Dozens of protestors gathered at Kitchener City Hall Saturday afternoon for another occupy rally. The rally focused on poverty and income inequality, and protestors were looking to have their voices and experiences heard.
Birgit Lingenberg was one of those protestors. "I make a choice. Do I pay the rent or do I buy food? Or do I pay the rent and have $40 for a month of food for a disabled daughter and myself?"
Organizers with "Poverty Makes us Sick" are hoping to shed light on the issue of income inequality. "The reality for people living in poverty is tight," says Nadeem Lawji. "Food banks have skyrocketed; use of food banks have skyrocketed."
Allison Murray says the situation has worsened since the province made cuts to social programs. "Provincially, there have been cuts to the special diet allowance, so we've been working on that for over a year now, and we're still trying to draw attention to that because people on social assistance are feeling the pinch."
Poverty continues to be a problem in Waterloo Region, even though, according to Statistics Canada, rates have dropped from 10.5% in 2000 to 8.4% in 2008.
For Monica Hajnal, those figures mean little when you're the one living in poverty. "My rent is $624, and welfare is a little under $600. I won't be able to afford myself."
Protestors say they want their experiences heard. They're also hoping that the Kitchener-Centre MPP and Minister of Community and Social Services John Milloy will bring their message to Queen's Park.
