Despite having a strong economy for the last decade, British Columbia has the highest poverty rates in the country. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) has laid out a Poverty Reduction Plan that would reduce poverty in the province by one third after four years and eliminate street homelessness within 5 years. The plan calls for action in 7 key areas, among them: increasing the minimum wage by 50%, providing universal child care, increasing the minimum wage with inflation and creating 2,000 suites of social housing per year. Read the report here.