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Ontario needs a government that will legislate health, not poverty
Sunday, May 29th, 2022
Low social assistance rates are not just legislated poverty — they are legislated destitution, and legislated poor health. Research has shown poor health is a direct consequence of living in poverty. These policy choices do not save us money — in fact, they provide people like us — legal aid lawyers and doctors — with a steady stream of business, paid for out of other pockets of the public purse. This election, none of the three major parties are offering enough to people living in deep poverty.
Tags: budget, disabilities, featured, Health, housing, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
A new chance for disability reforms
Friday, October 2nd, 2020
An income adequate to keep people out of poverty cannot be understated as a means to social inclusion… For federal and provincial programs to provide adequate income, punitive clawbacks by one program of another’s funds must end… Benefits should stack onto each other not cancel each other out. Income supports should also work in tandem with housing, employment, childcare, and other programs to lift people out of poverty.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, housing, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
Lasting programs needed to cure our social wounds
Thursday, July 9th, 2020
COVID-19 is laying bare the consequences of four decades of neoliberal social policy choices… The poverty, homelessness and precarious work we tolerate and try to bury under inadequate social supports. The entrenched historical structural inequities like racism and sexism we sweep under the carpet but are the driving determinants of who is most negatively impacted by COVID-19 and most other illnesses.
Tags: economy, featured, Health, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context, Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Cuts to legal aid mean worse health for vulnerable people
Tuesday, July 2nd, 2019
Many of my patients have legal needs that require expert intervention to maintain their social and medical stability… for issues ranging from family discord to accessing disability supports… Neighbourhood legal clinics… are now facing crippling funding cuts… When people are denied the ability to advocate for their legal rights, they are left with high levels of stress, in worse poverty, and in increasingly vulnerable situations. This leaves them in poorer health and puts a higher demand on the health system.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
Changing disability definition a dangerous mistake that will harm thousands
Monday, April 8th, 2019
The government is holding consultations on these changes right now. We do not know who has been invited. And we have no commitment that what they are told will be made public… it should leave anyone who cares about those who suffer from arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cancer, mental illness, addictions, and many other conditions that can disable people intermittently, or from which they may recover in a few years, extremely worried.
Tags: disabilities, economy, Health, mental Health, participation, poverty
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
A way to reduce poverty and health costs
Sunday, March 28th, 2010
Mar 28 2010
This government could meet both its goals of reducing poverty and reigning in health-care costs in one go: by increasing the incomes of people living in the most extreme poverty. Poverty is the most powerful determinant of health, and where poverty is reduced, health costs will be reduced as well. Under this government, money is being “saved” by increasing the depth of poverty experienced by the poorest Ontarians, which will worsen their health. This is not a sound economic choice, it is a sad moral one.
Tags: Health, poverty
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
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