The evidence is in and it’s overwhelming. The cost of allowing poverty and social exclusion to continue far outweighs the costs of reducing or eliminating it. But ending poverty not only makes good economic sense, it is essential to meeting basic human rights.

As I move throughout Halton’s community of social and health agencies, I am aware of the anxiety and sense of vulnerability enveloping the sector. I feel the immense weight on the shoulders of my colleagues as they contemplate increasing need for services from a diverse and growing population combined with deep cuts to the service provided by their agency. They know that people will suffer.

This Community Dispatch shares David Thornley’s thoughts on how this budget doesn’t have to be this way. David is a colleague who has worked extensively in both government and the nonprofit sector and is a policy advisor to the Social Planning Network of Ontario.

The participation and engagement of citizens determine the vitality and efficacy of democratic practices. The regional government review presently underway only pays lip service to consultation. Citizens have no time to study, reflect, and be heard. I thought it important to share Community Development Halton’s perspective as represented by CDH’s colleague Peter Clutterbuck in an opinion piece published this March by the Hamilton Spectator. Peter Clutterbuck is senior community planner with the Social Planning Network of Ontario.