Ed. Note: M&PN will be on hiatus until September 9
Top Stories
CUPW gives 72-hour strike notice to Canada Post:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/government-calls-on-both-sides-in-canada-post-dispute-to-work-with-mediator/article31551448/
- Waterloo Region puts a halt to mailing social assistance and other cheques: http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/region-stops-mailing-social-assistance-cheques-due-to-uncertain-postal-situation-1.3042759
Province must fund child care to tackle gender wage gap, says report:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/08/25/province-must-fund-child-care-to-tackle-gender-wage-gap-report-says.html
- Ontario government news release: Moving forward to close the gender wage gap: https://news.ontario.ca/mol/en/2016/08/ontario-moving-forward-to-close-the-gender-wage-gap.html
Let us keep more money, Ottawa disability advocates tell province:
http://www.metronews.ca/news/ottawa/2016/08/25/let-us-keep-more-money-disability-advocates-tell-province.html
- Food or bus pass? Clawback creates stressful choice for British Columbians with disabilities: http://thetyee.ca/News/2016/08/22/Food-Or-Bus-Pass/
- The hidden costs of living with a disability: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/jacki-andre/the-hidden-costs-of-havin_b_11647994.html
Guelph mom faces a social assistance – housing conundrum:
http://www.guelphmercury.com/opinion-story/6824642-guelph-mom-faces-a-social-assistance-conundrum/
- Toronto should get angry about how Council has failed to address the city’s social housing crisis: http://torontoist.com/2016/08/toronto-social-housing-crisis-tchc-budget-2017/
- Op-ed: Treat homelessness as a health problem, not just a social problem: http://www.winnipegsun.com/2016/08/17/homelessness-not-just-a-social-issue
Poll: Most Canadians want government to expand services, but don’t want to pay for it:
http://angusreid.org/canadians-want-government-expand-services-provides-dont-want-to-pay/
- Video: Sheila Block of the CCPA-Ontario on what Canadians get for their taxes: http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/749481539826
Trudeau tweaks cabinet committees ahead of busy fall:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-cabinet-committees-shake-up-1.3731042
- The PMO announcement is here: http://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2016/08/22/prime-minister-canada-announces-changes-structure-and-mandate-cabinet-committees
Saskatchewan women struggling after CCB payments cut, as CRA demands proof of eligibility:
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/saskatchewan-women-struggle-canada-child-benefit-cut-1.3734486
Ten things to know about federal income supports for low income seniors in Canada:
http://behindthenumbers.ca/2016/08/25/ten-things-to-know-about-federal-income-support-for-low-income-seniors-in-canada/
Stephen Harper resigns from Parliament:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/harper-quits-seat-1.3736732
Ontario
Recent polling shows Tories with the most support, and a summer of discontent with Wynne:
https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2016/08/19/ontario-tories-hold-steady-lead-in-latest-poll.html
- Liberals trailing Tories in new Forum Research poll: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/08/19/kathleen-wynne-poll-patrick-brown-horwath_n_11610714.html
Letters to the editor: Put carbon tax on gas bills:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2016/08/22/put-carbon-tax-on-gas-bills.html
- Opposition critic: Liberal bungling created energy poverty: http://www.nugget.ca/2016/08/20/liberal-bungling-created-energy-poverty
- Budget watchdog: Ontario’s home energy costs not highest or lowest in Canada: https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2016/08/25/ontario-home-energy-costs-relatively-competitive-budget-watchdog-says.html
Major breakthrough in Legal Aid lawyers’ campaign for collective bargaining rights:
https://www.thesociety.ca/major-breakthrough-in-legal-aid-lawyers-campaign-for-collective-bargaining-rights/
Ontario invests $1.5 million more in refugee supports:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario-contributes-additional-155-million-to-refugee-supports/article31559053/
Ontario news release: 220 new jobs in Welland through major investment from GE:
https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2016/08/ontario-secures-major-investment-from-ge.html
Ontario Court of Appeal decision against employer a victory for disabled workers:
http://www.ohscanada.com/features/righting-a-wrong/
Naidoo-Harris new early years and child care minister:
https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2016/08/24/wynne-taps-naidoo-harris-to-be-early-years-and-child-care-minister.html
Reports , Events, Campaigns and Other Good Things
October 1 Day of Action: Fight for $15 and Fairness:
http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=8e3951a35d48e64f736884ea9&id=f536a852c8&e=f3bab51a7a
Kesselman: Attack high housing prices by making property tax progressive:
http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/rhys-kesselman-attacking-high-housing-prices-making-property-tax-progressive
CMHC: GTA West Housing and Health Study links affordable housing and health:
https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/hoficlincl/observer/observer_084.cfm
CRWDP Research Paper: Making the law keep down the costs: Why Canada’s public systems designed to support unemployed workers with a disability are making the decisions that they are:
https://crwdp.ca/sites/default/files/Research%20and%20Publications/a_king_report_law_rev_final_061516_kp_01.pdf
Stats Can: Payroll employment, earnings and hours, June 2016:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/160825/dq160825a-eng.htm
Around the Province
Niagara Dental Health Coalition calls on local MPPs to support expansion of public dental programs:
http://eriemedia.ca/ndhc-expand-dental-low-income-adults/
District of Muskoka says child support exemption from social assistance “less vindictive and punitive”:
http://www.muskokaregion.com/news-story/6823097-child-support-rules-change-to-combat-poverty-district/
Landlord licensing hailed at Toronto meeting as fix for “soul-destroying” conditions:
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/toronto/landlord-licensing-hailed-at-city-meeting-as-fix-for-soul-destroying-conditions-1.3725869
The wrong way to deal with a housing boom, courtesy of Toronto:
http://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/the-next-ontario/the-wrong-way-to-deal-with-a-housing-boom-courtesy-of-toronto
How invisible austerity is hurting Toronto’s poorest residents:
https://ricochet.media/en/1335/is-torontos-invisible-austerity-harming-its-poorest-residents
Pembina blog: Federal transit funding is a win for Toronto commuters:
http://www.pembina.org/blog/greasing-wheel-federal-transit-funding-a-win-for-toronto-commuters
Peel Region: Here’s our call on behalf of all your tenants in social housing:
http://www.mississauga.com/opinion-story/6821144-to-the-region-of-peel-here-s-our-call-on-behalf-of-all-your-tenants-in-social-housing/#.V745UVOGzN4.twitter
Across the Country
Food bank in Summerland, BC saw an increase in need in July:
http://www.summerlandreview.com/news/391221861.html
Economic downturn in Alberta means more on EI, many have lost employer-paid benefits:
http://globalnews.ca/news/2891238/alberta-downturn-means-many-have-lost-their-benefits/
Number of Prince Edward Islanders on EI takes a big jump in June:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-employment-insurance-recipients-1.3726539
Pension increase leaves senior in Crofton, BC with less income:
http://www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com/news/389908141.html
Is the Metro Vancouver real estate market in free fall?
http://globalnews.ca/news/2887766/data-is-the-metro-vancouver-real-estate-market-in-free-fall/
Dying neighbourhood: Vancouver’s Chinatown grapples with affordability and development:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/08/20/dying-neighbourhood-vancouvers-chinatown-grapples-with-affordability-development.html
Dozens of Vancouver overdoses, as 24’hour supervised site opens:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-overdoses-insite-24-hour-1.3735329
CCPA-BC report shows student funding in BC second worst in Canada:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/education-funding-british-columbia-ccpa-2016-1.3735255
National
Canada’s annual inflation rate drops to 1.3% in July:
http://www.businessreviewcanada.ca/finance/1746/Inflation-in-Canada-falls-to-13-percent-in-July
Liberals probe a dozen federal departments not paying their interns:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/interns-unpaid-liberal-co-op-cbc-canada-labour-code-canadian-intern-association-1.3726696
Most university undergrads are now taught by poorly paid part-timers:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/most-university-undergrads-now-taught-by-poorly-paid-part-timers-1.2756024
Postal banking is worth a look to help the working poor:
http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/6805836-postal-banking-is-worth-a-look-to-help-the-working-poor/
Trudeau endorses Bono’s ONE campaign: Poverty is sexist:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/08/25/trudeau-endorses-bonos-one-campaign-i-wholeheartedly-agree-poverty-is-sexist.html
Fraser Institute report shows Canadians’ growing tax burden:
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/canadians-growing-tax-burden-by-the-numbers
- Broadbent Institute: That study’s been debunked many times: https://www.pressprogress.ca/canadian_media_outlets_did_not_fact_check_a_fraser_institute_study_that_been_debunked_many_times
International
20 years after US welfare reform: Reflections and recommendations from those who were there:
http://povertylaw.org/article/twenty-years-after
- 20 years later, welfare is grim: http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/08/22/temporary-assistance-for-needy-families-editorials-debates/89109292/
- 20 years after welfare reform: College students and benefits: http://www.clasp.org/cross-cutting/in-focus/20-years-after-welfare-reform-college-students-and-benefits
- Welfare reform didn’t help kids learn better: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-08-25/welfare-reform-didnt-help-kids-learn-better
- Most welfare dollars don’t go directly to poor people anymore: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/most-welfare-dollars-dont-go-directly-to-poor-people-anymore/
- 20 years later, poverty is up, but architects of “welfare reform” have no regrets: https://theintercept.com/2016/08/23/twenty-years-later-poverty-is-up-but-architects-of-welfare-reform-have-no-regrets/
- 20 years later, how US welfare compares to other countries around the globe: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37159686
- How a Democrat killed welfare: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/02/welfare-reform-bill-hillary-clinton-tanf-poverty-dlc/
- And, even so, here’s how Americans’ views on welfare have changed in 20 years: http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/19/americans-views-of-welfare-and-poverty-have-greatly-changed-over-20-years/
A staggering percentage of Americans are too poor to shop:
http://nypost.com/2016/07/06/a-staggering-percentage-of-americans-are-too-poor-to-shop/
- 20% of Baltimore’s school-aged kids in poverty; rising cost of school supplies an issue: http://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/1-in-5-school-aged-child-living-below-poverty-rising-cost-of-school-supplies-is-an-issue
- How to get kids to go to school? One US school added washers and dryers to ensure they have clean clothes:
http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2016/08/school-attendance-washing-machines/496649/?utm_source=atlfb
The gig economy is a rigged economy:
https://medium.com/the-modern-team/the-gig-economy-is-a-rigged-economy-e4a2f8946fa#.1ys56rln3
Polling low income Americans on poverty:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bowmanmarsico/2016/08/18/polling-the-poor-on-poverty/#73e7a4001e7e
Hillary Clinton and Paul Ryan both back new place-based anti-poverty plan:
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/clinton-paul-ryan-poverty-plan-227207
I won’t apologize for having fun while chronically ill:
https://themighty.com/2016/08/why-i-wont-apologize-for-having-fun-while-sick/
I’m a DWP call handler in the UK and have no time to care about your disability claim:
https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2016/aug/20/work-pensions-disability-claim-call-handler-benefits-dwp?CMP=share_btn_fb
- Woman in Wales has disability benefits cut for missing an interview – while having open-heart surgery: http://www.welfareweekly.com/woman-has-disability-benefits-axed-for-having-life-saving-open-heart-surgery/
- People in the UK taking out retirement savings being hit by unexpected taxes and welfare reductions: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/news/taxes-and-welfare-cuts-hit-people-taking-out-retirement-savings-says-survey-34994093.html
In the UK, accountants or advisers who help corporations and people skirt taxes face tougher fines and new penalties:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37101020
- You feeling lucky?: http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21705349-proposed-measures-against-dodgy-tax-structures-would-be-big-step-forward-you-feeling-lucky?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/youfeelinglucky
- Times have changed over tax avoidance schemes, says KPMG: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/news/times-have-changed-over-tax-avoidance-schemes-says-kpmg-34973970.html
Airbnb paid the French tax man just 70,000 Euro last year:
http://www.thelocal.fr/20160811/airbnb-paid-french-tax-man-just-70000
Putting a Stop to poverty: The Stop profiled in New Zealand:
https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/putting-stop-poverty
The death of neoliberalism and the crisis in western politics:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/21/death-of-neoliberalism-crisis-in-western-politics?CMP=share_btn_tw