Top Stories
Citizens for Public Justice says the federal Finance Committee income inequality report doesn’t go nearly far enough:
http://www.cpj.ca/content/house-commons-income-inequality-report-fails-poor-canadians
- Here’s the Finance Committee’s report:http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/HOC/Committee/412/FINA/Reports/RP6380060/412_FINA_Rpt03_PDF/412_FINA_Rpt03-e.pdf
- Here’s CPJ’s “Making Ends Meet” report: http://www.cpj.ca/making-ends-meet-report
- And here’s Carol Goar’s take on the Finance Committee’s report: “a pathetic piece of work”:http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/12/12/tories_shrug_off_income_equality_goar.html
After the National Council of Welfare was cut by the feds in 2012, and after a crowdfunding campaign to keep the work alive, Caledon Institute releases “Welfare in Canada 2012”:
http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/Detail/?ID=1031
Campaign 2000’s Laurel Rothman on how poverty is killing us: “despite decades of economic growth, benefits have not ‘trickled down’”:
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2013/12/11/how-poverty-is-killing-us/
Take part in Dec 14 events (tomorrow!) across Ontario for a $14 minimum wage:
http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=8e3951a35d48e64f736884ea9&id=a0a91b18df&e=462e04a60b
- Advance coverage of events in Brampton: http://www.bramptonguardian.com/news-story/4267793-minimum-wage-campaign-out-to-earn-public-support-saturday/
Here’s what one community legal clinic – this one in Atikokan – does to assist low income Ontarians:
http://atikokanprogress.ca/2013/12/11/when-making-ends-meet-is-a-struggle-the-legal-clinic-can-often-be-of-help/
Criminal and Legal Aid lawyers reach agreement with Legal Aid Ontario to address “a growing crisis in Ontario arising from Legal Aid Ontario’s modernization efforts and their impact on criminal justice”:
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1634887#ixzz2nH1jTIEI
On Housing and Homelessness Funding
Hamilton to hire auditor to examine discrepancy between province’s and city’s tallies of savings from uploading social services costs:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/city-hires-auditor-to-prove-ontario-wrong-1.2456774
Sault Ste. Marie’s Commissioner of Social Services is “cautiously optimistic” that $42 million for local housing and homelessness services will be made permanent:
http://www.saultstar.com/2013/12/11/homelessness-funding-holding-its-own
Hamilton needs $42 million on its own to respond to the need:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/hamilton-needs-42m-per-year-or-more-will-be-homeless-1.2457429
S-CAP claims partial victory on local housing and homelessness funding:
http://www.thesudburystar.com/2013/12/09/s-cap-claiming-limited-victory
Resources
An excellent new report from John Stapleton – “The Welfareization of Disability” – which is an important contribution to the discussion about social assistance reform in Ontario:
http://metcalffoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Welfareization-of-Disability-Incomes-in-Ontario.pdf
From the Ontario College of Family Physicians, a new clinical tool to help improve health by addressing poverty:
http://yourlegalrights.on.ca/resource/poverty-clinical-tool-primary-care-%E2%80%93-desktop-guide-addressing-poverty
Further to StatsCan’s release on the income share of top earners, Jim Stanford on why capital gains income matters:
http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2013/12/10/capital-gains-and-the-incomes-of-the-wealthy/
Infographic: How rich and poor Canadians spend their money:
https://twitter.com/publicjustice/status/410813033082920960/photo/1
Campaign 2000: Children’s Rights are Human Rights – Watch the Video and Take Action:
http://www.campaign2000.ca/
Around the Province
FoodShare Toronto’s new grocery trucks bring affordable produce to low income neighbourhoods:
http://spacing.ca/toronto/2013/12/11/foodshares-new-food-trucks-aim-give-grocery-stores-food-thought/
Across the Country
Coverage of Caledon’s report on poverty in Nunavut, which recommends moving away from welfare and toward a basic income program:
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674welfare_plays_for_too_prominent_a_role_in_nunavuts_income_security_sys/
More coverage: the welfare system has become a “first resort” in Nunavut:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/report-suggests-guaranteed-minimum-income-in-nunavut-1.2458619
New Nova Scotia Community Services minister says reforming paternalistic social assistance system is a priority:
http://www.capebretonpost.com/News/Local/2013-12-12/article-3541412/N.S.-minister-says-social-assistance-system-is-%26rsquo%3Bpaternalistic%26rsquo%3B/1
Also from NS, hearing the experience of people living in poverty is critical to making proper social assistance reforms:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1173551-bernard-special-needs-allowances-to-be-restored
A Tim Horton’s boss in BC is accused of cheating migrant workers:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tim-hortons-boss-accused-of-cheating-filipino-workers-for-ot-1.2451512
National
Report says funding Jobs Grant program out of Labour Market Agreements would create chaos; instead, fund program out of EI surplus:
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/grant+program+will+create+chaos+report/9272756/story.html
For people with disabilities, access to the labour market continues to be denied:
http://www.benefitscanada.com/benefits/disability-management/disabled-still-face-work-barriers-47144
Part of the Star’s “Without a Safety Net” series: What kind of country do Canadians want?:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/12/10/without_a_safety_net_what_kind_of_country_do_canadians_want.html
Carol Goar on the court case surrounding the ‘60s Scoop:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/12/10/canadas_hidden_tale_of_shame_goar.html
Coupling charitable donations with action to end poverty:
http://blogs.theprovince.com/2013/12/10/trish-garner-we-also-need-to-teach-our-kids-to-be-active-citizens/
Ottawa to appeal court decision on social assistance payments to First Nations:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1173101-ottawa-to-appeal-first-nations-ruling
New poll shows surprising support for a Guaranteed Annual Income (if it replaces existing support programs):
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/2013/12/11/new_poll_shows_surprising_support_for_antipoverty_plan_hepburn.html
- Here are the poll results – including info on perceptions of Aboriginal self-governance:http://www.environicsinstitute.org/uploads/news/tf%202013%20survey%20backgrounder%20-%20responsible%20citizenship%20-%20oct%2031-2013%20eng.pdf
A new group is organizing around a Basic Income Supplement pilot:
http://www.basicincomepilot.ca/about
Thomas Walkom: What would the opposition parties do on social programs?:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/12/10/ndp_liberals_vague_on_fixing_frayed_social_safety_net_walkom.html
International
Worth Reading: The libertarian horror show in the US – from the executive producer of The Wire:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/08/david-simon-capitalism-marx-two-americas-wire
Great infographic on human rights under the UN’s Universal Declaration, for Dec 10:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/10/human-rights-day_n_4420841.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
20 things the poor do every day:
http://benirwin.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/20-things-the-poor-do-every-day/
The UK minister responsible for welfare says local councils should give more support to food banks:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/dec/13/welfare-minister-local-councils-food-banks
“Stealth” welfare measures in the UK autumn statement leave people worse off:
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/george-osborne-introduces-stealth-welfare-6402187
Ireland’s Minister of Social Protection says welfare benefits are not a burden but ensure social solidarity:
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/welfare-recipients-not-a-burden-says-burton-1.1624773
