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Media & Policy News: 5 May 2017

May 5, 2017

Top Stories

On International Workers Day, migrant workers are still precarious and unsupported:
http://ccrweb.ca/en/international-workers-day-statement-2017

  • Montreal May Day rallies call for a $15 minimum wage, end to capitalism:
    http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/montreal-may-day-rallies-call-for-a-minimum-wage-of-15-end-to-capitalism
  • Ground handlers at Pearson Airport rally for $15 minimum wage: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/airport-workers-pearson-rally-1.4092577

Federal Liberals suspend tax audits of political charities:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/05/04/ottawa-urged-to-give-charities-more-freedom-to-speak-out.html

Case for Canada’s infrastructure bank not compelling, researchers warn:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/case-for-canada-infrastructure-bank-not-compelling-researchers-warn/article34898110/

Aboriginal approach to child welfare brings results:
http://www.lawtimesnews.com/201705016122/focus-on/focus-aboriginal-approach-to-child-welfare-brings-results

Canadian minimum wage workers say they’re surviving rather than living:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadian-minimum-wage-workers-say-they-re-surviving-rather-than-living-1.3391580#_gus&_gucid=&_gup=twitter&_gsc=EI1EGuL

Judge certifies minimum wage lawsuit against Ontario Hockey League:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/judge-certifies-minimum-wage-lawsuit-ontario-hockey-league/

These 3 groups are at high risk of mental health issues in Canada. Here’s why:
http://globalnews.ca/news/3415871/these-3-groups-are-at-high-risk-of-mental-health-issues-in-canada-heres-why/

Ontario gets a C in gender wage equality; Canada ranks low on income inequality, poverty and social cohesion:
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/toronto/ontario-gets-a-c-in-gender-wage-equality-new-report-finds-1.4055873

Parkdale tenants organize rent strike to protest rent increases at MetCap buildings:
http://globalnews.ca/news/3416279/parkdale-rent-strike-metcap-buildings/

  • Toronto tenants threatened with eviction amid rent strike: https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/metcap-tenants-threatened-with-eviction-amid-rent-strike/article34870301/
  • GoFundMe: Support the Parkdale Tenants Strike: https://www.gofundme.com/support-parkdale-tenants

Ontario landlords must pay one month’s rent or offer new unit to tenants they evict for own use:
http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/2017/04/26/ontario-landlords-must-pay-months-rent-find-new-unit.html?cq_ck=1493241245129

Why I love taxes – and so should you:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/05/01/why-i-love-taxes-and-so-should-you-mallick.html

 

Top Stories – Ontario Budget

  • Little help for workers laid out in Ontario budget: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/04/27/little-help-for-workers-laid-out-in-ontario-budget.html
  • Families get free prescription drugs for children, more aid for students:
    http://globalnews.ca/news/3410017/ontario-budget-2017-families-get-free-prescriptions-drugs-for-children-more-aid-for-students/
  • Welfare recipients see boost in asset limits in Ontario budget: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/04/27/welfare-recipients-see-boost-in-asset-limits-in-ontario-budget.html
  • No new cash for fixing social housing stock: https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2017/04/27/no-new-cash-for-fixing-social-housing-stock.html
  • New funding for Toronto transit, social housing left out of Ontario budget: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/new-funding-for-toronto-transit-social-housing-left-out-of-ontario-budget/article34840368/
  • John Tory is right to raise hell with province, but most also find a way to fix social housing: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/05/04/tory-is-right-to-raise-hell-with-the-province-but-he-must-also-find-a-way-to-fix-social-housing.html
  • How Ontario’s proposed pharmacare plan could improve employee benefits: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-pharmacare-1.4090795
  • Winners and losers from the 2017 Ontario budget: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/04/27/winners-and-losers-from-the-2017-ontario-budget.html
  • The 2017 Ontario budget at a glance: http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/the-2017-ontario-budget-at-a-glance

Response and Analysis

  • ISAC: More than 930,000 Ontarians continue to wait for incomes that give health and dignity: Other announcements bring much-needed change: http://incomesecurity.org/public-education/ontario-budget-2017-isac-response-and-analysis/
  • ACORN: http://www.acorncanada.org/ontario-budget-response-acorn-canada-president-marva-burnett
  • Association of Ontario Health Centres: https://www.aohc.org/news/Ontario-government-makes-new-commitment-strengthening-interprofessional-primary-care
  • CCPA: Ontario budget is balanced, but province still in a straightjacket: http://behindthenumbers.ca/2017/04/27/ontario-budget-balanced-province-still-fiscal-straightjacket/
  • CMHA-Ontario: Hopeful of more funding for mental health and addictions: http://ontario.cmha.ca/news/cmha-ontario-remains-hopeful-of-more-funding-for-mental-health-and-addictions/
  • Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada: http://chfcanada.coop/eng/pdf/mediareleases/2017_CHFCanada%20_Release_ONBudget.pdf
  • Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care: Child care can’t wait: http://www.childcareontario.org/child_care_can_t_wait
  • Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association: A missed opportunity: http://qc.onpha.on.ca/2017/04/a-missed-opportunity-for-non-profit-housing-onphas-response-to-the-2017-ontario-budget/
  • OMSSA: http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Info-Alert–OMSSA-s-2017-Provincial-Budget-Report.html?soid=1115209281328&aid=wnQNgDhGijk
  • Ontario Nonprofit Network: https://ontariononprofitnetwork.wildapricot.org/Ontario-Budget-2017-Budget-deficit-done-now-its-time-to-focus-on-the-social-deficit
  • Pooran Law: http://www.pooranlaw.com/ontario-budget-comes-up-short-for-odsp-recipients/
  • Put Food in the Budget: http://www.putfoodinthebudget.ca/99_6_of_the
  • Conference Board of Canada: http://www.conferenceboard.ca/e-library/abstract.aspx?did=8829

Opposition statements

  • Ontario PC Party: http://www.ontariopc.ca/statement_from_ontario_pc_leader_patrick_brown_on_budget_2017
  • Ontario NDP: http://www.ontariondp.ca/ndp_wynne_s_budget_doesn_t_undo_the_damage_she_s_done
  • Ontario Green Party: http://gpo.ca/smoke-and-mirrors-response-2017-ontario-budget

 

Ontario

Ontario’s Fair Housing Plan fails to identify the real offenders:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/ben-myers/ontario-fair-housing-plan_b_16391446.html

  • Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations responds to Ontario’s Fair Housing Plan:
    https://torontotenants.org/news/fmta-responds-ontarios-fair-housing-plan

OFL statement on the 2017 Day of Mourning:
http://ofl.ca/index.php/ofl-statement-2017-day-mourning/

Ontario Electricity Support Program to benefit more consumers, increase credits by 50%:
http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/oesp-to-benefit-more-consumers-increase-credits-by-50-620482563.html

Racial profiling occurs at Ontario airports, malls, and schools, report says:
https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2017/05/03/racial-profiling-in-ontario-not-just-a-policing-issue-report-says.html

$110 million lawsuit targets Ontario wait lists for developmentally delayed adults:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/04/23/110m-lawsuit-targets-ontario-wait-lists-for-developmentally-delayed-adults.html

Ontario vows to act on solitary confinement limits in new report:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/prison-report-calls-for-hard-limits-on-solitary-confinement/article34894282/

  • Government release: Ontario taking action to reform correctional system:
    https://news.ontario.ca/mcscs/en/2017/05/ontario-taking-action-to-reform-correctional-system.html

Government news releases:

  • Providing a helping hand to those caring for loved ones: https://news.ontario.ca/mof/en/2017/04/providing-a-helping-hand-to-those-caring-for-loved-ones.html
  • Ontario boost mental health supports:
    https://news.ontario.ca/maesd/en/2017/05/ontario-boosts-mental-health-supports-for-people-across-the-province.html
  • Ontario’s unemployment rate lowest in 16 years: https://news.ontario.ca/medg/en/2017/05/ontarios-unemployment-rate-lowest-in-16-years.html

 

Reports, Events, Campaigns and Other Good Things

May 11: CLC and OFL host Street Party for a Fair Future:
https://www.facebook.com/events/442605296092889/

June 1: Workers’ Comp is a Right! Injured Workers’ Day Rally and March at Queen’s Park:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1044072909025603/

CLEO’s new “how to” resource: Using social media effectively:
http://yourlegalrights.on.ca/news/cleos-new-how-resource-using-social-media-effectively

Stats Can Study: Young men and women without a high school diploma, 1990 to 2016:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170504/dq170504b-eng.htm

Basic Income: A Critical Reader:
https://hammerhearts.wordpress.com/2017/04/29/basic-income-a-critical-reader/

 

Around the Province

Not tracking mental health and addictions waitlist in the North has the potential to reach a crisis situation:
https://www.baytoday.ca/local-news/not-tracking-mental-health-and-addictions-waitlist-has-the-potential-to-reach-a-crisis-situation-604086

Guelph’s Out of Poverty Society hits the streets:
https://www.guelphmercury.com/news-story/7265038-guelph-s-out-of-poverty-society-hits-the-streets/

Agencies in Orillia keeping an eye on the province’s Basic Income pilot:
http://www.orilliapacket.com/2017/05/03/agencies-keeping-eye-on-basic-income

Leeds Grenville doesn’t get Ontario’s basic income pilot:
http://www.recorder.ca/2017/04/25/area-out-for-basic-income

Ontario running a basic income pilot project:
http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2017/05/01/province-running-a-pilot-project

 

Across the Country

“I’m not a heartless person”: Saskatchewan social services minister says cuts to funerals a tough decision:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/saskatchewan-funeral-budget-poverty-1.4093711

Everyone Counts: St. John’s Point-in-Time Count 2016:
http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=61233be4a0bcc87d8977b631e&id=195ba66d4f&e=6da7d6f883

Nova Scotia NDP unveils plan to raise minimum wage to $15 an hour:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/election-ndp-minimum-wage-raise-gary-burrill-1.4099274

Discussion on poverty reduction being held in Truro:
http://www.trurodaily.com/community/2017/5/3/discussion-on-poverty-reduction-being-held-in-truro.html

Canada Without Poverty workshops coming to Yellowknife this week:
http://www.myyellowknifenow.com/23453/poverty-homelessness-workshops-coming-yellowknife/

Manitoba hints at raising minimum wage after freeze:
http://globalnews.ca/news/3413017/province-hints-at-raising-manitobas-minimum-wage-after-freeze/

  • Manitoba NDP leadership candidate Wab Kinew pledges a $15 minimum wage:
    http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/kinew-promises-15-minimum-wage-by-2024-421364973.html

Quebec’s minimum wage increases to $11.25 an hour:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-minimum-wage-2017-increase-1.4093047

PEI Minister says province cannot adopt universal income pilot without federal dollars:
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/local/2017/4/28/trivers-takes-government-to-task-over-inaction-on-basic-income-p.html

B.C. homeless advocates call for ‘death review panel’ as fatality figures spike:
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/report-homeless-deaths-surge-in-b-c

  • Number of homeless deaths in BC hits record high: Report: http://www.news1130.com/2017/04/26/number-homeless-deaths-bc-hits-record-high-report/
  • Another tent city springs up in Vancouver as homeless rates rise:
    http://m.metronews.ca/#/article/news/vancouver/2017/04/28/another-tent-city-springs-up-in-vancouver.html
  • BC renters form new union to protect against evictions:
    https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-renters-form-new-union-to-protect-from-evictions/article34861030/

Advocacy groups in BC launch constitutional challenge over legal aid:
http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/legalfeeds/3801/advocacy-groups-in-b-c-launch-constitutional-challenge-over-legal-aid.html

  • Single mothers sue BC government over access to legal aid after drastic cuts:
    http://globalnews.ca/news/3411129/single-mothers-sue-b-c-government-over-access-to-legal-aid-after-drastic-cuts/

BC’s inequality gap widens – and shapes the election campaign:
https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bcs-inequality-gap-widens-and-shapes-the-electioncampaign/article34857613/

BC responds to suit over fees to welfare recipients for methadone treatment:
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-responds-to-suit-over-fees-to-welfare-recipients-for-methadone-treatment

BC Greens want to experiment with basic guaranteed income:
http://runnermag.ca/2017/05/b-c-greens-want-to-experiment-with-basic-guaranteed-income/

 

National

The introduction and evolution of child benefits in Canada:
http://behindthenumbers.ca/2017/04/27/introduction-evolution-child-benefits-canada/

Drowning in debt is the new normal in Canada:
http://www.news1130.com/2017/04/24/drowning-debt-new-normal-canada/

Financial outlook for millennials bleak unless the government steps in now:
http://www.bnn.ca/financial-outlook-for-millennials-bleak-unless-the-government-steps-in-now-stats-expert-1.741792

Widow takes feds to appeals tribunal after CPP benefits denied due to her age:
http://www.cp24.com/news/widow-takes-feds-to-appeals-tribunal-after-cpp-benefits-denied-due-to-her-age-1.3391700

Multiculturalism isn’t bad for women – but racism is:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/05/04/multiculturalism-isnt-bad-for-women-but-racism-is-kanji.html

In an aging Canada, women need to save more than men, even if they make less:
http://globalnews.ca/news/3423474/in-an-aging-canada-women-need-to-save-more-than-men-even-if-they-make-less/

 

International

Australia’s government announces crackdown on welfare “cheats”:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/turnbull-government-announces-crackdown-on-welfare-cheats/news-story/346eafe7bed19d0b737caa6e537531d6

  • Welfare cheats to be targeted in upcoming Australia federal budget: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-05/01/c_136248447.htm
  • Australia urged not to target welfare recipients to improve budget woes: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/may/03/acoss-coalition-urged-not-to-hit-welfare-recipients-to-tackle-budget-woes
  • Australia’s cashless welfare card trial costs up to $18.9M, data reveals: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/may/02/cashless-welfare-card-trialled-for-fewer-than-2000-people-at-cost-of-up-to-189m

Lunch-shaming in US schools has no place in the battle against child poverty:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/commentisfree/2017/may/02/lunch-shaming-battle-against-child-poverty

  • Poverty in Seattle is now largely a suburban challenge: http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/poverty-is-now-largely-a-suburban-challenge/
  • It’s time for a US $15 national minimum wage: https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/04/29/its-time-national-15-minimum-wage

UK welfare reform is not only cruel but chaotic. Theresa May must address this:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/commentisfree/2017/may/02/welfare-reform-cruel-chaotic-theresa-may

116-year old Mexican woman denied welfare for being too old:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/116-Year-Old-Woman-Denied-Welfare-for-Being-Too-Old-20170430-0005.html

Irish Minister overstating welfare fraud problem:
http://www.limerickpost.ie/2017/04/28/minister-overstating-welfare-fraud-problem/

Why a $15 minimum wage is good economics:
http://prospect.org/article/why-15-minimum-wage-good-economics

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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.