NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo joined Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health David McKeown and hundreds of other Ontarians today at Queen’s Park to urge the McGuinty government to include a monthly Healthy Food Supplement for adult social assistance recipients in next week’s budget.

NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo says the McGuinty Liberals new poverty legislation won’t actually do anything to help Ontarians living in poverty.

“With more Ontarians falling into poverty each and every day, there is nothing in the McGuinty government’s legislation to lessen the burden they face. No plan, no strategy – it’s a bill that’s much ado about nothing,” said DiNovo.

NDP Poverty Critic Michael Prue today welcomed the call from a network of over 1,500 individuals and organizations for the McGuinty government to make significant investments in poverty reduction in next month’s budget.

NDP Poverty Critic Michael Prue says a report revealing epidemic rates of chronic disease amongst low-income Ontarians should be a “wake-up call” for the McGuinty government.

The report, released by the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto, found that Ontarians living on social assistance are two to four times more likely than other Ontarians to suffer from diabetes, strokes, heart disease, chronic bronchitis, ulcers and a range of other diseases.

NDP Leader Howard Hampton is dismissing the McGuinty government’s poverty reduction plan as yet another “lay-away plan with no money down.”

“Ontarians sent a clear message during the government’s poverty consultations. They want decent wages, adequate income supports, and immediate investments in public programs such as housing and child care,” said Hampton.

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.