News
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25 in 5 Supports Call for Income Security Review
The 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction is calling on the Ontario government to move forward on an income security review by September 1.
Swift action would show the government is serious about implementing the recommendations of its own Social Assistance Review Advisory Council, meeting the commitments it made to poverty reduction in December 2008 – and, especially, improving the lives of low-income Ontarians across the province.
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Message to Deb Matthews: Nutritional Supplement Must Address Needs
Dear Minister Matthews,
The decision the McGuinty government has taken to end the Special Diet Allowance for people on Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program has been interpreted as a disturbing signal about the degree to which government is committed to the goals of poverty reduction and the importance of protecting the human rights of people with disabilities.
However, it also presents you with the opportunity to create a new program that will address the acknowledged shortcomings of the Special Diet Allowance program, while ensuring continuation of the important financial support it provides to people with documented health challenges.
In light of the government’s announcement that the Ministry of Health will be creating a replacement program for the Special Diet Allowance, we are writing to forward our proposal for Five Principles that should form the basis for this new program.
The 25 in 5 Network and its partners, the ODSP Action Coalition and the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO), are circulating the enclosed Five Principles document to other partner organizations, individuals, and supporters. We trust that you will hear from many around the province who also believe that the new program must be based on these principles.
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Five Principles for a New Nutritional Supplement Program
The Ontario government is replacing the Special Diet Allowance Program with a new nutritional supplement program.
As it designs this new program, the government must ensure that it is not viewed in isolation from other aspects of the social assistance system and the problems that people who rely on it experience on a regular basis.
There is widespread recognition that the levels of financial support provided through Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program are insufficient to meet even the most basic needs of the people
who rely on these programs. This means that people on OW and ODSP cannot adequately afford healthy food, appropriate shelter, clothing, transportation, hygiene supplies, and other basic items. -
Premier McGuinty Responds to 25 in 5
25 in 5 wrote to the Premier about the cancellation of the Special Diet Allowance, which will have an impact on several thousand OW and ODSP recipients, and the 1% increase to social assistance rates, which falls short of the inflation rate.
We’ve received the following response from the Premier: -
Open Letter to Premier McGuinty from the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction
As organizations committed to the mission to reduce poverty, we write to express our serious concern about recent moves your government has taken on the poverty front.
More than a year into Ontario’s efforts to reduce poverty by 25% by 2013, your government has made the following moves that call into question your government’s commitment to meeting its own poverty reduction goals:
1) Ending the Special Diet Allowance Program without a previous and clearly thought through replacement plan, which will result in a significant drop in income for people on social assistance who have health-related nutritional needs;
2) Allowing, for the first time since 2006, social assistance rate increases to fall below the rate of inflation.These actions are distressing, and – without adequate and commensurate resolution – threaten the health and safety of many struggling individuals in this province.
Tagged with: Budget
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Budget throws Ontario’s poor in limbo
The sting of recession and deep-seated poverty will continue for too many Ontarians who were left behind in today’s provincial budget, says the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction.
Tagged with: Budget
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Budget 2010 Must Link “Open Ontario” to Poverty Reduction
While welcoming Ontario’s reiterated commitment in the Throne Speech to cut poverty by 25% by 2013, the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction urged for a stronger link to be forged between Ontario’s agenda for stronger economy and its strategy for poverty reduction.
The Network is calling for continued action on poverty reduction in the next budget to ensure all Ontarians get back on their feet as quickly as possible in order to contribute to a strengthened economy.
- Ministers meet for pension crisis talks – thestar.com
December 16, 2009The recession has exposed the fragility of the pension situation. About two-thirds of workers in Canada lack a workplace pension program and 1.6 million Canadian seniors at the low end of the wealth scale are trying to eke out an existence on less than $15,000 a year.
- Job training funded for older workers – CBC News
December 16, 2009A new joint initiative by the federal and Ontario governments will help unemployed older workers develop new skills that will help them find jobs.
- New payday loan limits don’t protect consumers: advocates – CBC News
December 16, 2009Some Ontario consumers could be caught in a never-ending cycle of borrowing from payday loan companies despite a new cap on loan fees and interest that came into effect Tuesday, warns an Ottawa-based public watchdog.
- Goar: Punished for working too diligently – thestar.com
December 16, 2009Premier Dalton McGuinty is aware of the problem. "Unwittingly, we have developed a policy that stomps you into the ground," he told Ontarians who rely on social assistance last spring.
- Quebec targets homelessness in $60.5M plan – CBC News
December 16, 2009Quebec has unveiled a new $60.5 million, three-year plan to fight homelessness, including measures to improve mid- and long-term housing options for people on the street.
- Stepping up for Ontarians: Staying the course on poverty reduction commitments
- Submission to the Ontario Government on Bill 218
- Stand Up Against the Backlash from the Auditor General’s Report
- Coalition warns poverty reduction at risk
- Countdown: Two Weeks to Dec. 4 Poverty Reduction Anniversary
- Ontarians Seek Bold Action on Affordable Housing: Report
- Action Alert: Meet the Commitment for a Social Assistance Review!
- Ontario delivers a ‘hit and miss’ budget
In some places the budget was bold, in some places it merely did what it had to do, and other key areas it fell flat on its face. The big picture task of this budget was to fill the void left by the federal government’s weak response to the recession. Hit and Miss: Ontario’s 2009-10 Budget – PDF, 188 Kb.
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