and disappointing to hear voiced by any elected official. It’s a position far from the values of Canadians.

Perhaps more disturbing from the Federal Ministry of Industry, however, is the comment that poverty is not Ottawa’s problem.