Income Security Advocacy Centre
ISAC works to address issues of income security and poverty in Ontario
Whether he meant to or not, the auditor general’s December 7th analysis of OW/ODSP let a dysfunctional social assistance system off the hook, instead laying blame with the people who have nowhere else to turn to for basic support.
The ensuing debate risks losing sight of the simple fact that when it comes to social assistance, it’s not the people who are the problem.
Laurie Monsebraaten The Toronto Star Ontario has appointed the head of Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank to head a panel of anti-poverty advocates to advise the government on a long-awaited review of its welfare system,…
Bronwen Sims calls it Ontario’s “work disincentive program.” The 35-year-old woman, who suffers from bipolar disorder and fibromyalgia, has been living in poverty on Ontario’s disability support program for the past 10 years while doctors help her battle alcoholism, depression and severe panic attacks related to her mental illness.
Times of crisis are also times for tough decisions, as Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said in his economic statement last week. The province has already made the tough but smart decision to stick with its economic stimulus plan. Standing firm on the commitment to early learning is another tough but smart choice.
The next bold move the government must make is to stick to its guns on a comprehensive review of Ontario’s broken social assistance system.
On June 23, 2009, the Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) held a forum on the government’s upcoming review of the provincial social assistance system. This review is part of Ontario’s new Poverty Reduction Strategy and was restated in the 2009 budget.
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 –…
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…
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…
The McGuinty government’s budget has taken important steps to reduce poverty in Ontario. However, fundamental reform of social assistance remains a necessity, particularly as growing numbers of Ontarians lose their jobs.
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…
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.
In December 2004, Deb Matthews, the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Community and Social Services, released her long-awaited report on social assistance with several recommendations for improving the system in ways that actually work…