Every week during the election, we’ll post select info and articles featuring our work and the work of our clinic colleagues and community allies to help inform you about the issues at stake in the 2022 Provincial Election. This is our final election round-up for the 2022 Provincial Election.
Monday, May 30: Sunday May 29 marked the beginning of National AccessAbility Week. With three days left before election day, there’s no better time to review the party platforms and see what they say in comparison to what disability justice advocates in Ontario are calling for.
As we note in Monday’s blog post here, people with disabilities are twice as likely to live in poverty, often deep poverty. Low social assistance rates, benefit clawbacks, literal and systemic barriers to work, and discrimination all contribute to this reality. Click here to read the provincial party responses to our income security questionnaire, which includes the question: What specifically will your party do to support people with disabilities live lives of dignity?
Tuesday, May 31: The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released a new report called “A Bumpy Ride: Tracking women’s economic recovery amid the pandemic”. The thorough report includes new and important findings, highlighting the disparities between who’s “recovering” and who isn’t.
“This analysis reveals that Canada’s economic recovery has proven to be as unequal as the initial downturn. Women represented the majority of workers who were hardest hit by successive rounds of economic restrictions over the past two years. By the end of 2021, employment levels among all women aged 15 and older had finally surpassed pre-pandemic employment levels, but low-wage women have yet to recover and a large number of older workers have left the labour market.” – Introduction, A Bumpy Ride: Tracking women’s economic recovery amid the pandemic
Read the whole CCPA report by clicking here (PDF).
The YWCA Ontario’s “Choose Gender Equity” provincial election campaign speaks to some of these intersectional issues impacting women in the labour market in Ontario. Click here to read their full five-point, feminist plan which calls for:
- Income Security: Social assistance rates of at least $2,000 per month.
- Affordable Housing: A continuum of housing options for women and gender diverse people – including deeply affordable housing, emergency shelters, transitional and supportive programs.
- Child Care: Expansion of affordable non-profit and public child care spots that include decent work and pay provisions for all child care workers.
- Decent Work: Decent work conditions for women and all workers – including specific gender-inclusive upskilling employment programs and other training programs.
- Safety for women and gender diverse people: A coordinated provincial plan to end gender-based violence.
Wednesday, June 1:
June 1st marks Injured Workers Day in Ontario. According to the Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic (IWC), “the day commemorates June 1st 1983 when over three thousand injured workers forced a government committee looking at major changes Ontario’s workers’ compensation system to conduct a public hearing on the steps of the Legislature.”
Injured Workers Action for Justice and Justicia for Migrant Workers held a 3 pm rally outside of the WSIB Building in downtown Toronto, calling for abolishing the WSIB surplus; providing real healthcare for injured workers regardless of immigration status; and ending WSIB’s practice of “deeming”.
And with one day to go before voting day, community legal clinics continued to share information on important election issues with their clients and the public. Throughout the election period, Waterloo Region Community Legal Clinic has posted infographics on where the parties stand on issues such as Immigration, Mental Health and Addictions, and Workers’ Rights. Their whole series can be viewed on their twitter account here. Wednesday’s infographic was about where the parties stand on Indigenous Truth and Reconciliation.
Tomorrow, Thursday, June 2, is ELECTION DAY!
If you haven’t voted in the advanced polls, by mail, by special ballot, or any other way supported by Elections Ontario, you can cast your ballot at your local polling station on June 2, 2022.
Most polls are open from 9 am to 9 pm, but Elections Ontario has the most up to date information about how, when, and where to vote.
And that’s it for ISAC’s Provincial Election 2022 round-up series. Signing off until the next election…