Top Stories
AFN chief Perry Bellegarde says reconciliation means closing the poverty gap and acknowledging cultural genocide:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/perry-bellegarde-afn-chief-says-reconciliation-means-closing-poverty-gap-1.3095407
- “Reconciliation is not an aboriginal problem, it is a Canadian problem. It involves all of us”:http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.3096950/reconciliation-is-not-an-aboriginal-problem-it-is-a-canadian-problem-it-involves-all-of-us-1.3097253
- Eleven facts about the disparity between indigenous peoples and other Canadians:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video-rich-country-poor-nations-11-startling-statistics-about-the-disparity-between-indigenous-people-and-the-rest-of-canada/article22852873/
- Over the last five years, Aboriginal Affairs has held back $1 billion in social services spending:http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/aboriginal-affairs-spending-shortfall-amounts-to-1b-internal-document-says-1.3100937?fb_action_ids=10153323581521061&fb_action_types=og.shares
Op-Ed: Government should put ODSP medical reviews on hold until promised new process is created:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/05/28/holding-on-to-disability-benefits-an-unfair-struggle.html
Ontario community legal clinics expanding access to justice efforts for vulnerable workers:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05/31/legal-clinics-ramp-up-efforts-to-get-justice-for-vulnerable-workers.html
June 1 was Injured Workers Day – here’s some coverage:
- Rally for better benefits and fair compensation: http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5655861-injured-workers-rally-for-better-benefits/
- Injured workers bring awareness through eight day ride from Ottawa to Toronto: http://www.ohscanada.com/health-safety/injured-workers-campaign-for-awareness-with-intercity-bike-tour-2/1003347428/
- Injured worker on hunger strike outside Queen’s Park for more than 18 days:http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05/29/injured-worker-on-hunger-strike-for-compensation-hearing.html
- Support for injured workers shouldn’t come in half-measures: http://rabble.ca/news/2015/06/injured-workers-day-support-shouldnt-come-half-measures
New rules will require bidders on public infrastructure projects in Ontario to set up Community Benefits Agreements:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/new-rules-require-ontario-megaproject-bidders-to-set-up-recruitment-programs/article24790446/
Nearly 40% of unemployed Canadians have given up looking for work – and blame themselves:
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/06/03/4-in-10-jobless-have-given-up-survey
Letters to the editor on solutions to precarious work:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2015/05/31/solutions-to-precarious-work.html
Reports, Events, Campaigns
How to participate in Ontario’s consultations around improving provincial labour laws:
http://yourlegalrights.on.ca/news/public-consultations-announced-review-ontarios-labour-laws-0
Duelling pension reports:
- CIBC report says expanding the CPP is essential as millions of Canadians are headed for trouble in retirement:http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/millions-of-canadians-headed-for-trouble-in-retirement-cibc-report-1.2403317
- CD Howe Institute report says Canadians are reasonably well prepared for retirement: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/canadians-reasonably-well-prepared-for-retirement-cd-howe-report-says/article24795207/
UVic’s Poverty Law Club report on why BC’s Coroners Service should investigate poverty as a cause of deaths:
http://canadiansocialresearch.net/poverty_and_death_%20in_%20bc_may_2015.pdf
The OECD’s 2015 Forum, on “People, Planet, and Prosperity”, has just wrapped up. Check these comparative figures that illustrate income inequality across OECD nations:
http://www.oecd.org/forum/issues/OECD-Forum-2015-Income-Inequality-in-Figures.htm
Ontario
Legal Aid Ontario lawyers file Charter challenge on right to collectively bargain with LAO:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1549789/legal-aid-ontario-failing-to-respect-lawyers-charter-rights
Around the Province
Low-income leaders offer a prescription for poverty reduction as Toronto prepares its own report:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/06/02/crafting-a-plan-to-tackle-poverty-from-the-ground-up.html
- Here are the Commitment 2 Community Action Papers: http://www.povertyreductionto.ca/priority-action-papers.html
Moving Forward event in Cobourg to spur Northumberland County action on poverty:
http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/2015/06/03/county-moving-forward-on-poverty
Paris not-for-profit gives training and employment to people on social assistance:
http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2015/05/29/yes-soup-for-you
Niagara health and information fair for migrant workers:
http://www.niagaraadvance.ca/2015/06/04/health-fair-for-migrant-workers
Hamilton trusteeship program losing funding:
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5660055-program-that-helps-keep-vulnerable-off-hamilton-s-streets-losing-its-funding/
Sarnia groups hear from Dignity for All campaign on the need for a National Anti-Poverty Plan:
http://www.theobserver.ca/2015/05/28/sarnians-hear-from-group-that-wants-to-see-canada-wide-anti-poverty-plan
McMaster Children’s Hospital now helps people access legal services through local legal clinic referrals:
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5650184-mcmaster-hospital-helping-families-get-legal-aid/
Across the Country
Saskatoon hotel room closure deepens housing crisis for family on social assistance:
http://ckom.com/story/saskatoon-family-crisis-after-hotel-room-closure/557807
- Update: Family finds new housing with help from social workers:http://www.thestarphoenix.com/life/Family+evicted+from+Saskatoon+Northwoods+finds+home/11099362/story.html
Nova Scotia’s minimum wage would have to nearly double to make it a living wage:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1290247-study-minimum-wage-only-half-of-what-it-needs-to-be#.VWwxKSFGr3Q.facebook
Edmonton mayor Don Iveson says evidence is “overwhelming” for Basic Income Guarantee:
http://leadersandlegacies.com/2015/06/01/edmonton-mayor-don-iveson-speaks-out-in-favour-of-a-basic-income-guarantee/
Letter demonstrates difficulties with BC’s requirements for online social assistance access:
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/letters/social-assistance-clients-need-one-point-of-access-1.1952239
BC Premier Christy Clark rallies her troops with social assistance policy changes:
http://www.vancouversun.com/Premier+rallies+party+faithful+midway+point+Liberals+build+chest/11103749/story.html
National
Cohn: The continuing hypocrisy of a medicare system that doesn’t include pharmacare:
http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2015/06/01/our-canadian-hypocrisy-of-medicare-without-pharmacare-cohn.html
Federally funded rent support for co-operative housing ends soon; crisis imminent:
http://www.news1130.com/2015/06/03/people-living-in-co-op-housing-to-lose-federal-rental-support-co-op-group/
The injustice of the Temporary Foreign Worker program’s “4 and 4” rule:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/beyondslavery/stephanie-j-silverman/at-any-cost-injustice-of-%E2%80%9C4-and-4-rule%E2%80%9D-in-canada
As parties feud over CPP expansion, one constant is that Canadians are not saving enough:
http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5650685-as-parties-feud-over-canada-pension-plan-one-constant-we-re-not-saving-enough/
Jim Stanford calculates the odds that the economy will be in recession during the federal election:
http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2015/06/04/judging-the-odds-for-an-election-recession/
Some ideas for how to facilitate redistribution to end poverty:
http://rabble.ca/columnists/2015/06/its-counterintuitive-tax-rich-not-poor
This could be “the mother of all elections”:
http://www.hilltimes.com/news/news/2015/06/01/next-federal-election-mother-of-all-elections/42368?mcl=&muid=
International
Using behavioural science to impact positively on poverty:
http://gawker.com/behavioral-science-and-poverty-1708157808
Barely 1 in 4 people in the global workforce has a stable, secure job:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/rise-of-the-precariat-the-global-scourge-of-precarious-jobs-1.3093319
People with disabilities in Scotland “live in fear” of welfare cuts:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/disabled-scots-live-in-fear-of-welfare-cuts-1-3788511
African-American women living in poverty have highest risk of heart-related illness:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/05/28/poverty-linked-heart-risks-greatest-for-poor-black-women-younger-adults/
Number of people in Japan receiving social assistance benefits hits a record high:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/06/03/national/social-issues/number-welfare-recipients-japan-hits-record-high/#.VXGncUb-lJN
Government memo says UK welfare benefits cap could mean 40,000 more kids living in poverty:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/leaked-memo-claims-benefits-cut-could-plunge-another-40000-children-into-poverty-10286303.html
UK welfare benefits cap could be the “killer blow” to social housing:
http://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2015/jun/02/benefit-cap-london-killer-blow-social-housing?CMP=share_btn_fb
Kansas welfare reform: “The idea of not being able to feed your kids because of a change in law, that is horrifying”:
http://cjonline.com/news/state/2015-05-31/kansas-welfare-reform-cuts-deep-disenfranchised
New American reality TV show profits from hardships of poor American families:
http://mic.com/articles/119760/new-cbs-show-pits-struggling-families-in-competition-for-101-000