Income Security Advocacy Centre

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

Media & Policy News: 18 May 2018

Ontario Election 2018 – Week Two

Top Stories

NDP overtakes Liberals as the “anti-Ford” party, according to Ipsos poll:
https://globalnews.ca/news/4208537/ontario-election-ndp-liberals-anti-ford/

The NDP is up in the polls… and Doug Ford has noticed:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/campaigner-ndp-polls-1.4657967

Ford faces tough questions as NDP asks for probe into ex-PC candidate’s alleged role in data breach:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ford-brampton-east-data-breach-investigation-1.4667864

A defiant Wynne says the election campaign’s volatility makes room for any possibility:
https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2018/05/17/a-defiant-wynne-says-the-election-campaigns-volatility-makes-room-for-any-possibility.html

Basic income, road tolls for transit part of Ontario Green Party’s election platform:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-green-party-election-platform-1.4661664?cmp=rss

More than half of NDP candidates are women, a first for Ontario political parties:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ndp-liberals-pcs-women-election-voters-1.4661203

PCs promise $98 million per year to help low income seniors get dental care:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ford-dental-seniors-income-low-1.4660745

 

Election candidates dividing minimum wage earners:
https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/election-candidates-dividing-minimum-wage-earners-1.3931312

Universal child care is possible; Ontario can’t work without it:
https://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/8605240-universal-child-care-is-possible-ontario-can-t-work-without-it/

CNIB Ontario calls on political parties to update Assistive Devices Program:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/cnib-update-to-assistive-devices-program-1.4657166

Affordable housing advocates call for construction of 69,000 new units across Ontario:
https://www.cp24.com/news/affordable-housing-advocates-call-for-construction-of-69-000-new-units-across-ontario-1.3933896

Affordable housing a personal election issue for Ottawa tenants facing eviction:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/housing-cost-election-heron-gate-ottawa-south-1.4665568

CBC Sudbury election forum: Struggling with student debt and finding full-time work “become part of our culture and our generation”:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/provincial-election-forum-young-people-student-debt-1.4661615

How will Ontario’s parties tackle the provincial deficit?:
https://globalnews.ca/news/4206444/ontario-election-provincial-deficit/

Op-Ed: Ford knows to keep secret where he’ll swing his axe:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2018/05/09/ford-knows-to-keep-secret-where-hell-swing-his-axe.html

Ontario’s hydro power and politics:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2018/05/04/ontarios-hydro-power-and-politics.html

Premier’s bane: A folk history of electricity policy in Ontario:
http://www.energyregulationquarterly.ca/articles/premiers-bane-a-folk-history-of-electricity-policy-in-ontario#sthash.2KCoxtJQ.A1IzB0xT.dpbs

Candidate’s 15-year fight with WSIB after workplace injury part of his decision to run provincially:
https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/candidates-15-year-fight-with-wsib-after-workplace-injury-part-of-his-decision-to-run-provincially-922520

The upside down world of Ontario politics and economics 2018:
https://tcnorris.blogspot.ca/2018/05/the-upside-down-world-of-ontario.html?m=1

No plans to scrap basic income pilot after election, Thunder Bay-area candidates say:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/thunder-bay-basic-income-election-1.4666754

How Ontarians are being targeted on Facebook with the provincial election under way:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-how-ontarians-are-being-targeted-on-facebook-with-the-provincial/

Ten ridings to watch:
https://globalnews.ca/news/4205316/ontario-election-2018-10-ridings-to-watch/

 

Resources

Check ISAC’s growing list of election materials from various groups and organizations:
https://incomesecurity.org/policy-advocacy/election-2018-tools-that-you-can-use/

Ontario Thrive: Asking parties and candidates for measurable commitments on gender equity:
https://www.ontariothrive.ca/

Watch the Province-Wide Parties Debate on Disability and Accessibility:
https://ryecast.ryerson.ca/72/Watch/12595.aspx

CCPA: Are middle class tax promises a false hope?
http://behindthenumbers.ca/2018/05/11/are-tax-promises-false-hope/

Ontario Poll Tracker – CBC’s aggregate of all polls to date:
https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/onvotes/poll-tracker/

Ontario election guide: What you need to know before you vote:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-election-guide/

Here’s where Ontario’s party leaders stand on the issues:
https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2018/05/11/where-do-ontarios-party-leaders-stand-on-the-issues.html

 

Other Top Stories

Demonizing social assistance tenants wrong:
http://www.nugget.ca/2018/05/15/demonizing-social-assistance-tenants-wrong

BC to reimburse docked income assistance to thousands of recipients:
https://www.theprogress.com/news/b-c-to-reimburse-docked-income-assistance-to-thousands-of-recipients/

Canada’s taxman shouldn’t decide who has a disability:
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/canadas-taxman-shouldnt-decide-who-has-a-disability-477595303.html

Ottawa cracking down on employers who abuse temporary foreign workers program:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/05/13/ottawa-cracking-down-on-employers-who-abuse-temporary-foreign-workers-program.html

United Nations review tells Canada to step up to end poverty, homelessness, and inequality:
https://www.wireservice.ca/index.php?module=News&func=display&sid=23321

This great-grandmother was forced from her home of 31 years. Hers is the face of a broken public housing system:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/05/17/this-great-grandmother-was-forced-from-her-home-of-31-years-hers-is-the-the-face-of-a-broken-system.html

How poverty and underfunding land Indigenous kids in care:
https://thetyee.ca/News/2018/05/14/Indigenous-Kids-Poverty-Care/

Workplaces taking cues from employees to become more Indigenous friendly:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/article-workplaces-taking-cues-from-employees-to-become-more-indigenous/

Migrant caregivers make Mother’s Day plea for permanent residency:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/migrant-caregivers-permanent-residency-1.4661382

Wages rise as job numbers see slight decline, unemployment rate sticks at 5.8%:
https://www.thestar.com/business/2018/05/11/wages-rise-as-job-numbers-see-slight-decline-unemployment-rate-sticks-at-58.html

A looming housing affordability crisis is poised to hit seniors across Canada:
http://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/mortgages-real-estate/housing-crisis-to-hit-canadian-seniors-as-retirement-homes-fail-to-keep-up-with-demand

Policy Options: Homelessness: Criminalization or social integration?:
http://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/may-2018/homelessness-criminalization-or-social-integration/

 

Ontario

After six-month wait, WSIB cheques land on doorstep of sick Ontario worker:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/wsib-compensation-benzene-cheques-arrive-1.4658131?cmp=FB_Post_News

Delivery driver wants Domino’s to pay up after years of making less than minimum wage:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/delivery-driver-wants-dominos-to-pay-up-1.4655451

Three Ontario residents charged with allegedly exploiting, trafficking migrant workers:
https://globalnews.ca/news/4212176/ontario-migrant-workers-charged/

 

Reports, Events, Campaigns and Other Good Things

Get to KNOW Poverty: The 2018 poverty studies summer institute:
http://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/get-to-know-poverty-the-2018-poverty-studies-summer-institute

Stats Can Study: Work activity of families with children in Canada, 2005 to 2015:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/180515/dq180515a-eng.htm

Stats Can Study: The economic well-being of women in Canada, 2015:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/180516/dq180516b-eng.htm

Stats Can Blog: Sending money home:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/180516/dq180516e-eng.htm?CMP=mstatcan

Stats Can: Consumer Price Index, April 2018:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/180518/dq180518a-eng.htm?CMP=mstatcan

 

Around the Province

“I just can’t afford it”: Low-income seniors struggle to find dental care, face 2-year wait for city clinics:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/lowincome-seniors-dental-care-toronto-1.4657320

Northern Ontario First Nations are battling an oral health crisis:
https://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/northern-ontario-first-nations-are-battling-an-oral-health-crisis

‘We gave up a lot:’ Chief of most northern Ontario community hates handouts:
http://www.squamishchief.com/we-gave-up-a-lot-chief-of-most-northern-ontario-community-hates-handouts-1.23299826

Don Mills temporary homeless shelter sparks local outcry, which others are calling ‘NIMBYism’:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/05/12/don-mills-temporary-homeless-shelter-sparks-local-outcry-which-others-are-calling-nimbyism.html

Bedbugs lead to legal woes for Hamilton Syrian refugee families:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/05/12/syrian-refugees-who-fled-bedbug-infested-apartments-face-lawsuit-by-landlord.html

Hamilton man uses basic income floor to stay active in community:
http://lindsayadvocate.ca/hamilton-man-uses-basic-income-floor-to-stay-active-in-community/

Hamilton’s Stoney Creek Towers rent strikers gird for long haul:
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8611786-stoney-creek-towers-rent-strikers-gird-for-long-haul/

“An absurd system”: Ottawa woman sounds off on $5K hearing aids:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/hearing-aids-ottawa-expensive-1.4524514

New TTC and GO stations difficult, dangerous for people with disabilities, advocacy group says in new video:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/05/15/new-ttc-and-go-stations-difficult-dangerous-for-people-with-disabilities-advocacy-group-says-in-new-video.html

New report looks to ease rental crisis by allowing Peterborough homeowners to build suites:
https://globalnews.ca/news/4210616/new-report-ease-peterborough-housing-crisis-homeowners-build-suites/

 

Across the Country

Expensive dental problems are holding back people in addiction recovery in Vancouver:
https://www.thestar.com/vancouver/2018/05/13/expensive-dental-problems-are-holding-back-people-in-addiction-recovery.html

Bill 6 looks to broaden leave entitlements in British Columbia:
https://www.globalworkplaceinsider.com/2018/05/bill-6-looks-to-broaden-leave-entitlements-in-british-columbia/?utm_source=Mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=View-Original

“I just want a job”: Older and out of work in Calgary:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-calgary-older-workers-unemployed-econony-recovery-1.4659268

Vibrant Communities partner with Calgary social-media influencers to share realities of poverty:
https://www.thestar.com/calgary/2018/05/17/vibrant-communities-partners-with-social-media-influencers-to-share-realities-of-poverty.html

Nova Scotia advocates say now is the time for a universal basic income:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/05/16/group-wants-governments-to-consider-basic-personal-income-in-nova-scotia.html

Local Halifax group wants study on implementing guaranteed basic income:
https://www.halifaxtoday.ca/local-news/local-group-wants-study-on-implementing-guaranteed-basic-income-924609

NFLD Federation of Labour rallies In support Of $15 minimum wage:
http://vocm.com/news/nl-federation-of-labour-rallies-in-support-of-15-minimum-wage/

 

National

Duclos hosts OECD meeting to swap tips on keeping social anxiety at bay:
http://toronto.citynews.ca/2018/05/12/duclos-hosts-oecd-meeting-to-swap-tips-on-keeping-social-anxiety-at-bay/

Canadian wage growth hits highest level in 6 years as jobless rate stays at record lows:
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/05/11/wage-growth-canada-2018_a_23432470/?ncid=fcbklnkcahpmg00000001

1/5 of Canada’s working baby boomers have nothing saved for retirement, according to survey:
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/05/11/a-fifth-of-working-baby-boomers-have-no-retirement-savings_a_23431846/

Letter: Additional pension benefits do not cover added taxes:
https://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/opinion/letter-additional-pension-benefits-do-not-cover-added-taxes/

We finally know what Uber drivers make, and it’s about minimum wage:
https://globalnews.ca/news/4213667/uber-drivers-minimum-wage-gig-economy/

Statistics Canada begins testing non-binary gender options in surveys:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-statistics-canada-begins-testing-non-binary-gender-options-in-surveys/

Indefinite solitary confinement is torture, say civil liberties groups:
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/indefinite-solitary-confinement-is-torture-say-civil-liberties-groups-1.3928713

 

International

Historically, income inequality is known as a destroyer of civilizations:
https://www.themaven.net/theintellectualist/news/historically-income-inequality-is-known-as-a-destroyer-of-civilizations-FzQE5fJpcE623sqPAuPAlA/?full=1

Almost half of US families can’t afford basics like rent and food:
http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/17/news/economy/us-middle-class-basics-study/index.html

The myth of the ‘welfare queen’ endures, and children pay the price:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/glanton/ct-met-dahleen-glanton-welfare-queen-20180516-story.html

After 50 years, protesters revive Martin Luther King Jr’s fight against poverty:
https://www.voanews.com/a/protesters-revive-martin-luther-king-jr-fight-poverty-poor-peoples-campaign/4394155.html

As the Poor People’s Campaign grows, fourteen people spend night in jail to raise awareness about poverty:
http://fox59.com/2018/05/15/14-people-spend-the-night-in-jail-to-raise-awareness-about-poverty-issues/

New research indicates that minimum wage increases appear to benefit all low-income U.S. workers over time:
http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/value-added/new-research-indicates-that-minimum-wage-increases-appear-to-benefit-all-low-income-u-s-workers-over-time/

Finland decides not to expand basic income trial:
https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/finland-decides-not-to-expand-basic-income-trial/

In poverty in New Zealand: We skip meals so our kids can eat:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/103980139/in-poverty-we-skip-meals-so-our-kids-can-eat

New Zealand Budget 2018: Moves to end child poverty welcomed, but advocates say beneficiaries let down:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12053547

New Zealand workers’ rights activist appalled at jobs advertised for less than minimum wage:
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/05/workers-rights-activist-appalled-at-jobs-advertised-for-less-than-minimum-wage.html

Australia’s cashless welfare card causing ‘horrible’ financial stress, more dependence, participants say:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-15/cashless-welfare-card-causes-horrible-financial-stress-users-say/9738954

Small minimum wage rises don’t cause job losses, Australian Reserve Bank study finds:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/may/16/small-minimum-wage-rises-dont-cause-job-losses-reserve-bank-study-finds