Top Stories
Sign on to send a message that Ontario can do better on Poverty Reduction:
http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1734&ea.campaign.id=36499&ea.url.id=372393&forwarded=true
- St. Catherines Standard Op-Ed: Ontario needs a budget that’s fair:http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2015/03/16/ontario-needs-budget-thats-fair-for-all
- Windsor’s Pathway to Potential joins the call for a universal Ontario Pharmacare plan: http://blogs.windsorstar.com/opinion/pathway-to-potential-calls-for-universal-ontario-pharmacare-plan
CCPA releases the 2015 Alternative Federal Budget:
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/alternative-federal-budget-2015
- Canadians for Tax Fairness on the Alternative Federal Budget: “Our economy and our people could be in a much better position with leadership, savvy fiscal management and fair taxation”: http://www.taxfairness.ca/en/blog/fixing-canada-without-raising-taxes-most-canadians
- Canada Without Poverty on the AFB: “Report proposes poverty reduction focused spending”: http://www.cwp-csp.ca/2015/03/new-report-afb-proposes-poverty-reduction-focused-spending/
Feds end contract and take away jobs from people with developmental disabilities on ODSP:
http://ottawacitizen.com/storyline/after-35-years-federal-government-takes-jobs-from-developmentally-disabled-workers
New CMAJ study shows a national pharmacare program could reduce costs by $7.3 billion annually:
http://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2015/03/16/national-pharmacare-program-could-save-73-billion-study.html
- Not having national pharmacare is “unsustainable”:http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/universal-drug-plan-would-save-billions-ubc-researchers-say-1.2994857?cmp=fbtl
Temporary foreign workers face mass deportation on April 1 under new rules:
http://rabble.ca/news/2015/03/temporary-foreign-workers-face-deportation-come-april-1
Reports, Publications and Events
Low Income Energy Network (LIEN) 2015 annual conference:
http://www.lowincomeenergy.ca/news-events/2015/03/event-registration/
Updated legal resource: Child and spousal support when you are on social assistance:
http://yourlegalrights.on.ca/news/child-and-spousal-support-when-you-are-social-assistance-new-edition-now-available
“Who are the homeless in Calgary? Numbers, trends and characteristics of those without homes in Calgary”
http://policyschool.ucalgary.ca/sites/default/files/research/proof-who-are-homeless-kneebone-bell-jackson-jadidzadeh.pdf
Ontario
PC MPP Toby Barrett opposes the elimination of the ODSP Work-Related Benefit:
http://tobybarrett.com/
Ontario planning on issuing debit cards for OW and ODSP recipients who don’t have a bank account:
http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2015/03/19/ontario-set-to-replace-welfare-cheques-with-debit-cards.html
Ontario spends another $5 million to resolve problems with its new welfare computer system:
http://globalnews.ca/news/1892077/ontario-spends-another-5m-on-problematic-social-assistance-payment-system/
ACORN pushes for a 20% hike in the OW and ODSP housing benefit:
http://metronews.ca/news/ottawa/1313582/acorn-pushes-for-20-per-cent-housing-allowance-hike/
Ontario’s energy minister warns of higher than normal energy bills after cold winter:
http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-s-energy-minister-warns-of-heftier-hydro-bills-after-cold-snap-1.2277618
More on the benefits that can low income people can get through filing a tax return:
http://news.ontario.ca/mof/en/2015/03/file-a-tax-return-to-get-money-back.html
New provincial funding for legal clinics through Legal Aid Ontario:
http://legalaid.on.ca/en/news/newsarchive/1503-13_increasedclinicfunding.asp#charts
Is Patrick Brown the Ontario Progressive Conservatives’ next great Tory hope?:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/03/16/is-patrick-brown-the-next-great-tory-hope-for-ontario.html
Letter to the editor: The demise of Ontario’s middle class:
http://www.northernlife.ca/news/letterstotheeditor/2015/03/17-Woolfrey-middle-class.aspx
Ontario’s minimum wage goes up October 1 – here’s minimum wages across the country:
http://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-to-raise-minimum-wage-starting-oct-1-1.2287558
Around the Province
Low income people in Scarborough will now be able to access family law services at local legal clinics:
http://www.legalaid.on.ca/en/news/newsarchive/1503-17_scarboroughclinics.asp
Hamilton participates in a pilot “Housing First” project to house 20,000 people who are homeless:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/plan-to-house-20k-homeless-people-will-be-piloted-in-hamilton-1.2998439
Housing is more than shelter, as the remains of “inmates” of Kitchener’s House of Industry and Refuge demonstrate:
http://www.thinkupstream.net/unearthed_poverty
Toronto coffee shop’s barista training program aims to improve employment for people with disabilities:
http://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2015/02/22/barista-training-program-brews-up-opportunity-for-people-with-developmental-challenges.html
Toronto woman forced to choose between chemotherapy and paying her bills:
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5514877-ontario-mom-forced-to-choose-between-chemo-and-paying-bills/
St Catherines mayor heading up new Poverty Reduction Initiative:
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2015/03/18/sendzik-heads-poverty-reduction-group
Chatham-Kent councillor upset about MCSS computer system problems:
http://blackburnnews.com/chatham/chatham-news/2015/03/14/social-assistance-system-glitches/
Waterloo Region still bogged down by MCSS computer system problems:
http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5476757-social-assistance-office-bogged-down-by-new-computer-system/
Across the Country
BC just raised its minimum wage, but it still leaves workers living in poverty:
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/policynote/2015/03/bc-minimum-wage-increase-leaves-workers-poverty
Revelstoke, BC, signs on to National Poverty Reduction Charter:
http://www.revelstoketimesreview.com/news/296617311.html
BC’s recent efforts, particularly for single parents, could be called a poverty reduction plan:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bcs-poverty-reduction-plan-keep-the-single-parent-family-in-mind/article23467723/
National
Children are the responsibility of us all; better child care works for us all:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/better-daycare-works-for-us-all-292578401.html?cx_navSource=d-top-story
There is a double standard on paying taxes in Canada, and the CRA makes it worse each year:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/dennis-howlett/tax-enforcement-canada_b_6866188.html
Canadian manufacturing jobs plummet to near record low:
http://www.pressprogress.ca/en/post/canadian-manufacturing-jobs-plummet-near-record-low-statistics-canada
Unsolved legal issues result in at least $40 million a year in additional health care costs:
http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/legalfeeds/2587/legal-pains-the-cost-of-justice-includes-physical-health.html
International
Does money make you mean? Academic studies examine the question:
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31761576
Is the $15 minimum wage in Seattle causing restaurant closures? The evidence from owners says no:
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/truth-needle-is-15-wage-dooming-seattle-restaurants-owners-say-no/
11,000 New Zealand children lose a disability benefit for no longer needing “substantial” attention and supervision:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11419782
What Canada can learn from Sweden’s unionized retail sector:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/03/18/sweden-retail-unions_n_6888328.html
Catholic church in San Francisco installs water system to drench people who are homeless as they sleep:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/san-francisco-catholic-church-installs-watering-system-to-drench-homeless-people-as-they-sleep/#.VQrMtUlheRw.twitter
“Unprecedented” welfare cuts required to meet UK targets:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/18/osborne-unprecedented-cuts-welfare-meet-targets-ifs