Few would expect the executive director of a homeless shelter to cast candidacy for the Liberals but Patty Hajdu believes hers is the only party bold enough to see now is the time for social investment.
“I received some grief,” she said of her Liberal nomination, “mainly from crusty, old NDP people who feel they hold the moral authority on social justice. I can tell you if you don’t do your homework, you’re going to get trapped by idealism.”
Pragmatism has been as central to Hajdu’s campaign as it’s been to her life. When she was a single mother of two preschoolers, she went back to school to increase her earning potential.
When she led 31 agencies in developing Thunder Bay’s Drug Strategy, she came to believe it’s not only possible to make change from the inside but that real change can only be measured in inches.
Hajdu’s now trying to get on the inside of Parliament to make that change for those who need it most.
“Politicians don’t talk about poverty because nobody will admit they’re poor. That’s because of the shame that it’s loaded with and that’s a North American narrative. ‘You’re poor because you didn’t work hard enough. You’re poor because you didn’t try hard enough,’” she said.
“We’ve wrapped ourselves in this problem of not being able to address it.”
Hajdu rejected the heavy-handed policies that are presented as a moral approach to social problems.
She pointed out keeping a person poor costs $130,000 each year. The federal government must be accountable for its responsibilities, she argued, especially in public housing, health-care transfers and fostering self-reliance in its citizens instead of criminalizing them.
“When we say we can’t afford to address our social issues, it’s completely flawed. In fact, smart social policy is smart fiscal policy,” she said.
“The only argument (for keeping people in poverty) becomes ideological. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot if we stick to the idea that we shouldn’t help people because they should pull themselves up by the bootstraps. We’re basically saying we’re willing to spend
$130,000 a year to do that.”
