The number of working families turning to the food bank is up 62 percent from just three years ago, a devastating sign of how deeply the affordability crisis is hitting Saskatchewan families.
“A 150 per cent increase in food banks isn’t an economy that’s working,” said Brent Blakley, Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Minister for Social Services. “After 18 years of a Sask. Party, government families are stretched to the limit and hope is fading — it doesn’t have to be this way.”
In September, the Moose Jaw food bank recorded nearly 1,000 visits including 785 hungry children, 38 percent of users.
Over the past three years, the number of students needing support has risen by 76 per cent, new immigrant use has more than doubled and the number of seniors needing support has nearly doubled, according to the Food Bank.
“More and more working families are doing everything right – holding down jobs, paying their taxes and still coming up short. That’s not because people aren’t trying. It’s because after the Sask. Party keeps making life harder,” said Blakley.
Statistics Canada data for August shows that Saskatchewan workers are falling further behind in wages — the province has seen the second-worst rate of growth in average weekly earnings since 2018, the year Scott Moe became Premier. When adjusted for inflation, average earnings have grown only 2.84 per cent, less than half the national average.
“The Sask. Party has forgotten who they work for and what they were elected to do,” said Meara Conway, Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Minister for Health. “Instead of supporting families who are now needing the food bank to feed their kids, they’re taxing kids’ clothes and allowing rents to skyrocket here more than any other place in Canada. It’s wrong, it’s cruel, and it’s time for a government that puts people first.
“Saskatchewan people deserve a government that will act quickly to make life affordable again and build a brighter future — where every family can put food on the table and every child can thrive. That’s what the Saskatchewan NDP is fighting for.”
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