NTV - CJON - Monday, May 27, 2024 - 04:30 a.m. (ET) - Segment #1

So we'll tune in together

(Announcer) You're watching Canada's Superstation ntv and tomorrow we'll bring a new dawn. And together who knows what we all can do from coast to coast in newfoundland and labrador. This is issues and answers with michael connors. Good afternoon and welcome to ndtv's issues and answers. 31% of people in the province are struggling financially to meet basic needs. That's one of countless findings in the annual vital signs report from one's harris center which looks at everything from food to housing, access to health care and even the impacts of loneliness. Joining me this week are nicole dyer who is with the community foundation of newfoundland and labrador and cathy newhook with the harris center. Thank you very much both for joining me today. Thanks for having us. So first of all, I'll just hold up a copy of the report here. This is the annual vital signs report here. So just first of all, if you can cathy, if you could tell me what is vital signs? What is some of the work that went into it? >> Yeah. Well vital signs is an annual or well mostly annual check up on quality of life issues in the province. So it's an opportunity for for us to kind of dive in and look at the numbers, see what's happening with the province and kind of shed some light on key issues. It's a partnership with the community foundation of newfoundland and labrador and it's actually the branding itself. The whole concept of vital signs is a national with the community foundations of canada here in newfoundland, labrador. But ten years ago now we partnered with harrison to partnered with the community foundation of newfoundland and labrador because it just made sense for us to work together on this really interesting piece of work. The goal from a from the national perspective is to be able to kind of provide a guide for communities of you know, where community organizations really need to pay attention. And our role at the harris center is really to kind of keep our fingers on the pulse of what's going on in the province and help kind of create a bit more of an in-depth conversation on key issues and foster an informed citizenry in the province. So those two mandates really align when it comes to a publication like vital signs. So it's really it's a neat partnership that we're able to make happen for the province to put some good information in the hands of people to think about. >> And just briefly tell us to tell our viewers what the harris center is. Yes. >> The harris center is memorial university's kind of hub for connecting with the community. It's the regional policy and development arm of the university which you know, for lots of folks that doesn't sound like a whole lot of concrete stuff but really it's a bridge between the community and the university. So we think of ourselves as one foot in and one foot one for the university and one foot in the community with you know, talking with communities across the province like out in rural communities, having conversations with people who are working on the ground there but also community in like the nonprofit kind of community concept. So talking with a lot of organizations like nicholls but also organizations like food first and other community groups so that kind of community and then bringing that information to the university and then working within the university as well to see how those what are the kind of overlapping issues that we can work on together. So what are the things that community needs that the university can help with? What are the things that the university is puzzling with that might be of benefit to the community and so kind of get that back and forth bit is really where the harris center plays. We connect people a lot of the time it's a lot of emails and putting information and connecting people. So and nicole doyle if you just tell us a bit about the community foundation. Yeah. So the community foundation is the community foundation for newfoundland and labrador. There are over 200 of us across the country representing 90% of canada's geography and we facilitate charitable giving. So that's on behalf of individuals on behalf of other charities. So we have funds that we grant from we also grant on behalf of the government of canada at times and then community leadership is also a big part of what we do. So convening and just making sure that community has really great knowledge with bolduan informs how we direct our resources and how we work with donors maybe to direct theirs. And so that's sort of where our kind of a yeah connection with with cathy and the harris entertainment. >> So turning now to the vital signs report, I guess these come out periodically almost every year and they focus on different topics. The last one focused on climate change. This one on the cost of living. Why did you choose that focus?

I mean it's an obvious choice. It was an obvious choice for us. In fact nicole and I had a conversation about, you know, what does the next one look like? We've been in ten years doing this. How do we look forward to the next ten years? And we opened up the conversation to a lot more organization to kind of feed into the process and really kind of test what what our gut was saying in terms of what the key issues were. And I mean it's everywhere. It's ubiquitous. You can't go anywhere without hearing about it and talking about the cost of living right now is is is astronaut vehicle and it's challenging and everyone is feeling it and and I remember the conversation that we had at the table was really like if if we're all feeling it and we're all you know employ it and good jobs and and really if we're feeling it that much imagine how much other people who have always struggled are feeling this. And so it really made a lot of sense for us to say, okay, well you know, if we're hearing about this bits and bobs in different places we're hearing about food security, we're hearing about housing security, we're hearing about, you know, the cost overall and and you know the cpi numbers and and lots of that stuff is being tossed out in little bits. How can we pull all that information together and really like dive deep or what do the poverty numbers really look like in the province? How does that really hitting home? What does the cpi look like for people and is that really ringing true to what people are experiencing and you know, you look at grocery bills but how does that really resonate and how can we pull all that piece together in one place so that we can have a conversation that's not a debate about you know, is this one way or another way but just to kind of say here's what it is and now let's think about what we're going to do about it right now. >> So let's take a look at noel's I guess some of the key numbers and one that jumped out 31% of the population struggling financially to meet basic needs like transportation, food, clothing, things like so I guess nicole, if you just dive a little bit deeper into that yeah that's definitely one of the ones that kind of cuts across everything. And so when we we look at it, you know a lot of people are are having some challenges and one of the things we try to do with the report is kind of cathy reference to is that though we are all kind of in that same storm and a lot of people are in that storm that we are in very in kind of different boats and how are we going to be really conscious of that both geographically because we live in a really large and amazing place which creates a lot of uniqueness in terms of the solutions you need to think about around when you say you know for you know 30% of people on the northeast avalon versus in labrador versus on you know in saint anthony like that can look a little bit different. And so this report really helps to break down a lot of information about what the cost of living increases are on a more regional basis but also for different communities as well for new immigrants and for other kind of folks just trying to really break apart. What is it what is the cost of living feeling like across a great number of people in the province? >> And I guess if you sort of, you know, chop that up into segments a bit I mean food security is an issue we've been hearing a lot about lately. >> You know, a quarter of the population dealing with food insecurity. What do you what are your thoughts on that? Yeah, the food security one is a big piece I think building on the the 31%. Just to go back to that for a second, there's different ways to capture how we talk about poverty and how we talk about people are struggling and that was one of the biggest conversations really that we had around the table developing what was going to be in here because you can look at you know, you can look at poverty numbers. You know, what's the poverty rate in the province? Well, it's a really complicated question. You know, how are you measuring poverty? Is it income based? How do we is it household based? Are we talking individuals? Are we talking about, you know, how people live in st john's versus how people live on the northern peninsula really? And a lot of it depends on how you're spending and what you're spending habits are. So it it's not as simple as just pulling out a number like 31% the 31% of people who are struggling financially. That actually comes right from statistics canada survey I can't remember if it came from the census or if it's a specific one of the surveys. I think it's a specific survey but it's a self-reporting number and so that's a number that's not saying like all these people are living in poverty. It's saying 31% of people are self-reporting, that they're struggling to meet their financial needs on a on a regular basis. And of course, you know, if anyone's ever participated in a survey it's like or are you struggling a little bit? Are you struggling? Not so much. And so this is like the struggling a lot and in significant chunk of that it's not the it's not the lowering of that number. Right. So it's there are people within that 31% that are struggling a whole heck of a lot and there

are people in that 31% that are you know, just now realizing that you know what I am struggling now that you've asked in fact I have had to make really tough decisions recently about meeting my basic financial needs and you know, so I would put myself in that category. So I think the 31% is an interesting to me because it removes that layer of you know, do you make less than $30,000 a year or do you already own your house? How where are you in your career? How many kids do you have? What are your other expenses? You know, and it just says are you are you okay? You know, so I think that number is really one that we need to pay attention to because we can toss around like what is and isn't poverty levels until the cows come home. But what boils down to our people make it hard decisions are they feeling like they are making really tough decisions and they're not able to live well and 31% of the province is saying yeah, it's hard we're going to take a short break on ndtv's issues and answers. >> We'll be back after this on Thursday, August 1st. on Thursday, August 1st. We're kicking the country with the Reklaws and special guest Justin Fancy. and special guest Justin Fancy. Check out the lineup and get your tickets Check out the lineup and get your tickets at georgestreetlive.ca Brought to you by Bud Light, Mike's Hard LemonadeLambs Rum, ozfm, ntv Shield Group and Delta Hotels. Must be 19 years orolder. What powers a lifetime of zoomies and play? The secret starts in the bowl... it's nutrition! Royal Canin fuels their journey, from playful beginnings to their golden years. Pick it up in-store, or get it delivered to your door, with PetSmart. Newfoundland and Labrador- is an incubator for dreams. The tech companies here- form a really phenomenal positive ecosystem. We didn't have to invent work life balance. It was always here. I love Newfoundland and Labrador. I love that at my doorstep there's ocean, there's forest. It really is the best of both worlds. We're solving such exciting problems and- selling it on a global stage. I thought it would be a fun adventure for a year- and I ended up staying for 10. We get it. Life happens. None of us are immune to financial difficulty. So when the unexpected happens, managing that debt can be very stressful. But there's no reason to give up hope. At mnp, we've been helping Canadians become debt free for over 50 years. Contact us today for a free consultation. Together we'll find the right debt solution and get you back on your feet. Mnp Limited, Licensed Insolvency Trustees. Issued by the Federal Government. Canadian summers just hit different with Tims. ("Steal My Sunshine" by Len) Introducing two new Sparkling Quenchers... made with natural flavours and colours. Memories are made with Quenchers. It's time for Tims Don't let anything stand between you and performing at your best. New and improved Shell V-Power Nitro+ Premium Gasoline. Performance unbound. (Shell mnemonic) Can one shower calm your dry skin? Only Dove body wash has millions of moisturizing micro-droplets. Transform even the driest skin in just one shower. For 24 hours of softer, smoother, silkier skin. Discover the all-day difference of Dove body wash. ( ) ( ) Hold on I'm comin' ( ) ( ) Hold on I'm comin', hold on Dash that, and more, with DoorDash. This is an Oreo. Sorry team, I'll call you back. Dad: Hello. First we twist, then we lick. Dad: Then we dunk. (daughter giggles) Daughter: Roar. Nutri-Lawn has been nourishingthe lawns and livesof Canadians for over 35 y With our ecology-friendly lawncare, we eliminate weeds and prevent destructive insectsfrom feeding on your grass. Improve the overallhealth of your lawn. Visit Nutrilawn.com . >> Welcome back to when tv's issues and answers. I'm continuing my conversation

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