The media in your community is an important way to get the message out. Local newspapers and radio stations are read and listened to by many people in your community. The stories they cover – and the way those stories are told – not only help to raise public awareness about issues, but can also …
Policy Advocacy
Bold Review Forum Kicks off the Conversation
Crystal Chin knows well the problems associated with the current Social Assistance system. As a young adult with cerebral palsy, Crystal receives benefits from the Ontario Disability Support Program. But these benefits are inadequate, both financially and in terms of other supports. At a public forum hosted by the Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) on …
The Government’s Social Assistance Review Commitment
The Ontario government included the Social Assistance Review in its Poverty Reduction Strategy in Chapter 4: Smarter Government. The commitment reads: “We will undertake a review of social assistance with the goal of removing barriers and increasing opportunity – with a particular focus on people trying to move into employment from social assistance. The review …
The Government’s Poverty Reduction Legislation
On May 6, the Ontario legislature unanimously passed Bill 152: The Poverty Reduction Act.
This legislation is particularly significant because it acknowledges that poverty is not inevitable and that government can and should create policy to reduce poverty.
There are 3 key facets of the legislation.
Bill 152 – The Poverty Reduction Act
On May 6, 2009, all parties in the Ontario Legislature voted unanimously to approve an amended Bill 152: The Poverty Reduction Act, 2009. The Bill was originally introduced by government on February 25, 2009. Two dozen community activists recommended improvements to the legislation over two days of hearings in April. ISAC staff presented a . …
Lobbying Toolkit – Contact the Politicians
The government has made a commitment to poverty reduction. And all of the political parties in the Ontario Legislature voted in favour of poverty reduction legislation. They can now demonstrate their commitment – by setting up a Review process that results in a social assistance system that actually helps to reduce poverty. Tell the decision-makers that the Social …
Social assistance reform vital part of poverty reduction strategy
Ontario finally has a poverty reduction strategy. It’s about time.
For years, anti-poverty activists have been pleading with government to take poverty seriously. Teachers have talked about how poorly children do in school when they are hungry and distracted. Health practitioners have listed the ways poverty makes people sick and costs the health-care system millions of dollars. Low-income people have insisted that they should not be blamed for their poverty, but rather that the root causes of poverty such as low wages, lack of child care, discrimination and low levels of training and education should be addressed.
Breaking the Cycle: Ontario’s First Five-Year Poverty Reduction Strategy
On December 4, 2008, the Ontario government released Breaking the Cycle: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. In this Strategy, the province has committed to reducing child and family poverty in Ontario by 25% in the next five years. The Strategy also outlines a number of steps that the government will take to meet that commitment. The …
Cuts Hurt Kids! Alert
Starting in 2008, the Back-to-school and Winter Clothing allowances provided through OW and ODSP will no longer be paid out in lump sum payments, as the provincial government starts to move benefits for children out of social assistance and into the monthly Ontario Child Benefit program. Families on OW and ODSP are expected to save …
Rethinking the role of Social Assistance within a Poverty Reduction Strategy
It’s time for a paradigm shift in how we think about social assistance, its objectives and its role. Social assistance programs must incorporate an explicit objective to move people out of poverty, by offering meaningful support opportunities for those who can work and ensuring that those who cannot are able to live with dignity.
