• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Income Security Advocacy Centre

Income Security Advocacy Centre

ISAC works to address issues of income security and poverty in Ontario

  • Our Work
    • Litigation
    • Policy
    • Community Organizing
    • Public Education
  • Publications
  • Updates
  • Campaigns
  • About Us
    • Mission, Vision & Mandate
    • Staff
    • Members
    • Board Members
    • Annual Reports
    • Contact Us
  • Resources
  • Share Your Story
  • Twitter

Media & Policy News: 10 March 2017

March 10, 2017

Top Stories

International Women’s Day – March 8

  • StatsCan on gender pay gap: Women earn 87 cents to men’s dollar:
    http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/business/statistics-canada-gender-pay-gap-1.4014954
  • The gap is larger than the OECD average, and is worse for racialized and Indigenous women: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/gender-pay-gap-a-persistent-issue-in-canada/article34210790/
  • StatsCan study: Women and paid work: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170308/dq170308b-eng.htm
  • Five things you can do right now to help women achieve economic equality: http://behindthenumbers.ca/2017/03/08/five-things-to-achieve-womens-economic-equality/
  • So you want to be a feminist government? Here are three simple steps you can take: http://canadianlabour.ca/news/news-archive/so-you-want-be-feminist-government
  • On this Women’s Day, women should strike – for someone else: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/women-should-strike-for-someone-else/article34232690/?cmpid=PM0317
  • Montreal protesters call for $15 minimum wage on International Women’s Day: http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/protesters-call-for-15-minimum-wage-on-international-women-s-day-1.3315772
  • Iceland becomes first country to make equal pay mandatory: http://www.salon.com/2017/03/08/iceland-becomes-first-country-to-make-equal-pay-mandatory/

Ontario Works and ODSP aren’t enough to live on, Toronto residents say:
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/7167836-ontario-works-and-odsp-aren-t-enough-to-live-on-toronto-residents-say/

  • Sudbury food banks fill the gaps left after social assistance funds run out: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/emergency-food-needs-charities-1.4007397

No firm estimates on costs to raise a family proving a problem for government: Report:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/no-firm-estimates-on-costs-to-raise-a-family-proving-a-problem-for-government-report-1.3313816

  • Campaign2000: New report on the cost of raising children sets agenda for Canada: http://campaign2000.ca/603-2/
  • Canada urged to calculate how much it costs to raise children: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/07/canada-urged-to-calculate-how-much-it-costs-to-raise-children.html

Alternative Federal Budget 2017: High Stakes, Clear Choices:
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/afb2017

  • Federal budget scheduled for March 22: http://www.fin.gc.ca/n17/17-013-eng.asp
  • Why the federal budget should focus on gender equality: http://www.macleans.ca/economy/economicanalysis/its-time-for-a-gender-equality-budget-because-its-2017/

The problem with $47 billion in unpaid taxes: Opinion:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/03/07/the-problem-with-47-billion-in-unpaid-taxes-opinion.html

  • Tax cheats in KPMG Isle of Man avoidance scheme could face criminal charges: Minister: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/opposition-reacts-kpmg-tax-dodge-1.4012519
  • Royal Bank closes 40 accounts following internal Panama Papers probe: http://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/topstories/royal-bank-closes-40-accounts-following-internal-panama-papers-probe/ar-AAo1P9q

Further changes to Canada Pension Plan will have to wait, Bill Morneau says:
https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/03/02/further-changes-to-canada-pension-plan-will-have-to-wait-bill-morneau-says.html

Provincial Liberals kill bill that would have directed child-care cash to non-profit centres:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/02/liberals-kill-bill-that-would-have-directed-child-care-cash-to-non-profit-centres.html

Why did it take this woman an entire year to get paid?
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/07/why-did-it-take-this-woman-an-entire-year-to-get-paid.html

‘Inadequate and unsafe’ Inuit housing needs national fix, say senators:
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/north/senate-housing-report-inuit-nunangat-1.4004487

Region of Peel tax time campaign helps low-income residents boost their benefits:
http://www.peelregion.ca/news/archiveitem.asp?year=2017&month=2&day=2&file=201722.xml

UN Envoy: Housing should be seen as a human right, not a commodity:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/28/luxury-real-estate-housing-crisis-un-homelessness

Ottawa should take a step towards pharmacare: Editorial:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2017/02/27/ottawa-should-take-a-step-towards-pharmacare-editorial.html

Canada’s sharing economy is growing – but should we really call it “sharing”?
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/business/statistics-canada-sharing-economy-1.4004993

Ontario hydro:

  • A look at the long, complicated history of Ontario hydro:
    http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/7165441-a-look-at-the-long-complicated-history-of-ontario-hydro/
  • Premier Wynne Op-Ed: Reducing bills the fairer way forward:
    https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/03/07/reducing-hydro-bills-the-fairer-way-forward-wynne.html
  • Andrea Horwath Op-Ed: NDP hydro plan gives money to citizens, not banks: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/03/08/ndp-hydro-plan-gives-money-to-citizens-not-banks-horwath.html
  • Todd Smith (PC critic) Op-Ed: Fixing hydro costs in Ontario starts with uncovering the details of government deals:
    http://www.insidetoronto.com/opinion-story/7142897-fixing-hydro-costs-in-ontario-starts-with-uncovering-the-details-of-government-deals-pc-party/
  • Peter Tabuns (NDP critic) Op-Ed: Ontario needs to stop the Hydro One sale and reduce our surplus power:
    http://www.insidetoronto.com/opinion-story/7145037-ontario-needs-to-stop-the-hydro-one-sale-and-reduce-our-surplus-power-ndp/
  • Elected Chief Hill says Ontario Fair Hydro Plan a step towards reconciliation: https://tworowtimes.com/news/local/elected-chief-hill-says-ontario-fair-hydro-plan-step-towards-reconcilliation/
  • Opinion: Don’t blame renewable energy for Ontario’s electricity costs:
    http://www.insidetoronto.com/opinion-story/7142799-opinion-don-t-blame-renewable-energy-for-ontario-s-electricity-costs/
  • Opinion: Outrage not justified on Ontario electricity prices:
    http://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/the-next-ontario/outrage-not-justified-on-ontario-electricity-prices
  • Ontario’s budget watchdog to look into hydro relief plan:
    http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/ontario-s-budget-watchdog-to-look-into-hydro-relief-plan-1.3312553
  • Rural hydro customers fear rate cuts won’t be enough:
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/rural-hydro-customers-fear-rate-cuts-wont-be-enough-1.4008113
  • Plan to cut hydro rates is a reasonable response to real pain: Editorial:
    https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2017/03/01/plan-to-cut-hydro-rates-is-a-reasonable-response-to-real-pain-editorial.html
  • United Way of Bruce Grey director praises hydro bill cut: http://www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca/news_item.php?NewsID=91513
  • Wynne’s pocketbook politics may not be enough to power down anger over hydro rates: https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2017/03/03/premier-kathleen-wynnes-pocketbook-politics-may-not-be-enough-to-power-down-anger-over-hydro-rates-cohn.html

 

Ontario

Time for Ontario to ban predatory payday loan operators:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/03/03/time-for-ontario-to-ban-predatory-payday-loan-operators-opinion.html

Ontario funds financial empowerment services and free tax clinics:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/ontario-financial-empowerment-funding-1.4013955

  • Government release: https://news.ontario.ca/mcss/en/2017/03/ontario-supporting-free-tax-clinics-and-financial-coaching.html

Ontario to tackle systemic racism through three-year strategic plan:
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/7177727-ontario-to-tackle-systemic-racism-through-three-year-strategic-plan/

  • Government release: Ontario combatting systemic racism and breaking down barriers: https://news.ontario.ca/ard/en/2017/03/ontario-combatting-systemic-racism-and-breaking-down-barriers.html

Government release: Toronto company convicted of failing to obey orders to pay wages:
https://news.ontario.ca/mol/en/2017/03/toronto-company-convicted-of-failing-to-obey-orders-to-pay-wages.html

Government release: Ontario adds 4600 jobs in February:
https://news.ontario.ca/medg/en/2017/03/ontario-adds-4600-jobs-in-february.html

 

Reports, Events, Campaigns and Other Good Things

Public feedback sought on improving access to justice for families:
https://news.ontario.ca/mag/en/2017/03/improving-access-to-justice-for-families.html

Latest Homeless Hub newsletter:
http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=61233be4a0bcc87d8977b631e&id=32bb1e0f72&e=6da7d6f883

Canadians for Public Justice offering a 2017-2018 paid public justice internship:
http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=a90945b6cbae71eebd4485b0b&id=ab206bc439&e=9276d85427

CLEO’s On the Radar: Hours of work a breaks: Workers’ rights and responsibilities:
http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=acaece29df8d07c95ef84a763&id=2d8da853b2

Stats Can: Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), third quarter 2016:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170308/dq170308e-eng.htm

Stats Can: Population estimates: Subprovincial areas, July 1, 2016:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170308/dq170308d-eng.htm

The problem with that equity vs. equality graphic you’re using:
http://culturalorganizing.org/the-problem-with-that-equity-vs-equality-graphic/

 

Around the Province

Mike Kirlew, the doctor-advocate fighting for better Indigenous health care:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/03/05/mike-kirlew-the-doctor-advocate-fighting-for-better-indigenous-health-care.html

Vale shutting down Stobie Mine in Sudbury:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/vale-shuts-down-stobie-1.4018989

Queen’s University far from Canada’s “best employer”:
http://www.queensjournal.ca/story/2017-03-06/opinions/queens-university-far-from-canadas-best-employer/

Opinion in Brantford and Brant divided on Basic Income: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2017/03/05/opinion-divided-on-basic-income

TTC expands Wheel-Trans to include people with cognitive, sensory, or mental health disabilities:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/07/ttc-expands-wheel-trans-eligibility-to-include-people-with-cognitive-sensory-or-mental-health-disabilities.html

Vulnerable women in Toronto find a safe haven at Sistering:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/05/vulnerable-women-in-toronto-find-a-safe-haven-at-sistering.html

Parkdale food hub pushes back against gentrification:
https://nowtoronto.com/news/parkdale-food-hub-pushes-back-against-gentrification/

Aboriginal elders work with officers to build bridges between Toronto police and people who are homeless:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/walkabout-elder-outreach-1.4012191

Toronto moves forward with plan to target bad landlords:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/city-rental-bylaws-1.4012048?cmp=rss

Can anything be done to cool Toronto’s hot rental market?:
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/toronto/can-anything-be-done-to-cool-toronto-s-hot-rental-market-1.4005863

Circles Canada launches program in Simcoe County:
https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/new-program-launched-to-help-break-the-cycle-of-poverty-551855

Local Poverty Reduction Fund grant used to support the three Simcoe programs:
http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2017/03/03/poverty-reduction-partnership

 

Across the Country

Minister defends no BC welfare rate increase in 10 years:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/minister-defends-no-b-c-welfare-rate-increase-in-10-years-1.4006540

  • Downtown Vancouver rally highlights BC’s decade long $610 rate: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39138775
  • Vancouver rally demands provincial poverty action plan: http://www.inews880.com/syn/112/280876/280876
  • Vancouver’s high end retail shops pushing out long-time residents in Downtown Eastside: http://rabble.ca/news/2017-03-07t000000/vancouvers-high-end-retail-shops-pushing-out-long-time-residents-downtown

$5 transit passes are door-openers for low-income Calgarians, advocate says:
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/calgary/sliding-scale-transit-pass-1.4014180

  • Calgary Sun Columnist says mayoral candidate’s stance on doing “all of these social things” inappropriate: http://www.calgarysun.com/2017/03/06/low-blow-from-chabot

Saskatoon United Way’s Tampon Tuesday program highlights women’s poverty:
http://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/tampon-donations-highlight-female-poverty

Iqaluit soup kitchen, Inclusion Café, in demand, outgrowing space:
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_soup_kitchen_inclusion_cafe_in_demand_outgrowing_space/

Meet the Montreal optician on a radical mission to make glasses affordable for everyone:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/water-on-first-nations-reserves-islam-and-isis-prison-poem-pricey-glasses-heather-o-neill-1.4005479/meet-the-montreal-optician-on-a-radical-mission-to-make-glasses-affordable-for-everyone-1.4005488

Nova Scotia human rights commission dismisses special diet allowance complaint but urges province to take action:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/special-diet-discrimination-social-assistance-1.4009286

Minimum wage consultations coming up in Happy Valley – Goose Bay:
http://www.thelabradorian.ca/news/local/2017/3/6/minimum-wage-consultations-coming-up-in-happy-valley-goose-bay.html

 

National

Here’s why health care funds for First Nations children aren’t being spent:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/first-nations-health-care-1.4007404?cmp=rss

Canadian Human Rights Commission guidelines on accommodating workers with addiction issues:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/01/new-guidelines-help-accommodate-workers-with-addiction-issues.html

Do you have job security while on maternity leave?:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/leadership-lab/do-you-have-job-security-while-on-maternity-leave/article34235116/

Refugee advocates worry Canada will push US for border crackdown:
https://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2017/03/07/refugee-advocates-worry-canada-will-push-us-for-border-crackdown.html

Housing starts, permits rise again as Canadian market stays hot:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/the-market/canada-housing-starts-inch-higher-in-february-cmhc/article34237473/

New home construction picks up, offering latest evidence of economic momentum:
http://www.metronews.ca/news/canada/2017/03/08/pace-of-new-home-construction-picks-up-in-february-especially-in-ontario-cmhc.html

Canadian pension funds can help rebuild US, says Trump transition official:
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/canadian+pension+funds+help+rebuild+says+trump+transition+official/13015234/story.html

 

International

Basic income isn’t just a nice idea. It’s a “birthright”:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/mar/04/basic-income-birthright-eliminating-poverty

Utopian Thinking: The easy way to eradicate poverty:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/06/utopian-thinking-poverty-universal-basic-income

Stealing to eat: London’s hungry criminalised for taking waste food from supermarket bins:
http://www.thelondoneconomic.com/tle-pick/stealing-eat-londons-hungry-criminalised-taking-waste-food-supermarket-bins/03/03/

Women bearing 86% of austerity burden, UK Commons figures reveal:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/09/women-bearing-86-of-austerity-burden-labour-research-reveals

It will never be morally right to pay those with learning disabilities below the minimum wage:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/rosa-monckton-disability-minimum-wage-charity-spectator-a7609231.html

Why new minimum wage hikes in the US are under threat:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/07/opinions/lawsuits-against-minimum-wage-increase-schleifer/

Jason Chaffetz’s iPhone comment revives the ‘poverty is a choice’ argument:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/03/07/jason-chaffetzs-iphone-comment-revives-the-poverty-is-a-choice-argument/?utm_term=.0dbd7c229476

Laziness isn’t why people are poor, and iPhones aren’t why they lack health care:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/03/08/laziness-isnt-why-people-are-poor-and-iphones-arent-why-they-lack-health-care/

Poor people “just don’t want health care,” says US Republican congressman:
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/03/09/poor-people-just-dont-want-health-care-says-republican-congressman.html

Drug screening bill for Nebraska welfare recipients hits resistance:
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/nebraska/articles/2017-03-02/drug-screening-bill-for-welfare-recipients-hits-resistance

Rents and minimum wage income in the US’s largest cities:
http://cepr.net/blogs/cepr-blog/rents-and-minimum-wage-income-in-the-u-s-s-largest-cities

Italy creates new monthly benefit intended to tackle poverty: Five key points:
https://www.thelocal.it/20170309/italy-passes-law-to-tackle-poverty-five-key-points

Barcelona’s lost voices: The rise of homelessness in Barcelona:
http://www.spanishnews.es/20170307-barcelonas-lost-voices-the-rise-of-the-homeless-in-barcelona-5013/

Media and Policy News E-list Archive

Primary Sidebar

Blog sidebar

Subscribe

"*" indicates required fields

Name

Income Security Advocacy Centre

Footer widget

1500 – 55 University Avenue, Toronto, ON M5J 2H7
Tel: (416) 597-5820 • Toll Free: 1-866-245-4072 • Fax: (416) 597-5821

  • Contact

This site contains general legal information for people in Ontario, Canada. It is not intended to be used as legal advice for a specific legal problem. ISAC is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization. ISAC is funded by Legal Aid Ontario (LAO). The funding for this website is also provided by LAO. The views expressed in any of ISAC’s publications (including written, oral, or visual) are the views of the clinic and do not necessarily reflect those of LAO.