Premier Dalton McGuinty was right to lower Ontarians expectations for his government’s poverty plan in recent weeks. He was correct to imply that new initiatives would have to go-slow in face of in an economic recession in Ontario. Because his government’s new poverty reduction plan is quite simply underwhelming.

In fact, it constitutes a slap in the face of the many Ontarians – particularly those living in poverty - who suspended their skepticism, duly wrote in to government websites and attended meetings with MPs, and waited in good faith for the McGuinty government to deliver an action plan to seriously tackle poverty.

Child and Youth Services Minister Deb Matthews promised a comprehensive plan which “will speak to all people living in poverty in this province.” Instead, Ontarians got a plan that focuses narrowly on children, commits little new money, and makes poverty reduction targets contingent on the unlikely scenario of billions of new dollars from a Tory federal government and a growing economy.

The Liberal plan has a number of serious shortcomings which include:

• offering nothing to the 45-year-old auto parts worker whose unemployment benefits have run out, and who can no longer afford to pay rent.
• offering nothing to the woman with autism who works hard to augment her ODSP benefits – only to have half of her earnings clawed back by the government.
• not helping the single mother on Ontario Works who only eats once a day so that her two children can have two or maybe three meals, and who has to tell her son he can’t participate in soccer because it costs $150.
• offering nothing to the 44 year-old who has been on the waiting list for housing for 15 years and is still depending on shelters and food banks.

Individuals, anti-poverty groups and policy experts have consistently called for three main actions to reduce poverty: good jobs with livable incomes; adequate income supports for those unable to work; and community supports such as housing and child care.

Apart from a small increase to the Ontario Child Benefit, the government’s plan does nothing to increase sub-poverty minimum wages and social assistance rates in the province. In fact, even when the Child Benefit is fully implemented in 2012, a single mother with two children living still be living deep in poverty – as much as $6,000 below the Low Income Cut Off.

The plan also lacks any new commitment to affordable housing or childcare – two issues consistently called for during the consultations and part of successful poverty plans elsewhere.

Funding for the plan – rising to $300 million a year by 2013 – is pathetically small (on a per capita basis it is only about one-sixth of the $2.5 billion that Quebec has invested in its five-year plan).

Based on dialogues with people from across Ontario, the NDP believes that a practical and effective poverty reduction strategy must includes five immediate commitments:

• a $10.25 minimum wage rising to $11 by 2011;
• an increased shelter benefit for social assistance recipients to cover 85% of average market rent;
• a $1,100 Child Benefit rising to $1,500 per child by 2011;
• 7,000 affordable housing units a year;
• and $100 million for new child care spaces.

This is the kind of practical and realistic action Ontarians want – not a tentative plan made up of conditional targets, inadequate spending and delayed implementation.

As one participant in the poverty consultations said, “I am not asking to live a pampered life but it would be nice to feed my kid and pay rent and actually have the food last until the end of the month…I don’t drink or smoke or for that matter even go out. I am not in a postion to work. The stress of poverty keeps me depressed.WE know You know what is going on!”

Poverty is urgent. Hunger doesn’t wait. A plan to reduce poverty only if times and good and other governments carry the load is no plan at all.

Ontarians expect action to reduce poverty now.

To quote another poverty consultation participant: “People demand these changes now. To blame an economic downturn or not enough information is no longer acceptable…Your time is up. Make the changes.”

A good time to start would be with significant new investments in child care, housing and income supports in the 2009 Budget. Such investments would create new jobs, stimulate spending – and most of all, give people a chance to full contribute to their communities.

NDP 5-Point Poverty Plan

The NDP thanks all those who participated in the NDP Town Hall meetings and the poverty consultations more generally.

We salute people across Ontario for your determined work over the last two years to successfully push the Ontario Government to commit to and now table an anti-poverty strategy.

The NDP is committed to continuing to work with citizens to ensure that the government remains true to its targets, commits to concrete actions in areas currently omitted from its plan, and allocates adequate funding to these actions starting with the 2009 budget.

Specifically, the NDP is working for the inclusion of the following 5-point action plan in the 2009 provincial budget, a plan that includes key recommendations from the 25-in-5 Network and other groups in Ontario.

The NDP is calling for:

• a $10.25 minimum wage now rising to $11 by 2011;
• a $1,100 Ontario Child Benefit now rising to $1,500 per child by 2011;
• an increased shelter benefit for social assistance recipients to cover 85% of average market rent along with an end to the 50% claw back on employment earnings of ODSP recipients;
• 7,000 new affordable housing units a year:
• $100 million for new child care spaces.

We welcome your input on these proposed actions, and hope that we can count on your continued support so that together, we can fight for their inclusion in the upcoming Ontario Budget.

FINAL POVERTY REPORT

You can download a pdf of the final report from the NDP Cauucs Poverty consulations.
Download the report Final Poverty Report [1.4Mb]

Meeting Reports

Report from Toronto Meeting, June 16, 2008

You can download a pdf of the report from the Toronto Poverty meeting that was held on June 16 at the Native Centre in Toronto.
Download the report Toronto Poverty Report [135kb]

Report from Sudbury Meeting, June 25, 2008

You can download a pdf of the report from the Sudbury Poverty meeting that was held on June 25 at the Samaritan Centre in Sudbury.
Download the report Sudbury Poverty Report [135kb]

Report from Windsor Meeting, July 10, 2008

You can download a pdf of the report from the Windsor Poverty meeting that was held on July 10 at the United Church Downtown Mission in Windsor.
Download the report Windsor Poverty Report [135kb]

Report from Thunder Bay Meeting, July 17, 2008

You can download a pdf of the report from the Thunder Bay Poverty meeting that was held on July 17 at the Lakehead Labour Centre in Thunder Bay.
Download the report Thunder Bay Poverty Report [135kb]

Report from Thornhill Meeting, July 23, 2008

You can download a pdf of the report from the Thornhill Poverty meeting that was held on July 23 in Thornhill, Ontario.
Download the report Thornhill Poverty Report [135kb]

Report from Bracebridge Meeting, July 31, 2008

You can download a pdf of the report from the Bracebridge Poverty meeting that was held on July 31 at the St. Thomas Anglican Church in Bracebridge.
Download the report Bracebridge Poverty Report [135kb]

Report from London Meeting, July 31, 2008

You can download a pdf of the report from the London Poverty meeting that was held on July 31 at London City Hall.
Download the report London Poverty Report [135kb]

Filed Under: Eliminate Poverty | Yes

Filed Under: Eliminate Poverty