TORONTO (Nov 29, 2010) – A coalition of poverty reduction advocates urges the Ontario government to redouble its efforts to cut poverty by 25% by 2013 or risk falling short of the goal.

 In a report marking the second anniversary of the province’s poverty reduction promise, the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction says recession has put even more heat on the Ontario government to put its commitment on the front burner.

“The 2008-09 recession hit Ontarians hard, plunging many into poverty and making it more challenging for those already in deep poverty to climb out,” says Greg deGroot-Maggetti, co-chair of 25 in 5.

“The post-recession reality is that many Ontarians need help getting back on their feet, with additional supports, training, education and job opportunities.

The 25 in 5 report, Building a Resilient Ontario, concludes Ontario was smart to stay the course on poverty reduction during the worst of the recession, but the true test of the government’s commitment comes post-recession and into recovery. 

“Some would prey on the public’s fears about slow economic growth, using them as an excuse to walk away from the promise to reduce poverty,” deGroot-Maggetti says. “But periods of slow growth are exactly when governments should redouble their efforts. The province must put poverty reduction on priority status or its 2013 goal won’t be met.”

“Poverty reduction is smart economic and social policy because it’s about building resilient communities that can bounce back from tough times,” says Mike Creek, 25 in 5 co-chair. “As Ontario nears the halfway point of its poverty reduction timeline, the mission is to stay focused on the goal. The clock is ticking.”

 The report urges the provincial government to make a clear and bold investment in its poverty reduction promise in the 2011-12 budget; to review income security programs; to invest in good jobs and core social supports such as early learning, affordable housing, and programs that ensure Ontarians have access to livable incomes.

Click here to download the Building a Resilient Ontario report in PDF format

Click here to download the Building a Resilient Ontario report in Word format

Click here to download this Press Release in PDF format

Given the complexity of the issues and constraints facing government on the Special Diet Allowance/Nutritional Supplement Program, our recommendation is that Ontario integrate its deliberations and a decision about this program into the upcoming Social Assistance Review.

We recognize that staff across your ministries have been working diligently over the past few months to try to create a new Nutritional Supplement Program that falls within the constraints the government is currently facing.

These constraints have been outlined to us as:

• Budget constraints arising from the current government deficit, continuing economic uncertainty, and a projection of rising costs;
• Questions around program accountability, as outlined by the Auditor General in a report of December 2009, and a desire to limit administrative costs;
• Restrictions arising from the decision of the Human Rights Tribunal’s decision of February 2010 and the April 2011 deadline on its extension of the systemic remedy requirements.

We can appreciate that the combination of these factors continues to hamper the straightforward and timely creation of a new Nutritional Supplement Program. Indeed, even evaluating the additional costs associated with therapeutic diets is complex enough to have taken considerable time and engagement in the past. For example, the creation of the Special Diet schedule in 1999, a process that engaged more than 20 dieticians with expertise in more than 15 areas, is said to have taken more than eight months. Likewise, the Special Diets Expert Review Committee, which provided detailed information and recommendations on the additional costs arising from the dietary needs associated with particular medical conditions, was engaged in 2006 but did not submit its report to government until 2008.

Given that your government is poised to announce the terms, duration of, and process for a review of social assistance programs, and given the intricacy of the issues and the constraints currently facing government, we feel that the most prudent and practical way forward is to include deliberations about and a final decision on a Nutritional Supplement Program within the upcoming Social Assistance Review. This would ensure that decisions on the Nutritional Supplement Program are not made in isolation but rather take into account the variety of associated issues surrounding Ontario’s social assistance programs.

Including this issue in the Review is also, in our view, an appropriate decision given the constraints that you have outlined to us, which we discuss below.

Download the entire submission in PDF version here.

On December 4, 2008, it promsied to enact a plan to reduce child and family poverty by 25 per cent by 2013.

Making good on that promise would lift more than 90,000 Ontario children and their families out of poverty within five years.

This is the first in a series of annual reports from 25 in 5 that tracks the Ontario government’s progress on their Poverty Reduction commitment.

Click here to download the entire document in PDF format

Close Encounters of the Thirties Kind, by social policy expert John Stapleton, is a blow-by-blow account of the similarities between Ontario circa 1930s and today.

“Life was definitely harder back in the Great Depression but the similarities between the types of struggles then and now are eerily familiar,” says Stapleton. “Instead of learning from history, our governments are making many of the same mistakes.”

The report finds 11 similarities between the Great Depression and the Crash of 2008:

1. Both downturns were caused by unplanned economic crashes;
2. Hugh stock market upticks followed both crashes, fuelling debate about the length and shape of the downturn;
3. One year after the crash, governments suffered from ‘optimism bias’;
4. The welfare to wage ratio was, and is, at historic lows;
5. Prior to each crash, the Ontario government ordered a study of social needs – the 1930s reports helped shape future social service programs;
6. Both Ontario governments championed the value of community mobilization;
7. The impulse to blame the victims of recession was equally strong;
8. Immediately following the crash, the federal King government was as silent on the need for help then and as the federal Harper government is now;
9. Workfare existed then and now, but rarely at any other time in Ontario history;
10. The provinces were scared, running deficits and struggling to pay the bills;
11. Then, as now, cash-strapped municipalities bore the brunt of demand from desperate citizens without adequate help from senior governments.

The report, available here in PDF format, calls on senior governments to take the lessons of the 1930s and act swiftly to minimize Ontario’s current recession.

The strategy provides a framework for addressing the needs of those most vulnerable and those at risk of falling into poverty, while promoting the prosperity necessary for Nova Scotia to grow.

The vision for 2020: to break the cycle of poverty by creating opportunities for all Nova Scotians to participate in the prosperity of the province and enjoy a better standard of living.

The four main goals of the strategy are:

• Enable and reward work
• Improve supports for those in need
• Focus on our children
• Collaborate and coordinate

Download the government strategy in PDF – Nova Scotia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy: Preventing Poverty, Promoting Prosperity or visit their site.

Hit and Miss: Ontario’s 2009-10 Budget - PDF, 188 Kb.

The story of how we got into this global economic mess, and how we will get out, is inextricably bound up with the story of rising income inequality. After all, it was triggered by the interlocking fates of subprime mortgage holders – people who didn’t have enough money to get a regular mortgage – and their lenders. Every part of the ensuing cascade of calamity was linked to the pursuit of ever greater returns, a promise of prosperity fuelled by easy money and reckless bets.

Tax cuts are the worst possible economic stimulus with Bank of Canada interest rates heading to zero, and may well have a negative effect on the economy, says a report released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).