If you think the poverty rate in Saint John is higher now than it was 10 or 15 years ago, you would be wrong, at least according to the figures compiled by the Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative.
Saint John-Rothesay Conservative candidate Rodney Weston says they show in 1996, the local poverty rate was 27 per cent compared to 19 and a half per cent today. Weston says he can understand why people would think poverty is worse now considering the sluggish state of the provincial economy since the financial meltdown of 2008.
But Weston makes clear he’s still not happy with the level of poverty despite the improvement and believes projects such as the Energy East pipeline, modernisation of the port on the west side and an export terminal for L-N-G at Canaport will make a dent in the poverty rate.
