Ontario polling thread (April 18, 2012)

DLivings wrote:

I've been in the streets many times over the years...  as a 13 year old showing solidarity against a Liberal government in Saskatchewan trying to turn back Douglas's recently enacted medicare (enacting "deterrent" fees), against the uranmium development without adequate environmental measures of the ndp government in Saskatchewan in the late 70's, and many more times since.  And it's a critical part of standing up for, and creating awareness about, issues that affect workers, the environment, the poor and dispossessed, and more.

I don't know if you're suggesting that political action (of the democratic and systems type) is a waste of time and not worth doing.  If so, this sanctions and legitimizes running street battles between different factions because "that's the only way to get things done".  This, of course, is what the Harper and Obama governments support abroad (Libya, Egypt, Honduras, Syria, Ukraine) but never at home.  It's ironic (okay, often criminal) that we support these insurrections rather than the use of the ballot box.  If Harper's and Obamas's stance were applied in our own backyard for example, this would legitimize a tea-party revolt that seized government in the US, just because they have the street might, assault rifles and all, to support their insurrection and thus to impose their view of the world.

The street work and the democratic political work go hand-in-hand.

txs
..what i suggest (and i do so all over the place in babble) is that new ways are being found to make decisions that have nothing to do with the parliamentary system. for example to arrive at the policy of zero tuition fees with the cost to be borne by taxing corporations was made by que students in general assemblies. the stalemate over pipelines re tar sands oil and lng has (imho) come about by alliances made at a grassroots level and decided upon in a democratic way. come aug the people’s social forum will bring together many people who will beginning a process of building a different world in a inclusive way. and finally i would like to present my latest find of what is possible from the ground up.

Food, Energy, Finance: A Solutions Movement Takes Root In Northern California

http://www.occupy.com/article/food-energy-finance-solutions-movement-tak...

..what role elected govs will play in canda or anywhere else isn’t always clear. in bc some ndp mp's and mla's are supporting the antipipeline movements. so some will be supportive and some not but in any case, the important thing is, that change will move forward. and that it moves forward from the ground up which is very different then the top down governing structures in place.

DLivings wrote:

epaulo13 wrote:

..what role elected govs will play in canda or anywhere else isn’t always clear. in bc some ndp mp's and mla's are supporting the antipipeline movements. so some will be supportive and some not but in any case, the important thing is, that change will move forward. and that it moves forward from the ground up which is very different then the top down governing structures in place.

Granted that democracy changes...   and I spent time at Vancouver's Occupy site as well.  Nevertheless, there has to be a common table where voices come together to make public decisions.  Whether it's about pipelines or tuition hikes. I totally support increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthy to pay for education (including college education)  It still takes public policy made by a democratically elected government to sanction such a policy.  Who will make the corporations pay unless it's through an increase in corporate taxes.  If the students simply drop down to the corporate offices to take their share, what's stopping the corporations from choosing which colleges/research they will fund?  The latter is a matter of public policy, and so is the former.

Transit union anti-privatization campaign to challenge provincial government: #P3fail

epaulo13 wrote:

..one of the reason that ontario is facing possible catastrophe coming from this election is that the ndp didn't consult. it made it's decision in an election chamber based on stats and possibilities. it very well knew what risks they were forcing on the peoples of ontario. maybe even counting on the fact that if enough people where scared they would vote ndp. our lives are being fucked with and our lives and the lives of our are to important to be left in their hands. it's a matter of survival on many many levels.

Come on. One minute you are talking about how elections are meaningless exercizes, and now running scared of a direct confrontation iwth the forces of the right.

It's hard to tell where you stand. Fact is that the threat from the right might even have been greater at the end of the election cycle, next year.

There was going to ba an election next year, one way or the other. And conditions could have been worse.

Can't go on backing down, based on the fantasy that somehow if we cave in enough to Liberal governance, we can play politics and prevent the Tories from getting in. What no one is talking about is the fact that the reason the Tories are sounding so crazy now, is because all of their more reasonable policies have already been absorbed by the Liberals.

Full privatization of Hydro was a Tory idea up until about a year ago. The Liberals are promoting it now.

I am glad the NDP opposed this austerity budget. It was the right thing to do. Austerity should be opposed.

Rokossovsky wrote:

epaulo13 wrote:

..one of the reason that ontario is facing possible catastrophe coming from this election is that the ndp didn't consult. it made it's decision in an election chamber based on stats and possibilities. it very well knew what risks they were forcing on the peoples of ontario. maybe even counting on the fact that if enough people where scared they would vote ndp. our lives are being fucked with and our lives and the lives of our are to important to be left in their hands. it's a matter of survival on many many levels.

Come on. One minute you are talking about how elections are meaningless exercizes, and now running scared of a direct confrontation iwth the forces of the right.

It's hard to tell where you stand. Fact is that the threat from the right might even have been greater at the end of the election cycle, next year.

There was going to ba an election next year, one way or the other. And conditions could have been worse.

Can't go on backing down, based on the fantasy that somehow if we cave in enough to Liberal governance, we can play politics and prevent the Tories from getting in. What no one is talking about is the fact that the reason the Tories are sounding so crazy now, is because all of their more reasonable policies have already been absorbed by the Liberals.

Full privatization of Hydro was a Tory idea up until about a year ago. The Liberals are promoting it now.

I am glad the NDP opposed this austerity budget. It was the right thing to do. Austerity should be opposed.

..i never said that elections were meaningless. why are you saying that i did?

epaulo13 wrote:

..i never said that elections were meaningless. why are you saying that i did?

Based on your post I first responded to epaulo, I've drawn the same conclusion as Rokossovsky.  My point is quite simply, we need to be on the streets, doing visible things raising awareness on important issues and hammering out what solutions can look like...   AND that doesn't absolve us from involvement in the electoral process.  In fact, it makes it just as important to be plugged in there so there's a connection between the idea generating and the public policy making.

Re Horwath's ndp campaign...  given the LIb's record it's understandable that support wasn't offered for another budget of empty Liberal promises.  The hardest part for the ndp is waging a battle for the minds and votes of the electorate when the Lib's war chest is at $4 million and counting and ndp's is not yet at a million.  I suspect that has as much as anything to do with the delayed announcement, the slim province-wide messaging by the ndp...  I'm not sure it was the best strategy, but I get it.

Rokossovsky wrote:

epaulo13 wrote:

..one of the reason that ontario is facing possible catastrophe coming from this election is that the ndp didn't consult. it made it's decision in an election chamber based on stats and possibilities. it very well knew what risks they were forcing on the peoples of ontario. maybe even counting on the fact that if enough people where scared they would vote ndp. our lives are being fucked with and our lives and the lives of our are to important to be left in their hands. it's a matter of survival on many many levels.

Come on. One minute you are talking about how elections are meaningless exercizes, and now running scared of a direct confrontation iwth the forces of the right.

It's hard to tell where you stand. Fact is that the threat from the right might even have been greater at the end of the election cycle, next year.

There was going to ba an election next year, one way or the other. And conditions could have been worse.

Can't go on backing down, based on the fantasy that somehow if we cave in enough to Liberal governance, we can play politics and prevent the Tories from getting in. What no one is talking about is the fact that the reason the Tories are sounding so crazy now, is because all of their more reasonable policies have already been absorbed by the Liberals.

Full privatization of Hydro was a Tory idea up until about a year ago. The Liberals are promoting it now.

I am glad the NDP opposed this austerity budget. It was the right thing to do. Austerity should be opposed.

The Liberals support the full privatization of Hydro One and OPG? Show me the evidence (the review of Crown assests doesn't count). Also, although Hudak is no longer talking about the total privatization of OPG and Hydro One, the white paper that initally called for such a move is still on the PC website and Hudak's official 2014 platform advocates "opening up" Hydro One, OPG, and the LCBO to investment from Ontario pension funds (does anyone else find it hypocritical that OMERS has been the biggest beneficiary of privatization in Ontario in recent years?).

Both the Liberals and the Conservatives are a threat to public power, but the latter are a far greater and more immediate threat.

Just to address the ridiculous...

"The Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage is coordinated by ACORN, Freedom 90, Mennonite New Life Centre, OCAP, Ontario Campaign 2000, Parkdale Community Legal Services, Put Food in the Budget, Social Planning Toronto, Toronto and York Region Labour Council and the Workers’ Action Centre." http://raisetheminimumwage.ca

ACORN:

[url=http://rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/john-bonnar-audio-blog/2013/02/ottawa-ac... ACORN demands a stop to the ODSP income clawback[/url]

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QV5LpWdY7Y]Ottawa Acorn- Stop the income clawback for ODSP OW recipients-MPP Yasir Naqvi's Office[/url]

[url=http://www.freedom90.ca/index.html]Freedom 90[/url]: "The Government of Ontario must ensure that social assistance and minimum wage levels are sufficient for everyone to have adequate housing and to buy their own food."

"We will continue until the province of Ontario specifically, recognizes that it can no longer continue to turn a blind eye to the deep poverty that individuals and families on OW and ODSP are confined to, living on social assistance rates 60% below the poverty line."

[url=http://mnlct.org/engagement/action/]Mennonite New Life Centre[/url]: "All Ontarians deserve good living standards. Parents deserve the resources they need to raise their children in safety and love – free of the fear and stigma of poverty. Specifics include:

• Close the gap between life on social assistance and moving out of poverty.
• Make it easier for people with disabilities to get access to theOntarioDisability Support Program (ODSP).
• Enrich the Ontario Child Benefit." - 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction

[url=http://ocap.ca/files/history%20of%20ocap.pdf]OCAP[/url]: "OCAP is a direct-action anti-poverty organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We mount campaigns against regressive government policies as they affect poor and working people. In addition, we provide direct-action advocacy for individuals against welfare and ODSP, public housing and others who deny poor people what they are entitled to. We believe in the power of people to organize themselves.

We believe in the power of resistance."

[url=http://www.campaign2000.ca/Ontario/OntC2000PovertyReductionStrategyOct20... Campaign 2000[/url]: "Increasing the shamefully low social assistance rates of Ontario’s 892,099 recipientsv is long overdue as current rates do not even cover food, housing and clothing costs.vi As of December 2012, a single parent on Ontario Works (OW) with one young child received $940 a month plus a maximum annual Ontario Child Benefit (OCB) of $92vii - even with provincial and federal child benefits and tax credits included, these families lived $9,116 below the LIM.

Ontario needs positive social assistance reform that promotes equity and justice. The next poverty reduction strategy must stipulate that reforms to social assistance should only be made if they have the effect of reducing poverty. And there should be no “winners and losers” – no one on social assistance should end up with less money as a result of any reform. It should also outline the investments that will be made in reforming the system, as the only real way to make meaningful, positive change is to invest in improvements. If the right reforms and investments are made now, savings will come later. A holistic positive reform of social assistance will also require improving the many other services people need. Employment supports and services, child care services, mental health supports and services, and many others need to be improved.

The social assistance system has been eroded over the past twenty years. Rates are dangerously low and well below the reality of the cost of living in Ontario. Ontario Works benefits for a single person would have to increase by 56% and the Ontario Disability Support Program by 22% to have the same purchasing power as they had in 1993. We must invest in the health and dignity of people on OW and ODSP, and not continue to allow their incomes to erode." - Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy Submission; October 4, 2013

[url=http://www.parkdalelegal.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&i... Community Legal Services[/url]: "PCLS is participating in a province-wide coalition for the revocation of the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement from families receiving social assistance."

[url=http://putfoodinthebudget.ca/about_us/about_us.html]Put Food in the Budget[/url]: "The Put Food in the Budget campaign began in January 2009 in response to Premier McGuinty's decision to exclude an increase in social assistance rates for adults in Ontario from his poverty reduction strategy.

The Put Food in the Budget campaign had two demands. The first demand was for an immediate $100-a-month increase for every adult in Ontario receiving social assistance. The second demand was that the proposed Social Assistance Review Commission recommend social assistance rates at a level that ensured a life of health and dignity.

The Social Assistance Review Commission has not addressed the inadequacy of social assistance rates. Four years after the announcement of the poverty reduction strategy a social assistance rate increase of $100 a month will not be adequate. The Put Food in the Budget campaign is therefore broadening its demands."

Then, of course, there's the [url=http://raisetherates.ca/?page_id=6]Raise The Rates[/url] campaign:

"Raise the Rates is a campaign to fight poverty by raising social assistance rates in Ontario. Jointly organized by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario, Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (S-CAP), Kingston Coalition Against Poverty (K-CAP), Poverty Makes Us Sick Waterloo Region, Poverty Makes Us Sick Ottawa, OPSEU and other grassroots anti-poverty organizers and trade union allies from across Ontario. We are a growing movement united in fighting for:

• Raise Social Assistance Rates 55%: reverse the cuts, raise the rates!

• Restore Special Diet and Community Start-Up Benefits

• Stop the Attack on Disability Benefits

• Living wage for all: Raise the Minimum wage above poverty wages"

onlinediscountanvils wrote:

Just to address the ridiculous...

"The Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage is coordinated by ACORN, Freedom 90, Mennonite New Life Centre, OCAP, Ontario Campaign 2000, Parkdale Community Legal Services, Put Food in the Budget, Social Planning Toronto, Toronto and York Region Labour Council and the Workers’ Action Centre." http://raisetheminimumwage.ca

 

ACORN:

[url=http://rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/john-bonnar-audio-blog/2013/02/ottawa-ac... ACORN demands a stop to the ODSP income clawback[/url]

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QV5LpWdY7Y]Ottawa Acorn- Stop the income clawback for ODSP OW recipients-MPP Yasir Naqvi's Office[/url]

 

[url=http://www.freedom90.ca/index.html]Freedom 90[/url]: "The Government of Ontario must ensure that social assistance and minimum wage levels are sufficient for everyone to have adequate housing and to buy their own food."

"We will continue until the province of Ontario specifically, recognizes that it can no longer continue to turn a blind eye to the deep poverty that individuals and families on OW and ODSP are confined to, living on social assistance rates 60% below the poverty line."

 

[url=http://mnlct.org/engagement/action/]Mennonite New Life Centre[/url]: "All Ontarians deserve good living standards. Parents deserve the resources they need to raise their children in safety and love – free of the fear and stigma of poverty. Specifics include:

• Close the gap between life on social assistance and moving out of poverty.
• Make it easier for people with disabilities to get access to theOntarioDisability Support Program (ODSP).
• Enrich the Ontario Child Benefit." - 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction

 

[url=http://ocap.ca/files/history%20of%20ocap.pdf]OCAP[/url]: "OCAP is a direct-action anti-poverty organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We mount campaigns against regressive government policies as they affect poor and working people. In addition, we provide direct-action advocacy for individuals against welfare and ODSP, public housing and others who deny poor people what they are entitled to. We believe in the power of people to organize themselves.

We believe in the power of resistance."

 

[url=http://www.campaign2000.ca/Ontario/OntC2000PovertyReductionStrategyOct20... Campaign 2000[/url]: "Increasing the shamefully low social assistance rates of Ontario’s 892,099 recipientsv is long overdue as current rates do not even cover food, housing and clothing costs.vi As of December 2012, a single parent on Ontario Works (OW) with one young child received $940 a month plus a maximum annual Ontario Child Benefit (OCB) of $92vii - even with provincial and federal child benefits and tax credits included, these families lived $9,116 below the LIM.

Ontario needs positive social assistance reform that promotes equity and justice. The next poverty reduction strategy must stipulate that reforms to social assistance should only be made if they have the effect of reducing poverty. And there should be no “winners and losers” – no one on social assistance should end up with less money as a result of any reform. It should also outline the investments that will be made in reforming the system, as the only real way to make meaningful, positive change is to invest in improvements. If the right reforms and investments are made now, savings will come later. A holistic positive reform of social assistance will also require improving the many other services people need. Employment supports and services, child care services, mental health supports and services, and many others need to be improved.

The social assistance system has been eroded over the past twenty years. Rates are dangerously low and well below the reality of the cost of living in Ontario. Ontario Works benefits for a single person would have to increase by 56% and the Ontario Disability Support Program by 22% to have the same purchasing power as they had in 1993. We must invest in the health and dignity of people on OW and ODSP, and not continue to allow their incomes to erode." - Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy Submission; October 4, 2013

 

[url=http://www.parkdalelegal.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&i... Community Legal Services[/url]: "PCLS is participating in a province-wide coalition for the revocation of the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement from families receiving social assistance."

 

[url=http://putfoodinthebudget.ca/about_us/about_us.html]Put Food in the Budget[/url]: "The Put Food in the Budget campaign began in January 2009 in response to Premier McGuinty's decision to exclude an increase in social assistance rates for adults in Ontario from his poverty reduction strategy.

The Put Food in the Budget campaign had two demands. The first demand was for an immediate $100-a-month increase for every adult in Ontario receiving social assistance. The second demand was that the proposed Social Assistance Review Commission recommend social assistance rates at a level that ensured a life of health and dignity.

The Social Assistance Review Commission has not addressed the inadequacy of social assistance rates. Four years after the announcement of the poverty reduction strategy a social assistance rate increase of $100 a month will not be adequate. The Put Food in the Budget campaign is therefore broadening its demands."

 

Then, of course, there's the [url=http://raisetherates.ca/?page_id=6]Raise The Rates[/url] campaign:

"Raise the Rates is a campaign to fight poverty by raising social assistance rates in Ontario. Jointly organized by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario, Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (S-CAP), Kingston Coalition Against Poverty (K-CAP), Poverty Makes Us Sick Waterloo Region, Poverty Makes Us Sick Ottawa, OPSEU and other grassroots anti-poverty organizers and trade union allies from across Ontario. We are a growing movement united in fighting for:

• Raise Social Assistance Rates 55%: reverse the cuts, raise the rates!

• Restore Special Diet and Community Start-Up Benefits

• Stop the Attack on Disability Benefits

• Living wage for all: Raise the Minimum wage above poverty wages"

The point is that regardless of the opinions that these groups have on other issues, that does not mean that the $14 campaign focusses on anything but very small area of economic activity that has the least structural impact on capitalist economic relations. 

I certainly don't oppose it. Nor does it mean that it is a hill that I would die on as if the minimum wage itself is the be all and end all of a "socialist program."

onlinediscountanvils wrote:

Thanks for posting, epaulo13. It's nice to see that some people are taking the issue of poverty in Ontario seriously - even if none of the parties are.

Your remark misses the mark on several key points. The main one being that a higher minimum wage does nothing for all kinds of low income people, and only supports the "respectable" working poor, and not the "untouchables". A deeper analysis shows that support for social infrastructure, such as transit, or increased social asssitance has much broader impact.

I happen to support, a 20 hour work week at a livable wage, OW and ODSP at $2400 a month, and state ownership of the commanding heights of the economy. That doesn't mean that if Horwath doesn't support any one of those things I am going to vote for privatiztaion of Ontario Hydro, the LCBO, and miniscule raises in the social assistance rates, and claim its more progressive than the NDP plan, apparently out of spite.

PrairieDemocrat15 wrote:

The definition of the "north" includes the Barrie, Simcoe, Nippising, and Muskoka areas, so the NDP shouldn't do as well overall as they do further north.

Pollsters using area codes instead of real regions should be ashamed of themselves. Calling "705" the "North" is lunacy. It adds about seven present ridings to the ten actually northern ridings: Simcoe-Grey, Barrie, Simcoe North, Parry Sound--Muskoka, Haliburton--Kawartha Lakes--Brock, Peterborough, and parts of York-Simcoe and Northumberland. And by the populations (2011 census) the Barrie area gets a new riding, while the North deserves only eight, so it's really eight and eight: half of the "705" is not in the North at all.

Ontario Budget wrote:

Chapter I: Ontario’s Decade — A 10-Year Plan for the Economy 103 Reducing Regulation for Business to Enhance Productivity Ontario is building a regulatory environment that encourages business growth.

As part of the recent Open for Business renewal initiative, Ontario is finding ways to further reduce regulatory burdens, adopt smarter regulatory practices and facilitate ongoing business-to-government connections. The government has introduced legislation that, if passed, would create a better business climate by reducing burdens for business.

Each year, ministries will identify, measure and report on at least one initiative that can help further reduce the regulatory burden on businesses. Through this initiative, the government will help stakeholders save millions of hours in time and $100 million in costs by 2016–17. The government is committed to reducing the regulatory burden while protecting public safety.

A smart and targeted effort at red tape reduction will ensure a better business climate without putting public safety at risk. This work follows the government’s achievement of eliminating 80,000 regulatory burdens or 17 per cent of red tape since 2008.

Mike Harris Tories? Nope Kathleen Wynne Liberals.

Remember the "Ontario is Open for Business" slogan?

PrairieDemocrat15 wrote:

Rokossovsky wrote:

epaulo13 wrote:

..one of the reason that ontario is facing possible catastrophe coming from this election is that the ndp didn't consult. it made it's decision in an election chamber based on stats and possibilities. it very well knew what risks they were forcing on the peoples of ontario. maybe even counting on the fact that if enough people where scared they would vote ndp. our lives are being fucked with and our lives and the lives of our are to important to be left in their hands. it's a matter of survival on many many levels.

Come on. One minute you are talking about how elections are meaningless exercizes, and now running scared of a direct confrontation iwth the forces of the right.

It's hard to tell where you stand. Fact is that the threat from the right might even have been greater at the end of the election cycle, next year.

There was going to ba an election next year, one way or the other. And conditions could have been worse.

Can't go on backing down, based on the fantasy that somehow if we cave in enough to Liberal governance, we can play politics and prevent the Tories from getting in. What no one is talking about is the fact that the reason the Tories are sounding so crazy now, is because all of their more reasonable policies have already been absorbed by the Liberals.

Full privatization of Hydro was a Tory idea up until about a year ago. The Liberals are promoting it now.

I am glad the NDP opposed this austerity budget. It was the right thing to do. Austerity should be opposed.

The Liberals support the full privatization of Hydro One and OPG? Show me the evidence (the review of Crown assests doesn't count). Also, although Hudak is no longer talking about the total privatization of OPG and Hydro One, the white paper that initally called for such a move is still on the PC website and Hudak's official 2014 platform advocates "opening up" Hydro One, OPG, and the LCBO to investment from Ontario pension funds (does anyone else find it hypocritical that OMERS has been the biggest beneficiary of privatization in Ontario in recent years?).

Both the Liberals and the Conservatives are a threat to public power, but the latter are a far greater and more immediate threat.

TD Bank chief to ‘optimize’ LCBO, Hydro One and Ontario Power

Tory MPP Vic Fedeli (Nipissing) wrote:

“When we first proposed doing this two years ago, the Liberals opposed it,” said Fedeli, mocking the initiative as “another panel they’ll ignore.”

And...

Hydro asset sales could generate $10 billion

Quote:

“So you’ve got what, $10 billion of stuff there you could sell, looking at Hydro One plus the nuclear. And they still own Niagara Falls.”

People of Ontario get to keep Niagra Falls, isn't that nice?

for greater context wrote:

But gently nudging open the door to such policies this spring could indicate what will have to happen if the Liberals somehow hold on to power past the next campaign, which looks increasingly likely to be held in the coming months. Having backed away from new gasoline, sales or personal taxes, Ms. Wynne would have only so many options to fund the infrastructure those new “revenue tools” were once supposed to cover.

The subtext of Mr. Sousa’s speech next week, in other words, will likely be that some relatively easy and uncontroversial asset sales might help to get shovels in the ground on a few preferred projects; to get much built will require tougher choices the government is not prepared to make yet.

In short: Have mandate will travel.

"Does anyone else find it hypocritical that OMERS has been the biggest beneficiary of privatization in Ontario in recent years?"

No. Why?

onlinediscountanvils wrote:

Just to address the ridiculous...

"The Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage is coordinated by ACORN, Freedom 90, Mennonite New Life Centre, OCAP, Ontario Campaign 2000, Parkdale Community Legal Services, Put Food in the Budget, Social Planning Toronto, Toronto and York Region Labour Council and the Workers’ Action Centre." http://raisetheminimumwage.ca

 

ACORN:

[url=http://rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/john-bonnar-audio-blog/2013/02/ottawa-ac... ACORN demands a stop to the ODSP income clawback[/url]

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QV5LpWdY7Y]Ottawa Acorn- Stop the income clawback for ODSP OW recipients-MPP Yasir Naqvi's Office[/url]

 

[url=http://www.freedom90.ca/index.html]Freedom 90[/url]: "The Government of Ontario must ensure that social assistance and minimum wage levels are sufficient for everyone to have adequate housing and to buy their own food."

"We will continue until the province of Ontario specifically, recognizes that it can no longer continue to turn a blind eye to the deep poverty that individuals and families on OW and ODSP are confined to, living on social assistance rates 60% below the poverty line."

 

[url=http://mnlct.org/engagement/action/]Mennonite New Life Centre[/url]: "All Ontarians deserve good living standards. Parents deserve the resources they need to raise their children in safety and love – free of the fear and stigma of poverty. Specifics include:

• Close the gap between life on social assistance and moving out of poverty.
• Make it easier for people with disabilities to get access to theOntarioDisability Support Program (ODSP).
• Enrich the Ontario Child Benefit." - 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction

 

[url=http://ocap.ca/files/history%20of%20ocap.pdf]OCAP[/url]: "OCAP is a direct-action anti-poverty organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We mount campaigns against regressive government policies as they affect poor and working people. In addition, we provide direct-action advocacy for individuals against welfare and ODSP, public housing and others who deny poor people what they are entitled to. We believe in the power of people to organize themselves.

We believe in the power of resistance."

 

[url=http://www.campaign2000.ca/Ontario/OntC2000PovertyReductionStrategyOct20... Campaign 2000[/url]: "Increasing the shamefully low social assistance rates of Ontario’s 892,099 recipientsv is long overdue as current rates do not even cover food, housing and clothing costs.vi As of December 2012, a single parent on Ontario Works (OW) with one young child received $940 a month plus a maximum annual Ontario Child Benefit (OCB) of $92vii - even with provincial and federal child benefits and tax credits included, these families lived $9,116 below the LIM.

Ontario needs positive social assistance reform that promotes equity and justice. The next poverty reduction strategy must stipulate that reforms to social assistance should only be made if they have the effect of reducing poverty. And there should be no “winners and losers” – no one on social assistance should end up with less money as a result of any reform. It should also outline the investments that will be made in reforming the system, as the only real way to make meaningful, positive change is to invest in improvements. If the right reforms and investments are made now, savings will come later. A holistic positive reform of social assistance will also require improving the many other services people need. Employment supports and services, child care services, mental health supports and services, and many others need to be improved.

The social assistance system has been eroded over the past twenty years. Rates are dangerously low and well below the reality of the cost of living in Ontario. Ontario Works benefits for a single person would have to increase by 56% and the Ontario Disability Support Program by 22% to have the same purchasing power as they had in 1993. We must invest in the health and dignity of people on OW and ODSP, and not continue to allow their incomes to erode." - Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy Submission; October 4, 2013

 

[url=http://www.parkdalelegal.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&i... Community Legal Services[/url]: "PCLS is participating in a province-wide coalition for the revocation of the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement from families receiving social assistance."

 

[url=http://putfoodinthebudget.ca/about_us/about_us.html]Put Food in the Budget[/url]: "The Put Food in the Budget campaign began in January 2009 in response to Premier McGuinty's decision to exclude an increase in social assistance rates for adults in Ontario from his poverty reduction strategy.

The Put Food in the Budget campaign had two demands. The first demand was for an immediate $100-a-month increase for every adult in Ontario receiving social assistance. The second demand was that the proposed Social Assistance Review Commission recommend social assistance rates at a level that ensured a life of health and dignity.

The Social Assistance Review Commission has not addressed the inadequacy of social assistance rates. Four years after the announcement of the poverty reduction strategy a social assistance rate increase of $100 a month will not be adequate. The Put Food in the Budget campaign is therefore broadening its demands."

 

Then, of course, there's the [url=http://raisetherates.ca/?page_id=6]Raise The Rates[/url] campaign:

"Raise the Rates is a campaign to fight poverty by raising social assistance rates in Ontario. Jointly organized by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario, Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (S-CAP), Kingston Coalition Against Poverty (K-CAP), Poverty Makes Us Sick Waterloo Region, Poverty Makes Us Sick Ottawa, OPSEU and other grassroots anti-poverty organizers and trade union allies from across Ontario. We are a growing movement united in fighting for:

• Raise Social Assistance Rates 55%: reverse the cuts, raise the rates!

• Restore Special Diet and Community Start-Up Benefits

• Stop the Attack on Disability Benefits

• Living wage for all: Raise the Minimum wage above poverty wages"

The Green Party (both provincially and federally) is proposing about a Guaranteed Livable Income/Guaranteed Annual Income.  

http://www.gpo.ca/blog/2014-03-28/recommendations-provincial-2014-budget

Horwath has been invisible in the media on the poverty issue thus far.  I think this will turn out to be a big mistake for the NDP and could cost them one or more seats in Toronto.  

Orangutan wrote:

onlinediscountanvils wrote:

Just to address the ridiculous...

"The Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage is coordinated by ACORN, Freedom 90, Mennonite New Life Centre, OCAP, Ontario Campaign 2000, Parkdale Community Legal Services, Put Food in the Budget, Social Planning Toronto, Toronto and York Region Labour Council and the Workers’ Action Centre." http://raisetheminimumwage.ca

 

ACORN:

[url=http://rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/john-bonnar-audio-blog/2013/02/ottawa-ac... ACORN demands a stop to the ODSP income clawback[/url]

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QV5LpWdY7Y]Ottawa Acorn- Stop the income clawback for ODSP OW recipients-MPP Yasir Naqvi's Office[/url]

 

[url=http://www.freedom90.ca/index.html]Freedom 90[/url]: "The Government of Ontario must ensure that social assistance and minimum wage levels are sufficient for everyone to have adequate housing and to buy their own food."

"We will continue until the province of Ontario specifically, recognizes that it can no longer continue to turn a blind eye to the deep poverty that individuals and families on OW and ODSP are confined to, living on social assistance rates 60% below the poverty line."

 

[url=http://mnlct.org/engagement/action/]Mennonite New Life Centre[/url]: "All Ontarians deserve good living standards. Parents deserve the resources they need to raise their children in safety and love – free of the fear and stigma of poverty. Specifics include:

• Close the gap between life on social assistance and moving out of poverty.
• Make it easier for people with disabilities to get access to theOntarioDisability Support Program (ODSP).
• Enrich the Ontario Child Benefit." - 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction

 

[url=http://ocap.ca/files/history%20of%20ocap.pdf]OCAP[/url]: "OCAP is a direct-action anti-poverty organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We mount campaigns against regressive government policies as they affect poor and working people. In addition, we provide direct-action advocacy for individuals against welfare and ODSP, public housing and others who deny poor people what they are entitled to. We believe in the power of people to organize themselves.

We believe in the power of resistance."

 

[url=http://www.campaign2000.ca/Ontario/OntC2000PovertyReductionStrategyOct20... Campaign 2000[/url]: "Increasing the shamefully low social assistance rates of Ontario’s 892,099 recipientsv is long overdue as current rates do not even cover food, housing and clothing costs.vi As of December 2012, a single parent on Ontario Works (OW) with one young child received $940 a month plus a maximum annual Ontario Child Benefit (OCB) of $92vii - even with provincial and federal child benefits and tax credits included, these families lived $9,116 below the LIM.

Ontario needs positive social assistance reform that promotes equity and justice. The next poverty reduction strategy must stipulate that reforms to social assistance should only be made if they have the effect of reducing poverty. And there should be no “winners and losers” – no one on social assistance should end up with less money as a result of any reform. It should also outline the investments that will be made in reforming the system, as the only real way to make meaningful, positive change is to invest in improvements. If the right reforms and investments are made now, savings will come later. A holistic positive reform of social assistance will also require improving the many other services people need. Employment supports and services, child care services, mental health supports and services, and many others need to be improved.

The social assistance system has been eroded over the past twenty years. Rates are dangerously low and well below the reality of the cost of living in Ontario. Ontario Works benefits for a single person would have to increase by 56% and the Ontario Disability Support Program by 22% to have the same purchasing power as they had in 1993. We must invest in the health and dignity of people on OW and ODSP, and not continue to allow their incomes to erode." - Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy Submission; October 4, 2013

 

[url=http://www.parkdalelegal.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&i... Community Legal Services[/url]: "PCLS is participating in a province-wide coalition for the revocation of the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement from families receiving social assistance."

 

[url=http://putfoodinthebudget.ca/about_us/about_us.html]Put Food in the Budget[/url]: "The Put Food in the Budget campaign began in January 2009 in response to Premier McGuinty's decision to exclude an increase in social assistance rates for adults in Ontario from his poverty reduction strategy.

The Put Food in the Budget campaign had two demands. The first demand was for an immediate $100-a-month increase for every adult in Ontario receiving social assistance. The second demand was that the proposed Social Assistance Review Commission recommend social assistance rates at a level that ensured a life of health and dignity.

The Social Assistance Review Commission has not addressed the inadequacy of social assistance rates. Four years after the announcement of the poverty reduction strategy a social assistance rate increase of $100 a month will not be adequate. The Put Food in the Budget campaign is therefore broadening its demands."

 

Then, of course, there's the [url=http://raisetherates.ca/?page_id=6]Raise The Rates[/url] campaign:

"Raise the Rates is a campaign to fight poverty by raising social assistance rates in Ontario. Jointly organized by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario, Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (S-CAP), Kingston Coalition Against Poverty (K-CAP), Poverty Makes Us Sick Waterloo Region, Poverty Makes Us Sick Ottawa, OPSEU and other grassroots anti-poverty organizers and trade union allies from across Ontario. We are a growing movement united in fighting for:

• Raise Social Assistance Rates 55%: reverse the cuts, raise the rates!

• Restore Special Diet and Community Start-Up Benefits

• Stop the Attack on Disability Benefits

• Living wage for all: Raise the Minimum wage above poverty wages"

The Green Party (both provincially and federally) is proposing about a Guaranteed Livable Income/Guaranteed Annual Income.  

http://www.gpo.ca/blog/2014-03-28/recommendations-provincial-2014-budget

Horwath has been invisible in the media on the poverty issue thus far.  I think this will turn out to be a big mistake for the NDP and could cost them one or more seats in Toronto.  

You mean that increasing funding to daycares and creating a slush fund for communities to re-purpose schools to community activities so that they don't have to be closed, and securing revenue from corporate taxation to fund transit infrastrucure, as opposed to sales of government services and assets, don't count as "poverty" issues?

The only way to address "poverty" is to increase the minimum wage?

I am still having trouble grasping this logic.

I thought that directing resources to the social support infrastructure, supported the poor, who need daycare for their children, accessible recreation facilities and cheap reliable transit?

Aristotleded24 wrote:

Rokossovsky wrote:

The only way to address "poverty" is to increase the minimum wage?

I am still having trouble grasping this logic.

I thought that directing resources to the social support infrastructure, supported the poor, who need daycare for their children, accessible recreation facilities and cheap reliable transit?

Nearly every CCPA article I've ever read arguing for a minimum wage increase has also mentioned that minimum wage is but one tool, that there are other things that must happen such as affordable housing.

That's right.

Of course, I don't recall anyone here arguing that increasing the minimum wage is the only way to address poverty.

flagged

A lot of this recent thread content would more properly belong in the general election thread than the polling thread, no?

onlinediscountanvils wrote:

 

Of course, I don't recall anyone here arguing that increasing the minimum wage is the only way to address poverty.

onlinediscountanvils wrote:

epaulo13 wrote:

Video: Young workers call for $14 minimum wage in Ontario

video

On May 14, students and young workers set up an obstacle course on the lawn of Queen's Park to demonstrate the hurdles students face juggling rising tuition fees and low-wage work. The event is part of the ongoing campaign calling on party leaders and candidates to support a $14 minimum wage in Ontario.

http://rabble.ca/rabbletv/program-guide/2014/05/best-net/video-young-wor...

Thanks for posting, epaulo13. It's nice to see that some people are taking the issue of poverty in Ontario seriously - even if none of the parties are.

Actually you are arguing precisely that unless a party supports the $14 minimum wage that they are not taking poverty "seriously".

That much is plain.

onlinediscountanvils wrote:

Pogo wrote:

I wish I could flag everytime I was caught contradicting myself.

You can, but I'm not sure what purpose it would serve.

You can also flag when someone repeatedly tries to bait you by lying about what you've said.

Oh. Well I sincerely appologize if you don't think that the NDP's failure to endorse a $14 an hour minimum wage indicates that they are not serious about poverty in Ontario.

PrairieDemocrat15 wrote:

Rokossovsky wrote:

 

"Does anyone else find it hypocritical that OMERS has been the biggest beneficiary of privatization in Ontario in recent years?"

No. Why?

A penson fund for unionized municipal employees privatizing municipal services and thus taking jobs away from municipal workers doesn't sound a little hypocritical to you? Not to mention self-defeating. So much for solidarity.

Not at all since the pension funds are not controlled by the unions, and therefore their members, the fact that the balance of power on the board of OTTP, and the constitution of the fund disallows "political" decision making means that the province can basically direct the fund to enter into any scam they like.

I don't know about OMERS structure, specifically but I have investigated OTTP, and other than send letters the union exec and their members can do nothing about the board's decisions on investment. Hence you have teachers sharing picket duty with locked out Cadillac Fairview employees, while their pension plan is putting the boots to them.

The government, as you know is a shared contributor to these funds, and as such that justifies its control over their activities.

Disregard:  Any polls showing the Liberals doing well.

Cite as gospel:  Any polls showing the Liberals doing poorly or the Conservatives in the lead.

Rinse.  Repeat.

Link

You mean, the get even world?  Because that's the only world Kinsella operates in. 

That's the best you can do?  Kinsella?  In your continued effort to cheerlead for a Hudak victory.