A series of articles are being published this week highlighting topics of concern to Yukoners for the Oct. 10 territorial election. The Yukon Party, Liberals and NDP each had an opportunity to pick a topic to debate with the respective leaders. The remaining two topics were selected by the Star.

The Star selected poverty as today's topic of debate.

During the last four years the unemployment rate in the Yukon fell significantly as the government pointed to an economic boom.

It hit a historic low in September 2005 at 4.2 per cent. But the number of Yukoners working in part-time positions is increasing.

In January 2006, 3,100 individuals were working part-time a 68-month high not seen since April 2000.

In May, the minimum wage in the Yukon rose to $8.25 an hour, but the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition advised a minimum of $10 a hour is needed to keep the territory's lowest income earner above the poverty line.

Social issues have become a major aspect of the Oct. 10 election campaign, with all three parties pushing issues related to health care, substance abuse and child care.

Over the last year approximately 2,000 people have received emergency groceries from the Salvation Army and more than 5,000 have tapped into the services provided through the No Fixed Address Outreach Van.

Yukon Federation of Labour documentation states many in the territory spend between 50 and 60 per cent of their income on rent. With the rising cost of land and housing the dream of homeownership is becoming less achievable for many.

The Yukon previously received $1.4 million from the federal government for affordable housing, but the only project to have been completed are the suites at the 2007 Canada Winter Games athletes village. Initially, the territorial government had stated it wanted to use the funding to create seniors' housing.

Another $50 million will be coming to the territory to establish affordable housing through the Northern Housing Trust. How that money will be spent is currently being reviewed by the Yukon Forum.

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Dennis Fentie

'Poverty is a social challenge everywhere,' says Yukon Party Leader Dennis Fentie. 'Eradicating poverty is a challenge every government faces.'

The Yukon Party has demonstrated a 'heightened social conscience' throughout its almost four years in office, says the incumbent premier.

He points to his government's review of the Child Act and efforts on education and correctional reform. However, of the three projects, the only to be completed during the Yukon Party's mandate is the final report from the corrections consultation.

'We've shown issue by issue, initiative by initiative, that we are progressing those areas of Yukon,' he says.

Fentie adds he is confident that if Yukoners stop and look at their lives today, they will believe things are better now than they were in the past.

Much of the poverty in the Yukon used to be directly related to the territory's floundering economy, says Fentie.

Today, with low unemployment rates and a surplus of jobs to the point of labour shortages, that is no longer the case, he argues.

'It's important that we recognize the synergy between a healthy, growing, sustainable economy and how that can reduce poverty in any jurisdiction,' he says.

'The economy and our social fabric are inextricably linked and there's no question about that. To say that we can have healthy communities if you can't even provide a decent job for citizens in those communities, that's a stretch.'

The economy and social issues in the territory must be worked on concurrently, he says.

Seniors, health care, corrections and justice, combatting substance abuse and addressing the needs and challenges of women are important to the Yukon Party, says Fentie.

It is through a focused and targeted approach that government is able to address and reduce poverty, he says.

'I think we've addressed, somewhat, in a very positive manner, our economy and in doing so are helping out in areas where those individuals in Yukon may struggle.'

When looking to poverty in the Yukon some attention must also be directed towards its connection with other issues, including health and justice, he says.

'One of the contributing factors is this warehouse we've got called the Whitehorse Correctional Centre and the unacceptable recidivism rate. That's contributing to this issue on the social side of the ledger.'

The interwoven nature of poverty in Yukon society means rehabilitation, training and capacity building are part of the solution, he says.

'It's doing the best we can to ensure people become assets to society instead of liabilities.'

Yukon Party Platform Commitments:

Note: The Yukon Party has not yet released its platform in its entirety. Announcements on poverty, however, have included:

• Reducing the rates parents pay for child care and increasing the availability of spaces

• Increasing financial support and reducing disincentives, such as taxes, for parents who want to participate in the labour force

• Establishing new treatment facilities and programming for individuals afflicted with substance abuse

• Implementing measures to encourage the underemployed, school dropouts and the working poor to pursue vocational skills and trades training

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Todd Hardy

'Poverty effects our society at every single level,' says NDP Leader Todd Hardy. 'It is so integrated in our society. The poverty itself creates so many roadblocks, so many difficulties for people and so many problems within our society.'

Poverty is a problem for children and families, he says. It has implications on their health - in the kinds of food they are able to eat and the types of illnesses they get.

Poverty is also among Yukon seniors, he says. Many of them on fixed incomes and unable to adjust to the rising cost of utilities, such as heating fuel and hydro.

'Poverty is ingrained in our society and we continue to treat it as something that is separate from our society,' says Hardy.

Hardy is a former member of the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition as well as a founder of the territory's branch of Habitat for Humanity.

'We have to as a culture, as a people, recognize that because the economy may be well, that does not mean that the opportunities are being shared equally.'

Living in poverty can create roadblocks to individuals trying to access jobs and other services within society, he says.

He adds that even when living in poverty most people are full of pride and don't want to admit they need help. Though he wants to avoid the adage, Hardy says what is needed is a hand up, not a hand out.

Government cannot simply continue to provide bandage solutions to poverty and its implications, he says.

'We are judged by how we treat those least fortunate, not by how we treat those that have money.'

The Yukon needs shelters, he says. The government must also be willing to work with non-governmental organizations, rural communities and first nations to find solutions, he adds.

'The communities have some answers. Sometimes they only need a program or two or some kind of assistance in certain areas and they know how to address it right away.'

Because the communities are smaller they are often able to address a problem and address it far faster and in a more effective way than Whitehorse, he says.

The NDP leader says first nations also have a tradition of working closely together and looking after each other.

'That's a model we can emulate and support.'

A key initiative of an NDP government would be to create an anti-poverty strategy.

'Just as there's a drugs and alcohol strategy, there's an economic strategy, there's an environment strategy - there should be an anti-poverty strategy.'

It would bring together stakeholders and levels of government to address the challenges and find real solutions, he says.

'You bring as many people together as possible. You build a strategy and you start applying it.

'Without a strategy to deal with it we're just shooting in the dark. You plug one hole and it pops out the other end.'

NDP Platform Commitments:

• Decent affordable housing for all Yukon families and an increased supply of building lots they can afford

• An immediate increase in the food allowances

• Establishing a comprehensive anti-poverty action plan

• Community-based alcohol, drug and mental health outreach programs that reinforce prevention, treatment and harm-reduction

• Shelter and support services for youth and homeless persons

• Increased support for transition housing and for women's services

• Support for community-based literacy programs through the Community Development Fund

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Arthur Mitchell

'There's no way in a society that has as much wealth as we do in Yukon and an economy that is as vigorous as it has been in Yukon that there should be so many people that are falling through the cracks and are living under the radar,' says Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell.

Government is judged on how it treats its poorest citizens, says Mitchell, adding it is not allowed to throw its hands in the air and say it's too hard, so why bother.

'You have to recognize that we won't immediately help everyone but everyone we help is one more person living with dignity, able to raise their family and their health with love and care and become a productive member of our society.'

The Liberals' approach to addressing poverty will be multifaceted, says Mitchell, touching on many aspects of social investment.

A Liberal government will be committed to working with the Anti-Poverty Coalition and other non-governmental organizations to gain a better understanding of the issues and tap the valuable resources and expertise these groups can provide, says Mitchell.

He says the Liberals will also create an expert panel to advise government on social assistance rates and how to increase them.

The party also wants to establish a premier's council on seniors and elders issues if elected. The focus will be to create a new and integrated seniors' and elders' strategy, says the Liberal leader.

A more effective approach to money earmarked for affordable housing, making child care more affordable and building training capacity in communities to address high unemployment rates is also on the Liberal agenda, says Mitchell.

'Government has to take additional responsibility for helping,' he says. 'The need is great.'

Addressing poverty will also help combat crime in the territory.

'We have to recognize that in some cases the perpetrators are also the victims,' he says. 'For substance abuse to become endemic as it is, it means that a lot of people are hurting and they are turning to those substances to ease their pain.

'If you address poverty and you help people to heal from some of the other things they've experienced in their lives, you'll have less substance abuse and therefore you'll have less crime.'

Combatting poverty in the territory is not something that can be accomplished all at once, Mitchell admits. But it is progressive and a Liberal government will at least start, he says.

'I think that society is recognizing you have to make the attempt. Every life saved, every person you can help to live with dignity and remove from the cycle of poverty is one more person.

'That's what speaks to who we are as a society.'

Liberal Platform Commitments:

• Eliminating the first $250 in Yukon income tax

• Increasing the child care subsidy given to parents to $5,019 a year

• Increasing the funding for the Substance Abuse Action PLan by 25 per cent to address the needs of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

• Providing funding to the Anti-Poverty Coalition to set up a Whitehorse food bank

• Creating a Premier's Council on Seniors and Elders Issues

• Ensuring affordable housing funding is spent fairly and effectively