re: #2 Obdicut

I too think that the government should take steps to lift people out of poverty.

Absolutely, it’s demonstrably more cost effective than leaving them there. Fighting poverty pays off, report says:

A homeless person in Calgary, for example, can run up $42,000 a year in costs at emergency shelters. Putting that person in a prison or psychiatric hospital would cost about $120,000. But giving that person access to supportive housing and social services would cost between $13,000 and $18,000, the report says.