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The Brampton Guardian
Anti-poverty groups urge province to revamp social assistance policies
Monday August 18 2008
Peter Criscione
Anti-poverty groups in Peel have called on Queen’s Park to change provincial social assistance policies.

Peel Poverty Action Group (PPAG) and the Brampton-Mississauga District Labour Council sent a letter to Deb Matthews, provincial minister of child and youth services, highlighting personal struggles shared by residents during a public forum held in Brampton recently.

The forum was organized in response to a June meeting in Brampton whereby service providers and community stakeholders met with Matthews behind closed doors.

Edna Toth, PPAG chair, said the meeting sponsored by the PPAG and labour council was an opportunity to hear from people struggling with poverty.

Had the June meeting in Brampton been open to the public, Toth said Matthews may have heard concerns that some government supports, such as Ontario Works and living on Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), actually make it harder for people to climb out of poverty.

For example, one PPAG member, now age 51, has required disability supports since birth, though he has worked full-time or part-time on and off.

In 1975, when he first joined the ODSP, he received $257 per month.

Thirty-three years later, he receives $784 per month but only when he’s not working.  
“When he works, ODSP deducts half of whatever he earns. His last month’s ODSP statement showed that he received $347 from them, plus half of whatever little he earned from his part-time job,” Toth explained. “Because of these clawbacks, he is unable to get out of the poverty trap. He has no life. He can’t even rent a movie, let alone alleviate some of his social isolation by going to the movies.”

Government programs keep people poor no matter how hard they work, added labour council delegate Jim McDowell.

“They (programs) actually penalize people who get jobs,” McDowell said.
The PPAG has urged the Ontario government to cease clawbacks of earned income from ODSP allowances.

Also, the groups want Queen’s Park to help fund breakfast and after-school care programs for children, and provide housing support and subsidized housing for low income residents.  
Ontario’s Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction aims to develop a poverty reduction strategy with measures, indicators and “reasonable” targets by the end of 2008.

The committee will review how to best organize the current system of supports to ensure effective investment and more efficient administration.

The June meeting in Brampton was one of 14 stops across Ontario bringing together people who are actively engaged in poverty reduction.

However, both the PPAG and labour council criticized provincial authorities for not making the meeting more accessible to members of the community.

“Though the Ontario government has held so-called consultations about poverty across the province, the consultation in Brampton was by invitation only and was held during the day, when workers can’t go,” McDowell said.