Top Stories
Star editorial: The province must do more to protect those in precarious work:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2015/05/25/governments-must-protect-those-in-precarious-jobs-editorial.html
- Ontario employers get slap on the wrist for mistreating employees: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05/24/ontario-employers-get-slap-on-wrist-for-mistreating-employees.html
Meanwhile, federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver told the G7 that relaxing labour laws would spur economic growth:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/05/28/joe-oliver-labour-reform-comments_n_7463424.html
Hamilton social services manager says problems with OW/ODSP SAMS system will last until March:
http://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/5643911-ontario-s-242-million-sams-problem-could-persist-until-next-march/
Harper government signals willingness to consult on “voluntary” CPP expansion ideas:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/05/26/conservatives-willing-to-consult-on-voluntary-cpp-expansion.html
- Hébert: A once-rejected proposal suddenly becomes a rabbit:http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/05/27/rejected-ideas-new-again-for-conservatives-hbert.html
- Proposal sets up a showdown with Ontario: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservative-pension-promise-sets-up-showdown-with-ontario/article24626335/
Justice Murray Sinclair on the need for a Canadian conversation about the legacy of residential schools:
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/canadians-need-conversation-about-residential-schools-murray-sinclair
Landmark human rights ruling highlights systemic problems with temporary foreign worker program:
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/temporary-foreign-worker-program-under-fire-after-landmark-200k-human-rights-ruling
- Star story: http://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2015/05/27/migrant-workers-awarded-record-220000-in-sex-harassment-case.html
- Press release from Unifor and the Human Rights Legal Support Centre:http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1544179/landmark-human-rights-ruling-highlights-systemic-abuse-of-temporary-foreign-workers
CPJ report says federal tax revenue is at lowest level in 70 years – $45 billion and 30,000 jobs lost:
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Daphne+Bramham+What+willing+society+want/11084536/story.html#ixzz3bNIyRMrY
Speculation that federal election writ may be dropped in August, giving us a 90 day campaign:
http://www.hilltimes.com/news/news/2015/05/26/speculation-increasing-that-2015-election-writ-will-be-dropped-in-august/42309
Reports, Events, and Other Good Stuff
Sign up for an ISAC co-sponsored webinar June 18: Migrant workers and access to social benefits in Ontario:
http://yourlegalrights.on.ca/webinar/migrant-workers-and-access-social-benefits-ontario
Injured Workers Day Rally this Monday, June 1, 11am, Queen’s Park:
https://www.facebook.com/events/908903835834572/
- And after the rally, OFL / ONIWIG conference on injured workers and WSIB issues: http://injuredworkersonline.org/ofl-oniwg-june-1-2-conference-agenda-released/
Don’t forget the consultations on Ontario’s Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy – deadline July 3:
http://news.ontario.ca/mah/en/2015/04/ontario-launches-public-consultations-to-improve-access-to-affordable-housing.html
Latest report from the Renewing Canada’s Social Architecture project – “Disability Supports: Missing on the Policy Radar”:
http://social-architecture.ca/disability-supports/
Pivot Legal stands with people who are homeless in Abbotsford to call for a National Housing Strategy:
http://www.pivotlegal.org/standing_with_abbotsford_s_homeless
Around the Province
Dufferin County working to draft its own Poverty Reduction Strategy:
http://www.orangeville.com/news-story/5646285-county-to-draft-a-made-in-dufferin-poverty-reduction-strategy/
St. Michael’s Hospital health team in Toronto offers a prescription for poverty:
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/05/23/st-michaels-hospital-health-team-offers-prescription-for-poverty.html
Former Spec editor says sympathy can lead to marginalization; “Empathy is what prompts social change”:
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5643976-empathy-not-sympathy-needed-to-fight-poverty-robbins/
TVO on the road: Community members confront racist First Nations stereotypes in Thunder Bay:
http://theagenda.tvo.org/blog/agenda-blogs/tvo-road-community-members-confront-first-nations-stereotypes-thunder-bay
City of London workers on strike: http://www.lfpress.com/2015/05/23/750-city-of-london-inside-workers-to-hit-the-picket-lines-monday
- Some implications for people receiving OW and other benefits: http://www.lfpress.com/2015/05/25/cheque-recipients-worried-ticket-payers-inconvenienced
As Regent Park revitalization progresses, things are worse for people now than before:
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/05/24/things-worse-for-poor-living-in-regent-park
Across the Country
Living on the edge by being house rich and cash poor:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/real-estate-woes-the-secret-lives-of-house-poor-canadians-1.3086793
Saskatchewan Grade 9 student says thinking upstream will help treat the causes of poverty:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/life/time+treat+underlying+causes+poverty/11080184/story.html
BC woman with cancer applies for medical EI but told to go to welfare instead:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/infuriating-b-c-cancer-patient-speaks-out-about-fight-for-ei-1.2389832
Manitoba must provide adequate funding for home care for people with disabilities:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/province-must-spend-more-to-show-manitobans-with-disabilities-where-the-heart-is-at-home-1.3085674
Anti-poverty summit in Nelson, BC prioritizes issues of housing and mental health services:
http://www.nelsonstar.com/news/304935961.html
National
Employment Insurance claims up in March, led by Alberta:
http://www.hrreporter.com/articleview/24416-number-of-canadians-getting-employment-insurance-up-in-march-led-by-alberta
Lower courts push back on Victims’ Surcharge for low-income offenders, despite higher court precedents:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/judges-pushing-back-against-victims-fund-penalties-for-poor-offenders/article24607073/
Feds defend decision to end funding for on-reserve First Nations social assistance program delivery:
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2015/05/26/feds-defend-first-nations-funding-cut
Aboriginal women now make up 1/3 of women’s prison population:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/aboriginal-women-now-make-up-one-third-of-canadian-female-prison-population-1.3089050?cmp=rss
International
Study shows those countries with generous welfare programs have greater “work ethic”:
http://www.trueactivist.com/surprising-study-shows-people-have-stronger-work-ethic-in-countries-with-generous-welfare-system/
David Cameron’s government proposes reduction in welfare cap during Queen’s Speech:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-27/cameron-sets-out-planned-u-k-welfare-cuts-in-queen-s-speech
- Northern Ireland votes to reject welfare cuts already coming down from London: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-32894371
- Analysis shows welfare cuts will either make people poorer or less likely to work: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-tories-welfare-cuts-will-either-make-people-poorer-or-less-likely-to-work-ifs-says-10276636.html
“The welfare state saved me. To need it is not a moral failure”:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/25/welfare-state-moral-failure-tory-poverty-individial-state?CMP=share_btn_tw
Michigan votes to suspend benefits for parents who’s children skip school:
http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2015/05/kids_who_miss_school_could_los.html
Survey shows 2.5 million Australians living below the poverty line:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-27/millions-of-australians-below-poverty-line-salvation-army/6500452
Auckland Action Against Poverty says New Zealand welfare reforms will hurt families:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Protesters-Slam-New-Zealand-Welfare-Reform-as-Meaningless-20150523-0018.html
Sleep is a social justice issue: The connection between sleep, work, and poverty:
http://www.fastcompany.com/3043128/sleep-inequality