The federal government’s announcement that it is ending the annual 8% increase in international aid in 2011, means Canada is reneging on a long-standing promise to assist countries living in

There is lots of help for those who don't need it and very little help for those who need it the most in this Federal Budget 2009. It was supposed to be an action plan to deal with the global economic crisis but even though it projects a large deficit, the poor way the budget is crafted means much of it will never get spent and much of what does get spent will not do much good.

Will the Federal Budget help those hardest hit by the economic crisis? That is the key question as far as I am concerned. It is pretty clear there will be an economic stimulus package in the budget. The government's survival depends on it.

There is little or nothing to show after three budgets on steps towards making poverty history by the Conservative Government.

They had huge surpluses available in the last three years that could have been used to address global, domestic and Aboriginal poverty. Yet they have chosen instead to spend most of it on tax cuts and paying down the debt.

The Ministry of Finance is asking Canadians to tell them what they think the budget priorities should be for 2008. But you won’t find fighting poverty on their list! So you will have to help put it there.

There is little or nothing in the 2007 Federal Budget that will help to make poverty history.

Several measures that appear to address poverty, on closer examination turn out to be inferior versions of previous Liberal initiatives or actually deliver more benefit to rich families and less or nothing to poor children who need assistance the most.