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Media & Policy News: 8 December 2017

December 8, 2017

Top Stories

December 6

Remember the 14:
http://www.cbc.ca/montreal/features/remember-14/

How are women with disabilities affected by violence that is different from other women?
http://blog.legalaid.on.ca/2017/12/01/how-are-women-with-disabilities-affected-by-violence-that-is-different-from-other-women/

Northwestern Ontario Women’s Centre: Violence against older women information session Dec 18:
http://yourlegalrights.on.ca/sites/all/files/poster-VAOW.pdf

How to get your child and family benefit and credit payments while staying in a transition shelter:
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/newsroom/tax-tips/tax-tips-2017/how-get-your-benefit-payments-while-staying-shelter.html

Op-Ed: We all need to step up to stop violence against women:
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/opinion/opinion-we-all-need-to-step-up-to-stop-violence-against-women-167869/

Government release: Ontario helping survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking access affordable housing:
http://yourlegalrights.on.ca/sites/all/files/poster-VAOW.pdf

Health and Dental

Overall health includes oral health: Should dental be part of universal health care?
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/filling-in-the-gaps-dental-care-in-canada-a-special-edition-of-the-current-1.4421567/overall-health-includes-oral-health-should-dental-be-part-of-universal-health-care-1.4421599

Panel calls on Ottawa to provide universal pharmacare plan for Canadians:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/panel-calls-on-ottawa-to-provide-universal-pharmacare-plan-for-canadians-1.3191054#_gus&_gucid=&_gup=twitter&_gsc=qdcDpBQ

National Housing Strategy

Activists say Ottawa should deliver housing funds over two years, instead of 11:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/11/22/activists-say-ottawa-should-deliver-housing-funds-over-two-years-instead-of-11.html

A National Housing Strategy to maintain homelessness for decades to come:
https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2017/11/30/National-Housing-Strategy-Maintain-Homelessness-Decades-Come/

Hulchanski: No, Ottawa has not put forth a national housing strategy:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/no-ottawa-has-not-put-forth-a-national-housing-strategy/article37173057/

Housing plan won’t help middle class, experts say:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/11/22/housing-plan-wont-help-middle-class-experts-say.html

The housing crisis requires attacking on several fronts:
http://rabble.ca/news/2017/11/housing-crisis-requires-attacking-several-fronts

Government backgrounder: Canada’s national housing strategy:
https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/news/2017/11/backgrounder_canadasnationalhousingstrategy.html

Homelessness needs to be a priority  now, not after the next election:
http://www.cumberlandnewsnow.com/opinion/homelessness-needs-to-be-a-priority-now-not-after-next-election-166612/

The national housing strategy may be more symbol than substance: https://torontoist.com/2017/12/national-housing-strategy-may-symbol-substance/

Bill 148

Employers need to review policies in wake of Ontario’s labour law changes:
https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5363/employers-need-to-review-policies-in-wake-of-ontario-s-labour-law-changes-experts

Rising Ontario wages jeopardizing in-home care for Peterborough man:
http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/2017/12/02/rising-ontario-wages-jeopardizing-in-home-care-for-peterborough-man

Ontario small businesses raise prices to cover rise in minimum wage:
http://www.baystreet.ca/economiccommentary/2033/Ontario-Small-Businesses-Raise-Prices-To-Cover-Rise-In-Minimum-Wage

Other Top Stories

Survey of Ottawa rooming house tenants finds many scramble to pay rent:
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/survey-of-rooming-house-tenants-finds-many-scramble-to-pay-rent

Activists across Canada demand fair banking for low-income people:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/11/30/activists-across-canada-demand-fair-banking-for-low-income-people.html

Federal Liberals face funding gap on First Nations water promise: Parliamentary Budget Office:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pbo-indigenous-water-boil-1.4437451

BC announces $33 million to create 3,800 new child-care spaces:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/province-announces-33m-to-create-3-800-new-child-care-spaces-1.4432155

Letter to the Editor: Fight for your due on Sears Canada pensions and benefits:
http://www.standard-freeholder.com/2017/12/05/letters-to-the-editor-dec-6-2017

In wake of Sears bankruptcy, CCPA calls for changes to pension accountability:
https://globalnews.ca/news/3894326/bob-layton-editorial-support-for-the-front-line/

  • CCPA report:

Canada’s jobless rate hits lowest since 2008 as hiring spikes:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-adds-79500-jobs-unemployment-rate-falls-to-lowest-since-2008/article37163553/

Federal government to spend millions on increasing take-up of education benefits for low-income families:
https://www.thestar.com/amp/news/canada/2017/12/02/federal-government-to-spend-millions-on-increasing-take-up-of-education-benefits-for-low-income-families.html

Toronto Council votes for new shelter beds, but refuses to open armouries to people who are homeless:
https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2017/12/06/council-votes-for-new-shelter-beds-refuses-to-open-armouries-to-the-homeless.html

  • Additional shelter beds approved amid emotional debate at City Hall: http://toronto.citynews.ca/2017/12/06/additional-shelter-beds-approved-amid-emotional-debate-city-hall/

 

Ontario

Auditor General’s report:

Sick days, salaries taking away from kids, auditor says:
http://torontosun.com/news/provincial/ontario-auditor-report-finds-concerns-in-how-money-spent

Report will be last before 2018 election:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/auditor-general-report-ontario-1.4431648

Statement from the Minister of Housing and Responsible for Poverty Reduction:
https://news.ontario.ca/mho/en/2017/12/statement-from-the-minister-of-housing-and-minister-responsible-for-the-poverty-reduction-strategy-f.html

Other Ontario

How the unconditional basic income changes people’s working habits:
http://www.economicsgazette.com/unconditional-basic-income-changes-people-working-habits.html

 

Reports, Events, Campaigns and Other Good Things

Dec 20: Premier Wynne takes public Town Hall to Peel Region:
https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2017/12/premier-wynne-takes-public-town-hall-to-peel-region.html

Dec 14: Community Forum on Income Security: Toronto:
https://www.facebook.com/events/129832354364656/

HALCO Fact Sheets: Immigration and Citizenship Law updates:
http://www.halco.org/2017/news/immigration-and-citizenship-law-updates

Stats Can Study: Getting your foot in the door: A look at entry level job vacancies in Canada, 2016:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/171206/dq171206b-eng.htm?CMP=mstatcan

Stats Can: Survey of Financial Security, 2016:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/171207/dq171207b-eng.htm?CMP=mstatcan

Human Rights Legal Support Centre and Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres present: Defending your human rights in Ontario – what you need to know:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4JD7b7Uce0&feature=youtu.be

Homeless Hub newsletter:
http://mailchi.mp/edu/yellowknifes-plan-to-end-homelessness-2883409?e=6da7d6f883

 

Around the Province

London mom says she filled up on water to make sure her son had enough to eat:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-mom-says-she-filled-up-on-water-to-make-sure-her-son-had-enough-to-eat-1.4432036

Making ends meet as a pregnant working student in London:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/making-ends-meet-as-pregnant-working-student-london-ontario-1.4435203

Social Planning Council of Oxford report on predatory lending:
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2017/12/05/a-new-report-by-the-social-planning-council-of-oxford-focuses-on-how-predatory-lending-hurts-those-in-need-sometimes-pushing-them-to-bankruptcy

Facing the financial cost of cancer: An Orillia woman’s struggle:
https://www.simcoe.com/news-story/7972264-facing-the-financial-cost-of-cancer-an-orillia-woman-s-struggle/

Peterborough’s River Magazine gives voice to those living in poverty or low income:
https://globalnews.ca/news/3902544/peterboroughs-river-magazine-gives-voice-to-those-living-in-poverty-or-low-income/

Sudbury man claims Ontario city’s bus passes for disabled are discriminatory:
https://www.guelphtoday.com/around-the-village/man-claims-ontario-citys-bus-passes-for-disabled-are-discriminatory-782581

Greater Sudbury eyeing 200 early child-care spaces to help vulnerable kids:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/sudbury-daycare-child-care-1.4433090

Community need for food bank seen daily by Waterloo Regional Police:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/waterloo-regional-police-chief-bryan-larkin-food-bank-1.4433708

Percentage of North Bay low-income residents above provincial and national averages:
https://www.mynorthbaynow.com/25553/many-communities-nipissing-parry-sound-districts-average-per-cent-low-income-people/

 

Across the Country

BC employers clash on timeline for $15 minimum wage:
https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/12/07/employers-clash-timeline-minimum-wage/

  • Unifor recommends fast-tracking $15 BC minimum wage: http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/unifor-recommends-fast-tracking-15-minimum-wage-661871983.html

Emergency Food Action Network serves community’s food needs in Vernon, BC:
https://www.vernonmorningstar.com/community/food-needs-served-up/

Pricey tampons at Calgary airport show the burden low-income women face:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/12/05/pricey-tampons-calgary-airport_a_23297532/

Meet the developer behind Calgary’s first fully automated apartments for people with disabilities:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/accessible-apartment-capitol-hill-confederation-park-automation-calgary-1.4425466

Saskatchewan government grants 10 days of leave from work to survivors of interpersonal violence:
http://leaderpost.com/news/politics/sask-government-grants-10-days-of-leave-from-work-to-survivors-of-interpersonal-violence

Manitoba must deliver on child-poverty promises:
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/province-must-deliver-on-child-poverty-promises-462227833.html

Struggling to survive on social assistance in Halifax:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1527152-struggling-to-survive-on-social-assistance

Black in Halifax: Guest editor on levelling the playing field:
http://www.metronews.ca/views/halifax/2017/12/03/black-in-halifax-guest-editor-carlos-beals-on-levelling-the-playing-field-for-his-community.html

Why we can’t afford to lose the fight against poverty in Nova Scotia:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/editorials/1527139-editorialwhy-we-can%E2%80%99t-afford-to-lose-the-fight-against-poverty

Halifax to wait-and-see on this whole basic income thing:
https://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/archives/2017/12/05/halifax-to-wait-and-see-on-this-whole-basic-income-thing

Moncton woman with cerebral palsy says disability benefits rules prevent her from working:
https://globalnews.ca/news/3898100/moncton-woman-with-cerebral-palsy-says-disability-benefits-rules-prevent-her-from-working/

St. John’s pet food bank hoping to fill empty shelves for Christmas:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/heavenly-creatures-pet-food-bank-needs-donations-1.4435488

 

National

Appeals court strikes down veterans’ disability pension lawsuit:
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/appeals-court-strikes-down-veterans-disability-pension-lawsuit-1.3706216

Liberals plan to reduce permanent resident backlog for caregivers:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/12/03/liberals-plan-to-reduce-permanent-resident-backlog-for-caregivers.html

Small towns to see branch closings, Scotiabank CEO predicts:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/scotiabank-eyeing-small-town-branch-closures-ceo-says/article24926205/

Parental leave rules set to undergo major shift as provinces adjust to EI changes:
http://www.benefitscanada.com/benefits/other/parental-leave-rules-set-to-undergo-major-shift-as-provinces-adjust-to-ei-changes-107175

 

International

Congressional Republicans are laying the groundwork to overhaul welfare programs for the poor:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/06/congressional-republicans-are-laying-the-groundwork-to-overhaul-welfare-programs-for-the-poor/?utm_term=.1c387f0849b9

Australia’s “Fair Work Commission” itself plays a key role in gender pay gap:
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/fair-work-commission-contributing-to-gender-pay-gap-20171203-gzxm7r.html

UK anti-poverty adviser quits, says Brexit impeding progress:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/12/03/uk-anti-poverty-adviser-quits-says-brexit-impeding-progress.html

UK government warned over sharp rise in child and pensioner poverty:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/dec/04/uk-government-warned-over-sharp-rise-children-pensioner-poverty-study

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer causes storm with remarks about disabled workers:
http://toronto.citynews.ca/2017/12/06/additional-shelter-beds-approved-amid-emotional-debate-city-hall/

The UK Conservatives are wrong: Having more people working hasn’t reduced poverty:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/child-pension-poverty-rise-joseph-rowntree-foundation-conservative-government-austerity-work-a8093246.html

UK government policies are making social mobility and child poverty even worse:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/07/tory-policies-making-social-mobility-child-poverty-even-worse

Fuel poverty levels in Scotland decrease as energy prices fall:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-42242999

More than a million Australian workers are being ripped off by their employers failing to pay the minimum wage:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5140029/A-MILLION-Australian-workers-ripped-employers.html

Australian Council of Social Services urges Senate to dump cashless welfare drug card:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/dec/08/acoss-urges-senate-to-dump-cashless-welfare-card-program

Australia shelves plans to drug test welfare recipients, citing lack of Senate support:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-07/federal-government-shelves-plans-to-drug-test-welfare-recipients/9234334

Australian pay gap for women in minimum wage jobs could be down to “simple prejudice”:
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/the-pay-gap-for-women-in-minimum-wage-jobs-could-be-down-to-simple-prejudice/news-story/d59d17cf1e74ab10582da266835fa25e

Irish official admits “Welfare Cheats” campaign was a mistake:
https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2017/1207/925784-welfare-cheats/

We could fund a universal basic income with the data we give away to Facebook and Google:
https://thenextweb.com/artificial-intelligence/2017/12/05/we-could-fund-a-universal-basic-income-with-the-data-we-give-away-to-facebook-and-google/

Young Norwegians with “immigrant background” receive less social assistance:
https://www.tnp.no/norway/panorama/norway-young-norwegians-immigrant-background-social-assistance

Checks for Free: A Mexican plan to combat poverty:
https://www.voanews.com/a/checks-for-free-is-proposal-for-mexican-plan-to-combat-poverty/4152975.html

German Jobcentre concedes that people on welfare can beg… up to a point:
https://www.thelocal.de/20171206/jobcentre-concedes-that-people-on-welfare-can-beg-up-to-a-point

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This site contains general legal information for people in Ontario, Canada. It is not intended to be used as legal advice for a specific legal problem. ISAC is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization. ISAC is funded by Legal Aid Ontario (LAO). The funding for this website is also provided by LAO. The views expressed in any of ISAC’s publications (including written, oral, or visual) are the views of the clinic and do not necessarily reflect those of LAO.