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Bill C-490

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SUMMARY

This enactment provides that the Auditor General must appoint a senior officer reporting directly to him to be called the Poverty Commissioner.

The purpose of the Poverty Commissioner is to

    (a) analyse the causes and effects of poverty in Canada;

    (b) to evaluate the effectiveness of measures taken by the federal government to reduce or eliminate poverty; and

    (c) to advise the federal government on measures that it could take to reduce or eliminate poverty.

The Poverty Commissioner may hold public consultations on the causes and effects of poverty and on the measures to be taken to reduce or eliminate poverty.

The Poverty Commissioner shall report annually, on behalf of the Auditor General, to the House of Commons on the activities of the Commissioner during the preceding financial year under this Act, and the report shall contain

    (a) an analysis of poverty in Canada and of its causes and effects;

    (b) an evaluation of the effectiveness of measures taken by the federal government to reduce or eliminate poverty;

    (c) a description of the measures proposed by the Poverty Commissioner to the federal government to reduce or eliminate poverty; and

    (d) a description of the measures taken by the federal government in response to the proposals under paragraph (c).