Act to combat poverty and social exclusion (L-7).

This Act establishes a National Strategy to combat poverty and social exclusion. The object of this Act is to guide the Government and Québec society as a whole toward a process of planning and implementing actions to combat poverty, prevent its causes, reduce its effects on individuals and families, counter social exclusion and strive towards a poverty-free Québec. It also establishes an Advisory Committee On The Prevention Of Poverty And Social Exclusion (Chapter IV - Comité Consultatif De Lutte Contre La Pauvreté Et L’exclusion Sociale) and an Observatory On Poverty And Social Exclusion (Chapter V - Observatoire De La Pauvreté Et De L’exclusion Sociale – not in force). This Act further provides for the creation of the Fonds Québécois D’initiatives Sociales, dedicated to combatting poverty and social exclusion .(Chapter VII). For the purposes of this Act, “poverty” means the condition of a human being who is deprived of the resources, means, choices and power necessary to acquire and maintain economic self-sufficiency or to facilitate integration and participation in society.
Chapter II contains the actual National Strategy To Combat Poverty And Social Exclusion. The Strategy is intended to progressively make Québec, by 2013, one of the industrialized nations having the least number of persons living in poverty. The goals of the national strategy are (1) to promote respect for and protection of the dignity of persons living in poverty and combat prejudices in their regard; (2) to improve the economic and social situation of persons and families living in poverty and social exclusion; (3) to reduce the inequalities that may be detrimental to social cohesion; (4) to encourage persons and families living in poverty to participate in community life and social development; (5) to develop and reinforce the sense of solidarity throughout Québec so that society as a whole may participate in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. In order to achieve the goals set out in the national strategy, the actions taken by Québec society as a whole and the Government, to the extent provided for by law or on the conditions determined by the Government, must be oriented along the following five axes: (1) preventing poverty and social exclusion, with a focus on developing the potential of individuals; (2) strengthening the social and economic safety net; (3) promoting access to employment and increasing the attractiveness of work; (4) promoting the involvement of society as a whole; and (5) ensuring consistent and coherent intervention at all levels.
Chapter III concerns the Government action plan; it establishes the duties of government, timing for its development and makes recommendations on priorities of action.
The Strategy among its priority actions addresses the improvement of food security and nutrition; it recognises the need to strengthen the social and economic safety net, in particular by facilitating dignified access, for persons and families living in poverty, to a food supply that is both sufficient and nutritious, at reasonable costs, and to simple and reliable information enabling those persons and families to make enlightened dietary choices. The Strategy emphasises how those actions must also, in their conception and implementation, take into account realities specific to women and men, in particular through gender-based analysis, as well as the greater incidences of poverty in certain regions or areas and the specific needs of certain groups in society having particular difficulties, particularly because of their age, ethnic origin or an impairment or disability.
The Act also incorporates within the scope of its action initiatives to reduce rural poverty. To promote access to employment and increase the attractiveness of work, the Act establishes that the Government must act in concert with its various labour market partners and community organizations, in particular to intensify employment assistance so as to better support the communities in their efforts to create employment in high-poverty areas (under which certain rural areas are included) in which employment assistance measures and services must be adapted to the needs of the groups identified as being more affected by poverty.