Social Policy in Ontario

United Way sketches a path to a fairer Toronto

Posted on March 2, 2015 in Equality Debates

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TheStar.com – Opinion/Editorials – The United Way of Toronto offers the city proven tools to stem the income polarization that is destabilizing a proudly liveable city.
Mar 02 2015.  Editorial

The United Way has handed the city a blueprint to make a Toronto a more equitable city – along with a stark warning of what lies ahead if governments, employers, social agencies and citizens don’t pull together to narrow the gap between rich and poor.

Toronto is now the inequality capital of Canada. As countless studies have shown, whole segments of the city’s population – children born in poverty, parents trapped in precarious jobs, laid-off workers, sidelined young people, individuals with mental disabilities – are falling behind.

But there is still time to reverse the trend, says United Way president Susan McIsaac. And Torontonians have the will to do it. Ninety-five per cent of us believe we can make this a fairer community. The majority of Torontonians trust their neighbours, value the opportunity to live a vibrant multicultural community and want to stop its social fabric from unravelling.

Toronto has a mayor and Ontario has a premier who are committed to reducing poverty. There are already effective civic partnerships, programs that have succeeded in lifting disadvantaged families up and initiatives that have begun to revitalize low-income neighbourhoods.

What the United Way does in its latest report, The Opportunity Equation, is lay out a roadmap to turn these individual success stories into a city-wide effort. “We want to mobilize every sector. Working together we can build a city of hope, opportunity and fairness.”

It sets three overarching goals: 1) Give the city’s next generation the tools it needs to succeed; 2) Ensure that work is a path out of poverty; and 3) Share the city’s prosperity more widely.

More importantly, it explains how to reach them. It will take effort, money, commitment and leadership. But the way is clear.

To tackle Toronto’s 22-per-cent youth unemployment rate – which portends a grim future for the city – the United Way calls for a rebalancing of the labour market to make room for young people. This will require educators to equip youth with skills that employers want and companies to provide them with job specific training. It will require stronger partnerships between the city, the province and the community sector. And it will require intervention to equalize opportunity at the earliest stage of life, which means affordable child care and pre-school learning.

To rebuild the link between hard work and economic success, the report proposes the city use the leverage it has create good jobs for people who would otherwise be marginalized. With an annual operating budget of $11.5 billion this year, a 10-year capital works budget of $31.7 billion (and a key role in Metrolinx and the Pan Am/Parapan Games), Toronto has a lot of economic clout. It can use its bargaining power to open doors for disadvantaged residents.

There is already a working example. The United Way forged a community benefits agreement with Metrolinx, the city, the province and community groups to hire young people from low-income neighbourhoods for major transit projects beginning with the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

At the same time, recognizing that precarious work is here to stay, the United Way urge Queen’s Park to tighten its labour standards.

To stem the income polarization that is destabilizing the city, the report called on the city and province to redouble their efforts to build affordable housing, improve public transit, reduce family poverty and revitalize run-down neighbourhoods.

The United Way’s blueprint is far from comprehensive. Its statistics are a decade out of date. And some of its proposals are utopian. But it moves the conversation beyond hand-wringing, highlights interventions that work and taps into the desire of Torontonians to do better.

< http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2015/03/02/united-way-sketches-a-path-to-a-fairer-toronto-editorial.html >

Tags: economy, housing, participation, poverty, standard of living, youth

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