Social Policy in Ontario

Quebec better at keeping poor families afloat

Posted on October 12, 2016 in Child & Family Delivery System

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TheStar.com – Opinion/Readers’ Letters – Re: Vicious circle of cuts keeps families apart, CAS warns, Oct. 9
Oct. 12, 2016.   Dr. Carole P. O’Beirne

Vicious circle of cuts keeps families apart, CAS warns, Oct. 9

The slashing of Ontario Works or disability benefits does indeed force parents into deeper poverty and can limit their chances to get their kids back if they have faced the deep misfortune of having them apprehended.

I have the privilege of practising as a pediatrician in both Montreal and Toronto. The medicine is very similar and people are equally hardworking and smart. However, the Quebec government’s plan of providing affordable daycare to as many families as possible ($7 a day) and its banks’ job of helping to control the housing market means families actually seem to stay afloat better and, if they are sent out to sea, they seem better able to recover.

Margaret Mead wrote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Imagine what would take place if large numbers of Ontarians demanded a kinder and more just system of fair and stable employment, more affordable housing options and an affordable daycare system?

The time for citizens to demand positive change is now.

Dr. Carole P. O’Beirne, Montreal

< https://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2016/10/12/quebec-better-at-keeping-poor-families-afloat.html >

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The Vicious Circle
By PHRC | Published: NOVEMBER 10, 2012
The Vicious Circle, A Report from Advancing the Rights of Poor Women, A Project of the Poverty and Human Rights Centre, Gwen Brodsky, Melina Buckley, Shelagh Day and Sharon McIvor, 2010.

See :  “The Vicious Circle Report”: < http://povertyandhumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/The-Vicious-Circle-Report.pdf >

Tags: child care, disabilities, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, participation, poverty, youth

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