The Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC), the ODSP Action Coalition and the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario created a Workshop Facilitator’s Guide for advocates to use to hold discussions with people on social assistance.
A number of groups across Ontario used the Guide to conduct workshops in their community, and wrote submissions to the Commission based on those workshops.
The submissions are below:
Algoma Community Legal Clinic and Sault Ste. Marie Community Soup Kitchen
Canadian Mental Health Association Grey Bruce Branch
Canadian Mental Health Association Toronto Branch (PDF)Community Advocacy and Legal Centre - Belleville (PDF)
Parkdale Community Legal Services
Regent Park Community Health Centre (PDF)
Poverty Reduction Committee of Sarnia-Lambton and Community Legal Assistance Sarnia (CLAS) (PDF)
Voices for Change – Halton (PDF)
Western Ottawa Community Resource Centre
In addition, ISAC partnered with Ontario Campaign 2000 on the Bringing In Women’s Voices project. Through this project, which was supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, workshops were held with low-income women in 10 communities across Ontario to help ensure that their voices – and especially those of lone mothers – are heard in the discussions around economic security, including in the Social Assistance Review.
You can read the Key Messages from this project here.
Submissions made to the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance are available on the Ministry of Community and Social Services website at: http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/en/mcss/publications/social/socialServices_commssion.aspx.