The MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex wants his colleagues at Queen's Park to know that poverty doesn't just exist in major cities.
In fact, Monte McNaughton says he continues to hear stories about people living without heat and hydro in the winter months, and in some cases, even living in their cars.
"Often when politicians talk about poverty, they always talk about inner city poverty, specifically in Toronto. So my goal is to bring this to the public light that rural poverty is a growing problem," McNaughton says.
The Conservative MPP is calling on the Ontario government to put more resources into alleviating poverty in rural communities, after hosting a roundtable on the issue in Strathroy. He plans to meet with more charities, food banks, first nations groups and municipal officials for a second roundtable in Wallaceburg in the coming weeks.
"Our goal is to bring important stakeholders together to hear stories and statistics," he says, "and then when the session begins at Queen's Park at the end of February, to bring what I hear in my riding back to Queen's Park, and to feed it into the government's rural task force."
McNaughton says, until hydro rates stop soaring, housing becomes more affordable, and transportation and access to services is more available in rural Ontario, he thinks poverty will continue to plague every corner of his riding.
"That's the one thing that struck me the most is that it's everywhere. I had heard one statistic that in Chatham-Kent there's 7,000 people in hydro arrears right now," says McNaughton. "That's a huge problem and that's why I think this issue is so important."