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The disabled are the forgotten poor
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Jul 07 2010
[a} quarter of a million disabled Ontarians who live in government-imposed poverty. They receive welfare under the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), but it doesn’t bring them up to the poverty line. It leaves a single person 30 per cent below the low-income cut-off set by Statistics Canada; a couple 10 per cent below; and a couple with a child 5 per cent short. The government’s solution: employment incentives. The trouble is, the vast majority of these people cannot work full-time. Many can’t work at all.
Tags: disabilities, poverty
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Housing or just castles in the air?
Friday, July 2nd, 2010
Jul 02 2010
For most of us, Canada is good country to call home. But for approximately 300,000 people, it is a country where they have no home. Some live in homeless shelters. Some spend their nights in parks, ravines, back alleys or on the streets. Some couch surf until their friends’ and relatives’ patience runs out. Governments have known about this problem for two decades. They’ve conducted studies, made promises, set targets — and missed most of them.
Tags: homelessness, housing, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Did ‘tough love’ cut poverty rate?
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
Jun 30 2010
Richards claimed the dramatic drop in the poverty rate among single-parent families over the past decade proves that the “tough love” policies imposed on welfare recipients by the governments of Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia in the mid-1990s worked… Yalnizyan countered that the three principal causes of the drop in the lone-parent poverty rate were strong economic growth, the introduction of the National Child Benefit and a buoyant labour market. “When there are jobs, people take them.”
Tags: ideology, poverty
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Skills training, good jobs and growth
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Jun 28 2010
They asked the International Labour Organization (ILO), a Geneva-based United Nations agency, to develop a training strategy for consideration at their June 27 G20 summit in Toronto. The 34-page document, entitled A Skilled Workforce for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth, was presented at yesterday’s meeting. It was far-sighted, intelligent and practical. It gave G20 leaders a way to put decent jobs at the heart of the post-recession economy.
Tags: economy, globalization, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
A province where everyone can live in dignity
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
Jun 23 2010
The Social Assistance Review Advisory Council clearly exceeded its mandate. It gave the minister a long-term plan to make Ontario a province where disadvantaged citizens can live in dignity and lift themselves out of poverty… Judging from Meilleur’s initial response to the panel’s report, Ontarians can expect more procrastination and dithering… “These are complex issues that require careful consideration,” Meilleur added. She’s been saying that since 2008. It has become evident that what’s missing is the will, not the means, to proceed.
Tags: featured, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
The costs and benefits of greater accessibility
Friday, June 18th, 2010
Jun 18 2010
“What we have learned,” the authors say, “leads us to conclude that every day that people who want to learn cannot, that people who want to work do not, and businesses that wish to serve these markets must wait to see what will be required, Ontario is losing extremely valuable contributions from its citizens.
Tags: disabilities, economy, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Blue collar workers left behind
Friday, June 11th, 2010
Jun 11 2010
Canadians will never know what happened to most of the 575,000 manufacturing workers who lost their jobs in the recession and the economic shake-out that preceded it. They’ll hear about the lucky minority that is rehired… According to Statistics Canada, the recession ended eight months ago. According to the government, the economy is likely to grow by 2.6 per cent this year and 3.2 per cent next year. According to Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, they’re all making profits. The economy is recovering. Its victims aren’t.
Tags: globalization, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Listening but only in two official languages [legal aid]
Monday, June 7th, 2010
Jun 07 2010
Nationally, the province is a leader. It established the first legal aid program in the country in 1951. It still provides clients with more financial support than any other province. And it has a well-developed network of private lawyers who do pro bono work for clients who can’t afford to pay. But half of lower-income Ontarians with non-criminal legal problems still don’t get the help they need. And those who do are often given a restricted range of choices that don’t meet their needs.
Tags: participation, rights
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Lawyers reach out to those who can’t afford them
Friday, June 4th, 2010
Jun 04 2010
The results confirmed what legal aid workers and anti-poverty activists have long said: The problem is big, it is pervasive and it is life-disrupting. One out of three lower-income Ontarians is grappling with a non-criminal legal problem (such as child custody, wrongful dismissal, personal bankruptcy, eviction or denial of benefits) at any given time. The poorer people are, the more complex their needs… It gave researchers a platform on which to build. And it gave the province a strong prod to do better.
Tags: participation, rights
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
We will all benefit from further business tax reforms
Monday, May 31st, 2010
May 31, 2010
The beneficiaries of business tax reform have not been the corporations themselves, as most would conjecture. Corporations don’t pay taxes – people do. Given investors can put their money into projects anywhere around the world, business taxes must ultimately be shifted onto immobile factors of production, who are primarily the working folks.
Tags: economy, globalization, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
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