The McGuinty government continued to abandon some of Ontario’s most vulnerable today when it voted down the NDP’s motion to fully restore Temporary Care Assistance (TCA) funding for grandparents raising their grandchildren.

After weeks of repeatedly hammering away at the McGuinty government for its stand on the issue, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek MPP Paul Miller hoped that the motion would allow the government to save face and change course. With dozens of grandparents and their grandchildren in the Legislative Assembly to watch the proceedings, that didn’t happen.

“The McGuinty government is being callous and cruel. More than 50 government members marched in and voted against grandparents and grandkids across this province. They ought to be ashamed,” said Miller.

Throughout this afternoon’s debate, Community and Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur remained intransigent, asserting that there has been no change to the TCA rules.

“Prove that to the grandparents from ROCK (Raising Our Children’s Kids) who have been cut-off that there’s been no change,” Miller pointedly asked her

The Minister also went back to her assertion that these families can get the Ontario Child Benefit.

“That’s a whole $50 per month and the federal benefits she cites are all clawed back. The only right thing to do is recognise that all of these families must be covered by TCA, so that funding will be available to cover basic costs like education, health, dental and recreation for these children,” said Miller.

After the McGuinty Liberals defeated the motion 52-22, one grandchild in attendance burst into tears, asking her grandmother if “this means there’ll be no Christmas.”