How much is a human being worth in New Brunswick?

The Maytree Foundation recently released the 2022 edition of Welfare in Canada, in which New Brunswick had the lowest social assistance rates across all categories in all Canadian Provinces. 

According to the 2022 report, in New Brunswick, unattached singles considered employable earned $8,031. Their income was 34 per cent behind the average of all provincial rates and 31 per cent behind the average of all Atlantic provincial rates. Unattached singles with a disability earned $10,884. This represented 30 per cent behind the average of all provincial rates and 31 per cent behind the average of all Atlantic provincial rates. Households with children were also behind the average of all provincial and Atlantic provincial rates. 

Compared to two measures of poverty, the Market Basket Measure (MBM) and the Deep Income Poverty (MBM-DIP), there were two out of four social assistance categories where New Brunswick was the lowest in Canada. The income for an unattached single adult in Moncton represented only 33 per cent of the MBM and 44 per cent of the MBM-DIP, and the income of a couple with two children in Moncton represented 59 per cent of the MBM and 78 per cent of the MBM-DIP. 

The Government of New Brunswick recently increased the basic social assistance rates based on the New Brunswick Consumer Price Index (CPI). The rates increased an average of $40 to $50 per month. Monthly social assistance rates are still torturously low, ranging from $637 to $786 for a single person considered employable and with a disability, respectively. The Common Front for Social Justice is urging the government to raise the social assistance rates above the poverty line in addition to the annual indexation. 

Social assistance recipients are living well-below the poverty line and in deep poverty. It’s inhumane. Social assistance income has declined these past few years for unattached single households deemed employable or with a disability, and households with children. New Brunswick is in a housing affordability and supply crisis. Homelessness rates are increasing. Food insecurity rates were the second highest in all provinces in 2022. Poverty is costing the province over $1 billion a year. The Government of New Brunswick must act swiftly and invest in the social assistance program. If not, more people will continue to suffer and social problems will continue to grow, costing the province even more each year.

Government is voted into office by the people of the province who can vote. MLAs represent voters in each riding. New Brunswickers must speak up on poverty issues, especially before the next elections. We are all responsible for making decisions about the best people to govern this province and who will support our most vulnerable human beings. New Brunswickers should not live in deep poverty and live in inhumane conditions. 

How much is a human being worth in New Brunswick? It is urgent that our government get a clear answer to this question from the public. Loud, clear, visible and in large numbers. If not, there is no reason to believe the Maytree report will do anything but gather dust, while human beings endure a living death. 

Janelle LeBlanc is the Provincial Coordinator of the NB Common Front for Social Justice. Robert MacKay is the Community Co-Chair of the NB Common Front for Social Justice.