To the editor:
As tax time approaches and I gather the information needed to perform this annual civic duty, I’m reminded just how complex it is managing finances in a modern economy.
People everywhere struggle with the same issues of how to keep track of what comes in, what goes out, what was saved, and what is owed. From a young age, most learn this responsibility.
For a long time now, Canada’s federal government has resisted funding microcredit – tiny loans given to the world’s poor to help them achieve economic self-sufficiency through their own entrepreneurship. Canada’s reluctance has always hinged around the notion that the very poor are in no position to handle money when they are struggling to simply survive. So the poor are denied the power and responsibility the rest of us take for granted in managing our finances.
But the new face of microcredit involves a system called Graduation – programs that first stabilize the individual with basic food, medicine, shelter, and training on how to manage money.
Only when the client is shown to be ready are microloan funds dispersed. Success rate with these new approaches are over 90 per cent.
As Canada’s concern is now being addressed, it’s time we began funding microcredit for the world’s poorest.
Nathaniel Poole
Victoria