The Toronto Star reports on Ontario’s new measurement for counting poverty – the Ontario Deprivation Index. According to the new index, there are over 337,000 children living in poverty in Ontario:

One in eight Ontario children live in families that can’t afford fresh fruits and vegetables every day, or can’t afford to replace a broken appliance or share the occasional meal with friends or family.

These are a few of the 10 indicators listed in a new provincial poverty measure called the Ontario Deprivation Index, introduced Wednesday by Children’s Minister Laurel Broten as part of the government’s first annual report on the province’s poverty reduction plan.

The 10 “deprivation indicators” are not intended to be a comprehensive list. Instead, they are a sample of items and activities common to most Ontarians but out of reach for poor households, the report says.

“Fighting poverty means looking beyond income and examining the realities of life for our most disadvantaged families and children,” it says. “The Ontario Deprivation Index is a new measure that tells us how the Poverty Reduction Strategy is ensuring more families can afford a standard of living that many Ontarians take for granted.”

Families not able to afford two or more items from the list are considered to have a “poverty level standard of living,” the government says. This year, 12.5 per cent of Ontario children – or 337,000 kids – were lacking at least two items.

This just goes to show that the McGunity government is, if nothing else, committed to measuring things.  But the real question remains. Will Ontario’s new index for counting poverty lead to more action for ending poverty?  What matters is ending poverty, not simply counting it.

Also, when poverty drops, we should keep in mind that the standard of what counts as “ending poverty” will become stricter.  That’s because “no poverty” means that there is full participation in social, economic and political life, for everyone.  If this standard were being applied today by the governments of Canada (or even by most anti-poverty organizations), our poverty rates would be a lot higher than the more conservative estimates that already send alarm bells all over progressive Canada.

Let’s not forget that ending poverty requires that every economic human right be respected, including that every human rights covenant and treaty entered into by Canada on respecting human rights at home will need to be fully implemented.  We have a lot of work to do if we’re going to live up to our own hopes for ourselves.