NDP Poverty Critic Michael Prue is urging the McGuinty government to recommit to its poverty-fighting targets despite the lack of funding in yesterday’s federal budget.

“The Federal government didn’t deliver all that Dalton McGuinty was asking for. We hope that his government will not use this as an excuse to backtrack on their 25 per cent poverty reduction target,” said Prue. “Ontarians have already been waiting for action on poverty for far too long.”

In December, the McGuinty government promised to reduce poverty in Ontario by 25 per cent within five years, but that achieving the target depended on having a “willing partner” in Ottawa and a growing economy. The McGuinty government made it clear that its promise was dependent on federal action on income security, employment insurance and training, affordable housing and child care, and Aboriginal quality of life.

However, yesterday’s federal budget failed to deliver in a number of those areas, including funding for students on First Nations reserves; meaningful employment insurance reform; and child care.

Prue said it’s not the federal government’s responsibility to fund provincial programs. Other provinces, with the political will to do so, have found the resources tackle poverty, he noted.

“With the current economic crisis, more and more people are in danger of falling below the poverty line. Ontarians have waited more than five years for action on poverty from the McGuinty government. That’s too long for the hundreds of thousands of Ontarians who can’t make enough money to put food on their family’s table,” said Prue.