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Income Security Advocacy Centre

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

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Media & Policy News: 29 May 2015

May 29, 2015

Top Stories

Star editorial: The province must do more to protect those in precarious work:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2015/05/25/governments-must-protect-those-in-precarious-jobs-editorial.html

  • Ontario employers get slap on the wrist for mistreating employees:  http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05/24/ontario-employers-get-slap-on-wrist-for-mistreating-employees.html 

Meanwhile, federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver told the G7 that relaxing labour laws would spur economic growth:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/05/28/joe-oliver-labour-reform-comments_n_7463424.html

Hamilton social services manager says problems with OW/ODSP SAMS system will last until March:
http://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/5643911-ontario-s-242-million-sams-problem-could-persist-until-next-march/

Harper government signals willingness to consult on “voluntary” CPP expansion ideas:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/05/26/conservatives-willing-to-consult-on-voluntary-cpp-expansion.html

  • Hébert: A once-rejected proposal suddenly becomes a rabbit:http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/05/27/rejected-ideas-new-again-for-conservatives-hbert.html
  • Proposal sets up a showdown with Ontario:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservative-pension-promise-sets-up-showdown-with-ontario/article24626335/ 

Justice Murray Sinclair on the need for a Canadian conversation about the legacy of residential schools:
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/canadians-need-conversation-about-residential-schools-murray-sinclair

Landmark human rights ruling highlights systemic problems with temporary foreign worker program:
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/temporary-foreign-worker-program-under-fire-after-landmark-200k-human-rights-ruling

  • Star story: http://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2015/05/27/migrant-workers-awarded-record-220000-in-sex-harassment-case.html
  • Press release from Unifor and the Human Rights Legal Support Centre:http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1544179/landmark-human-rights-ruling-highlights-systemic-abuse-of-temporary-foreign-workers 

CPJ report says federal tax revenue is at lowest level in 70 years – $45 billion and 30,000 jobs lost:
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Daphne+Bramham+What+willing+society+want/11084536/story.html#ixzz3bNIyRMrY

Speculation that federal election writ may be dropped in August, giving us a 90 day campaign:
http://www.hilltimes.com/news/news/2015/05/26/speculation-increasing-that-2015-election-writ-will-be-dropped-in-august/42309

Reports, Events, and Other Good Stuff

Sign up for an ISAC co-sponsored webinar June 18: Migrant workers and access to social benefits in Ontario:
http://yourlegalrights.on.ca/webinar/migrant-workers-and-access-social-benefits-ontario

Injured Workers Day Rally this Monday, June 1, 11am, Queen’s Park:
https://www.facebook.com/events/908903835834572/

  • And after the rally, OFL / ONIWIG conference on injured workers and WSIB issues: http://injuredworkersonline.org/ofl-oniwg-june-1-2-conference-agenda-released/ 

Don’t forget the consultations on Ontario’s Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy – deadline July 3:
http://news.ontario.ca/mah/en/2015/04/ontario-launches-public-consultations-to-improve-access-to-affordable-housing.html

Latest report from the Renewing Canada’s Social Architecture project – “Disability Supports: Missing on the Policy Radar”:
http://social-architecture.ca/disability-supports/

Pivot Legal stands with people who are homeless in Abbotsford to call for a National Housing Strategy:
http://www.pivotlegal.org/standing_with_abbotsford_s_homeless

Around the Province

Dufferin County working to draft  its own Poverty Reduction Strategy:
http://www.orangeville.com/news-story/5646285-county-to-draft-a-made-in-dufferin-poverty-reduction-strategy/

St. Michael’s Hospital health team in Toronto offers a prescription for poverty:
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/05/23/st-michaels-hospital-health-team-offers-prescription-for-poverty.html

Former Spec editor says sympathy can lead to marginalization; “Empathy is what prompts social change”:
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5643976-empathy-not-sympathy-needed-to-fight-poverty-robbins/

TVO on the road: Community members confront racist First Nations stereotypes in Thunder Bay:
http://theagenda.tvo.org/blog/agenda-blogs/tvo-road-community-members-confront-first-nations-stereotypes-thunder-bay

City of London workers on strike: http://www.lfpress.com/2015/05/23/750-city-of-london-inside-workers-to-hit-the-picket-lines-monday

  • Some implications for people receiving OW and other benefits: http://www.lfpress.com/2015/05/25/cheque-recipients-worried-ticket-payers-inconvenienced

As Regent Park revitalization progresses, things are worse for people now than before:
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/05/24/things-worse-for-poor-living-in-regent-park

Across the Country

Living on the edge by being house rich and cash poor:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/real-estate-woes-the-secret-lives-of-house-poor-canadians-1.3086793

Saskatchewan Grade 9 student says thinking upstream will help treat the causes of poverty:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/life/time+treat+underlying+causes+poverty/11080184/story.html

BC woman with cancer applies for medical EI but told to go to welfare instead:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/infuriating-b-c-cancer-patient-speaks-out-about-fight-for-ei-1.2389832

Manitoba must provide adequate funding for home care for people with disabilities:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/province-must-spend-more-to-show-manitobans-with-disabilities-where-the-heart-is-at-home-1.3085674

Anti-poverty summit in Nelson, BC prioritizes issues of housing and mental health services:
http://www.nelsonstar.com/news/304935961.html

National

Employment Insurance claims up in March, led by Alberta:
http://www.hrreporter.com/articleview/24416-number-of-canadians-getting-employment-insurance-up-in-march-led-by-alberta

Lower courts push back on Victims’ Surcharge for low-income offenders, despite higher court precedents:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/judges-pushing-back-against-victims-fund-penalties-for-poor-offenders/article24607073/

Feds defend decision to end funding for on-reserve First Nations social assistance program delivery:
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2015/05/26/feds-defend-first-nations-funding-cut

Aboriginal women now make up 1/3 of women’s prison population:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/aboriginal-women-now-make-up-one-third-of-canadian-female-prison-population-1.3089050?cmp=rss

International

Study shows those countries with generous welfare programs have greater “work ethic”:
http://www.trueactivist.com/surprising-study-shows-people-have-stronger-work-ethic-in-countries-with-generous-welfare-system/

David Cameron’s government proposes reduction in welfare cap during Queen’s Speech:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-27/cameron-sets-out-planned-u-k-welfare-cuts-in-queen-s-speech

  • Northern Ireland votes to reject welfare cuts already coming down from London: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-32894371
  • Analysis shows welfare cuts will either make people poorer or less likely to work: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-tories-welfare-cuts-will-either-make-people-poorer-or-less-likely-to-work-ifs-says-10276636.html 

“The welfare state saved me. To need it is not a moral failure”:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/25/welfare-state-moral-failure-tory-poverty-individial-state?CMP=share_btn_tw

Michigan votes to suspend benefits for parents who’s children skip school:
http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2015/05/kids_who_miss_school_could_los.html

Survey shows 2.5 million Australians living below the poverty line:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-27/millions-of-australians-below-poverty-line-salvation-army/6500452

Auckland Action Against Poverty says New Zealand welfare reforms will hurt families:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Protesters-Slam-New-Zealand-Welfare-Reform-as-Meaningless-20150523-0018.html

Sleep is a social justice issue: The connection between sleep, work, and poverty:
http://www.fastcompany.com/3043128/sleep-inequality

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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.