Posts Tagged ‘homelessness’
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Saving Welfare Incomes and Poverty Profile
Friday, June 29th, 2012
June 29, 2012
Information is under attack in Ottawa… Social Security Statistics: Canada and Provinces, a treasure trove of information on federal, provincial/territorial and municipal government programs, has simply disappeared. In June 2012, Ottawa jettisoned the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) which gathered priceless information on changes experienced by individuals over time, such as movement in and out of poverty… The Caledon Institute of Social Policy will take over the task of gathering and analyzing the welfare and low income data… This vital information will form the first elements of a new Caledon product, the Canada Social Report.
Tags: budget, disabilities, homelessness, housing, pensions, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Delivery System | No Comments »
A rare success in the battle against homelessness
Sunday, May 20th, 2012
May 20 2012
Woodgreen launched an ambitious fundraising campaign and began the makeover. Using private donations, in-kind contributions (flowers, bedding, pots and pans) and every source of government funding available, it transformed the Edwin from a neighbourhood embarrassment into an attractive residence for homeless men over 55. The cost was $3.8 million. It reopened in 2010. It is now a source of local pride, an architectural gem and a safe, impeccably maintained home for the 28 men who live there… A project like the Edwin is not cheap or easy… But the ideological debate is over. It is hard to argue with success.
Tags: homelessness, housing, ideology, mental Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
Ontario budget is a requiem for a caring province
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
Mar 27 2012
Most Ontarians accept the need for belt-tightening. What they don’t accept — at least not yet — is that this province can no longer afford to support the vulnerable. That is the premise on which Tuesday’s budget… is built… It is the small items – cutbacks imposed on those eking out a precarious existence – that raise questions about McGuinty’s values. Although the premier enacted a poverty reduction plan in 2009, he has now effectively renounced it.
Tags: budget, disabilities, featured, Health, homelessness, ideology, mental Health, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Liberals must commit to protect vulnerable
Monday, January 30th, 2012
Jan. 30, 2012
Protecting the vulnerable is what liberalism is all about. In today’s terms, it means improving the level of support to those who must rely on social assistance. It means increasing the inventory of affordable housing for low-income tenants. It means assisting those who face a future perplexed by dementia. It means generating meaningful employment opportunities for the unemployed and under-employed. It means helping those criminal offenders who are candidates for rehabilitation to find a productive and law-abiding future. It means a health-care system that provides quality care to all our citizens…
Tags: disabilities, homelessness, ideology, Indigenous, poverty, standard of living, women, youth
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Mike Del Grande’s candid chat about social programs
Friday, January 13th, 2012
Jan 12 2012
Councillor Mike Del Grande, Mayor Rob Ford’s budget chief… described in blunt terms his “tough love” opposition to some city-funded social programs, including school meals for low-income kids… if you have children you’re responsible for children”… “why is it the state’s responsibility to look after your children?” … “I want to be responsible, I want to be fair, I want to be civic-minded. Yes, there are poor people in the world, okay, but poor people will be with us forever, like it’s been from the moment of time.”
Tags: budget, homelessness, housing, ideology, poverty, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
Celebrate the Canadian way
Monday, November 21st, 2011
Nov. 19, 2011
We should celebrate multiculturalism, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the Canadian values that they represent. The best way to do that is to fix the flaws we see and the new ones that will emerge as we proceed. There are many opportunities: We must resolve fairly the human, political and constitutional issues that plague our relations with First Nations peoples (who are also citizens)… Above all, we must attack the growth and criminalization of poverty and homelessness that are both the cause and consequence of every injustice we see, if we look, around us.
Tags: homelessness, multiculturalism, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Affordable housing deal between Ottawa and Queen’s Park finally signed
Thursday, November 10th, 2011
Nov 08 2011
A new $481 million program to bring new or renovated affordable housing units to about 7,000 Ontario families will only put a dent in the problem, but is nonetheless welcome, a Toronto city councillor said Tuesday… Housing advocates say about 152,000 Ontario households are on waiting lists for affordable housing and an estimated 20 per cent of tenants are paying more than 50 per cent of their income on shelter.
Tags: homelessness, housing, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | 1 Comment »
Poor go to the back of the line for housing
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
Sep 27 2011
Families living in poverty are being bumped down on the first-come-first-served municipal lists by families escaping domestic abuse, who leapfrog to the front of the line because of a provincial policy that gives them priority. Overall, the system is so broken that, according to a new study, up to 70 per cent of applicants just give up when they can’t find housing within four years and drop off the list… fewer than half of the subsidized units in the GTA go to the low-income residents who have signed on to social housing wait lists in good faith. On average, their names will languish there for a minimum of five years before getting a unit.
Tags: budget, homelessness, housing, poverty, tax
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
We need to move away from public housing
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
September 24, 2011
Even those willing to trust the poor with a welfare cheque for other basics do not think it wise to hand them the down payment on a house, or even the monthly rent on a decent apartment. Hence the impulse to furnish housing more directly… if someone else owns your home you gain little from looking after it. Trash it and the state will find you another one; take care of it and you gain nothing… Living on the public dime teaches only helplessness, resentment and anger.
Tags: budget, economy, homelessness, housing, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
What happened to the priorities of Ontarians?
Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
Sep 13 2011
The invisible election, which would make Ontarians feel better if they knew about it, is a discussion among concerned citizens about how to fix what’s broken and strengthen what works… here are some of the ideas bubbling up in the health profession, the universities, the think-tanks, the private sector and the non-profit agencies. They are the result of evidence gathering, analysis, experience and face-to-face consultations. All are fiscally responsible. • Open 50 clinics led by nurse practitioners by 2015… • Move people with severe disabilities out of provincially subsidized homeless shelters…
Tags: disabilities, featured, Health, homelessness, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | 2 Comments »
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