Poverty is a perspective issue.

Recently we had the party leader for the NDP stop by our door to show us that he is a regular guy, just like us who wants to listen, and help solve our problems, as he stands in our doorway in the -10 degree weather. As a couple, we have no real problems. None that he would be able to help us with in our warm little duplex. Our needs are met, and we are happy. We live well, and live within our means.

Tonight as we tucked into bed, Brenna and I were discussing our finances, and recalled a conversation with a bank employee who couldn’t believe we lived off of what we brought in. To him we were squeaking by. Unlike the slogan, to him we were not richer than we think.

I went out for lunch today with a friend and again, money was a big part of our conversations, and we talked in length about budgets, savings, the idea of paying yourself first and blowing the rest, and how much money could be saved even if we put $25 a week into a bank account. If I started today, with the right savings account, I could retire as a millionaire (but would that mean much in 40 years time?)

With the provincial elections just around the corner, Canadians and Albertans alike seem to be more interested in the run for the White House than in the run for our own leadership. My friend Dan reminded me that the elections are happening, and is hoping to see some change. Dan wants the leaders of this province to tackle issues of poverty, and I agree with his challenge, but which perspective should they take? Money comes and goes, and economies go up and down, and the poor will always be with us. Maybe our perspectives have been wrong for too long on what it means to be poor, what it means to be rich.

Perhaps our leaders are not flashy enough for us to notice, perhaps we are too concerned about our own poverties to care. If Dan is right in saying that Ed Stelmach’s chances of staying in power are fairly solid, then my little faith in politics will be unchanged, much like the poverty issue.

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