Pay the Rent or Feed the Kids: The Tragedy and Disgrace of Poverty in Canada

by Mel Hurtig

Canadian politicians have, from time to time, proclaimed a war against poverty. What they are really prosecuting, however, is a war against the poor. Unemployment benefits are routinely denied to people who, over the course of a lifetime, have contributed a portion of their earnings to UI (now called EI).

Welfare rolls have been slashed by provincial governments. The downloading of government services combined with tax cuts that benefit the rich have resulted in the reduction or elimination of countless programs, from hot lunches in the schools to subsidized housing. Politicians and bureaucrats have responded by inventing new definitions of poverty but people without food remain just as hungry as before and people without shelter are still without homes.

At no time since the Great Depression has the gap between rich and poor been so wide and the outlook for poor people been so grim. Hard-hitting and outspoken, Hurtig builds a compelling portrait of Canadian society under the rule of the “neo-Neanderthals.” He puts together the latest and most reliable statistics with stories told by people on the front lines of the poverty wars.

Many of these stories are as heart-rending as the comments from politicians and their corporate supporters are callous. Pay the Rent or Feed the Kids challenges all Canadians to re-examine the society we are living in and to demand changes for the better.

376 pages, Paperback

First published November 13, 1999

Reviews

[Sarah Minnella]

This would be the third time I have read this book.
I recently picked it up again while unboxing some of my books I had packed away. The first time I read this I was in high school and my dad had purchased it for "light" reading before bed. I then used the book to assist me with writing a paper in university. This time I read it purely to see if anything has changed in Canada-sadly poverty-child poverty has not changed. According, to the National Advisory Council on Poverty, 1 in 9 people live in poverty in Canada. In February 2021 Statistics Canada report found that there were approximately 3.7 million Canadians living below Canada's Official Poverty Line. This represents 10.1% of the population. This book was written 21 years ago and today we are still pondering the same questions.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

...also in my top twenty books...a heartbreaking but eye opening look at the failure of society to provide for some of its most vulnerable members and the program of propaganda which the government uses to obscure what should be our enormous shame

[Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote a book review about this book for a SOWK class. Anyone who wants to understand my political and ethical points of view should definitely read this.

[Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought provoking.