Income Security Advocacy Centre

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

Media & Policy News: 22 May 2015

Top Stories

Government rethinking poor ODSP medical review process after legal clinics and health care advocates raise alarm:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/05/16/ontario-to-rethink-disability-welfare-reviews.html

OECD report finds record levels of inequality between rich and poor in most advanced economies:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/record-gap-between-rich-and-poor-oecd-report-concludes-1.2383617

Ontario’s poor employment standards laws give advantage to employers:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05/17/ontario-allowing-employers-to-fire-workers-without-cause.html

Debunking the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” myth:
http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/05/debunking-bootstraps-myth/

Reports, Events, and Other Good Things

United Way and McMaster report shows precarious work is now the norm in the GTHA:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05/21/precarious-work-is-now-the-new-norm-united-way-report-says.html

Fully 20% of Canadians spend half their income on housing, report says:
http://www.thestar.com/business/2015/05/19/renters-across-canada-struggling-report-says.html

Banting and Myles on framing inequality and the federal politics of inequality, for IRPP:
http://irpp.org/research-studies/aots5-banting-myles/?mc_cid=cbdd9fcabb&mc_eid=93c40f0305

Ontario

Small business person’s letter to the editor: Wynne should raise minimum wage to $15:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2015/05/19/raise-minimum-wage-to-15.html

In Ontario, 2-week payday loan costs up to $21 per $100 borrowed – that’s an annual rate of 546%:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/payday-loans-predatory-loan-sharks-or-crucial-fix-in-a-pinch/article24463029/

Around the Province

Living paycheque to paycheque in Toronto:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05/19/living-paycheque-to-paycheque-a-reality-for-thousands-in-toronto.html

Barrie’s mayor takes Live Below the Line poverty challenge:
http://www.simcoe.com/news-story/5616588-challenge-teaches-barrie-mayor-more-about-living-in-poverty/

Campbellford public meeting on poverty raises concerns:
http://www.insidebelleville.com/news-story/5632493-public-meeting-in-campbellford-about-poverty-reduction-raises-many-concerns/

Opinion: Peterborough must tread carefully to avoid two-tier transit system:
http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/2015/05/21/goyette-city-is-en-route-to-two-tier-transit

London needs to “get off the pot” and take action on unsafe housing for vulnerable residents:
http://www.lfpress.com/2015/05/20/mother-critical-of-slow-reform

Across the Country

On-reserve social assistance programs lose funding in BC:
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2015/05/20/bc-first-nations-lose-social-funding

BC couple facing clawback of EI maternity benefits from disability social assistance payments:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/maternity-ei-disability-assistance-clawback-hurting-b-c-family-1.3075038 

Winnipeg’s poor neighbourhoods are getting poorer despite anti-poverty efforts:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Winnipegs-poor-neighbourhoods-are-getting-poorer-data-shows-despite-anti-poverty-efforts-304345031.html

Calgary Mayor Nenshi pledges to take leadership on Guaranteed Annual Income:
http://leadersandlegacies.com/2015/05/09/calgary-mayor-naheed-nenshi-vows-to-take-leadership-on-basic-income-guarantee-issue/

Vulnerable people in NWT still waiting for promised home visits:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/n-w-t-income-support-home-visits-available-by-request-only-1.3081286

Number of people on Employment Insurance soars in Calgary and Alberta:
http://calgaryherald.com/business/local-business/employment-insurance-beneficiaries-soar-in-calgary-and-alberta

Subsidized housing wait list in Edmonton more than doubles since September:
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Subsidized+housing+wait+Edmonton+more+than+doubled+since+fall/11065247/story.html

Kootenay area MLA and School Board pushing for a provincial poverty reduction strategy in BC:

Survival street vending in Vancouver:
http://www.straight.com/news/452416/doug-king-vancouvers-street-vending-solution

National

Goar: Canada needs 21st century social programs:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/05/19/canada-needs-21st-century-social-programs-goar.html

Guaranteed Annual Income (“free money for all”) could save money and jump-start the economy:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/free-money-for-all-could-jumpstart-the-economy-don-pittis-1.2775647

Temporary foreign worker program must protect the rights of migrant workers:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/letters/1287022-temporary-foreign-workers-program-must-protect-migrants%E2%80%99-rights

Power Corp. CEO says there’s no looming retirement crisis; private sector hurt “at the margins” by new public retirement programs:
http://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/retirement/2015/05/14/retirement-crisis-what-retirement-crisis-power-financial-ceo-says.html

Canadian consumer confidence remains volatile:
http://www.thestar.com/business/economy/2015/05/19/canadian-consumer-confidence-dips-but-continues-to-climb-in-us-report.html

International

Research shows “investments in education, income, housing, health care and nutrition for working families have substantial long-term benefits for children”:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/11/opinion/smart-social-programs.html?_r=1

Barcelona anti-poverty crusader leads the race to be that city’s new mayor:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/15/barcelona-ada-colau-mayor-anti-poverty

Arizona legislators vote to limit access to welfare benefits to 12 months – in a lifetime:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/18/arizona-legislature-votes-cut-off-welfare-benefits-12-months?CMP=fb_us

“Housing First” results in reduction of homelessness in Utah by 91%:
http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/utah-homelessness-cut-91-percent/

Obama pressed to appoint anti-poverty czar in wake of President’s comments on income inequality:
http://thehill.com/homenews/news/242457-obama-pressed-to-appoint-poverty-czar

New Zealand child poverty campaigners warn against government tax cuts:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11452970

How New Zealand can cut child poverty: http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/68628563/how-new-zealand-can-cut-child-poverty

Australia plans to strip people with serious mental health disabilities of welfare benefits if they commit serious crimes:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-21/proposed-stripping-of-welfare-payments-for-psychiatric-patients/6488184

Expert contends UK welfare reforms will take money from women and give it to their abusers:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/tory-welfare-reforms-set-take-5726935

Christian activist says UK welfare reforms mean people with disabilities are “collectively bleeding”:
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/disabled.people.are.collectively.bleeding.under.welfare.cuts.says.christian.activist/54171.htm

EU investigating claims that McDonald’s used loophole to avoid $1 Billion in taxes:
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/may/05/mcdonalds-tax-avoidance-investigation-europe

Meanwhile, thousands of McDonald’s workers protest for higher wages at company headquarters:
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/may/21/mcdonalds-workers-protest-poverty-wages-headquarters