The Evolution of American Business in the Digital Era

The Trudeau government routinely promotes its track record of lowering poverty rates in Canada, owing primarily to the Canada Child Benefit program. Its statements largely hold up under investigation. Targeted public spending has significantly reduced poverty, according to an arithmetic view of poverty as a merely materialistic state of being.However, many scholars, pundits, and politicians who discuss poverty lack a nuanced grasp of the individuals and families that experience poverty in both materialistic and non-materialistic ways. Canadians in poverty have reason to be cautious of second and third-generation Laurentians who have positioned themselves as tribunes of the less fortunate, gesticulating their outrage at the condition of the poor while flashing $5,000 wristwatches.According to one scripture in the Christian Bible, Jesus said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." This is a severe reprimand on which I cannot respond, but I would say that understanding the experience of being poor is an equally difficult struggle for a rich person—with the notable exception of those few individuals who manage to pull off a Horatio Alger-worthy rise from rags to riches.A more nuanced understanding of poverty, one that sees struggling Canadians as individuals with complex sets of needs, interests, and aspirations rather than mere statistics, would lead the government to focus as much on creating conditions for hope as it does on the clever design of income-support programs.

I grew up in what would now be considered 

a lower-middle-class setting. Our lives were distinguished by precious little money and moments when creditors were just a step away, but we had a secure household with two consistently working parents who worked tirelessly to enhance our prospects. Staying on one side of the ledger book required both luck and unwavering determination.I financed for education by selling a car that I rebuilt and working side jobs such as driving a cab. Even so, I couldn't buy textbooks for the first two years, but the reserve reading room, which provided prescribed readings for each subject for three hours, became my friend. My parents, on the other hand, eagerly gave away any spare cash they had. I graduated and became the first member of my family to earn a degree, beating out a relative by one year. But I easily accept my fortunate.My father, on the other hand, understood what true poverty was. He fled a dysfunctional home, quit school, and hitchhiked to Toronto, where he found work with a moving firm. Until he earned enough to pay for a room in a boarding house, he saved the most of his meal allowances and slept on one of the trucks or on a couch in the company's warehouse. He was twelve years old at the time.

Because of these circumstances, I feel empowered 

to speak on the nature of poverty. Yes, it is a lack of funds, food, shelter, and opportunity. However, you only notice the outer symptoms of the illness. What you don't see—and our white knight wannabes don't appreciate—is the absence of what we call "hope."Hope is subtle and nuanced. The system for implementing public policy is complex. At some level, policymakers must distinguish between "transitory poverty" and "persistent poverty," and acknowledge that the messaging and policies to address both will need to differ. It also requires that they acknowledge that, while policy must address structural issues, it must also instill a sense of agency and the potential of a different and better future. A "hand up" rather than a "handout" may sound hackneyed, but it reflects a deep understanding of empowering people rather than simply meeting their fundamental necessities.Want to tackle systematic poverty? Then politicians must think beyond materialism. They must provide the circumstances for hope. They must work to help folks like my father envisage a better future than a couch in a factory. My father would have happily accepted the quarterly payout for $250 set forth in this year's government budget. But it was the prospect of a better tomorrow that he most sought.

Ottawa's most recent budget provided 

ample funding for low-income Canadians. The government's poverty-reduction agenda is not underfunded. However, it ultimately lacks a vision for assisting people in taking charge of their life and moving up the economic ladder from poverty to middle class.Our prime minister once spoke of Canada becoming the world's first "post-national" country. I'm not sure if this is true, but it's becoming evident that we're on the verge of becoming post-hope.Last week, we learnt more about the combined federal-provincial subsidies ($13 billion overall) for a big new Volkswagen plant in St. Thomas dedicated to electric vehicle manufacture. While this is a significant political victory for Prime Minister Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, it also illustrates the futility of competing for electric vehicle investments and the need for Canada to take a different economic course. Policymakers in Canada and Ontario should emphasize other businesses with higher advantages and longer-term benefits.