<html><head></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:13px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_53719"><span style="line-height: 0.22in; orphans: 1;">Hi folks,</span><br></div><div class="qtdSeparateBR"><br><br></div><div class="yahoo_quoted" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_53726" style="display: block;"><div style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_53725"><div style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_53724"><div class="y_msg_container" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_53730"><div id="yiv0576072901"><div class="yiv0576072901yqt3862821690" id="yiv0576072901yqtfd30011"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_53733"><div style="color:#000;background-color:#fff;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, 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style="display:block;"><div id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_38289" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_38288" style="font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div class="yiv0576072901y_msg_container" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_38298"><div id="yiv0576072901"><div id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_38297"><div id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_38296" style="color:#000;background-color:#fff;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div class="yiv0576072901yahoo_quoted" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_31924" style="display:block;"><div id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_31923" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_31922" style="font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div class="yiv0576072901y_msg_container" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_31941"><div id="yiv0576072901"><div id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_31947"><div id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_31946" style="color:#000;background-color:#fff;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24468">Here's a quick summary of today's Ontario budget with some background links.</div><div class="yiv0576072901qtdSeparateBR" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24434"><div class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none" class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24458"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program are being increased by 1.5% across the board. Single people with no children will see that increase topped up so their total increase is $25 a month.</div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">Low-income seniors will see the eligibility ceiling for the Ontario Drug Benefit increase to $19,300 from $16,018. They will pay $2 per prescription and no deductible. People whose incomes are higher than that will pay $7.11 per prescription and have their deductible increased from $100 to $170 annually.</div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">Students with family incomes below $50K will get a non-repayable grant that will be higher than the average Ontario tuition - for college, it will be more than $2,768 and for university, more than $6,160. This is part of a restructuring of the entire OSAP program. Another component is the removal of the deduction of your tuition fees from your income taxes.</div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">The children's activity tax credit is gone. This didn't benefit low-income families anyway because it was a credit towards taxes due rather than a direct credit.</div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">Hospital funding which has been frozen for five years will be increased. </div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">The gas tax will increase by 4.3 cents per litre - for the "average family", this is an increase of about $8 a month. The income from this will go towards the cap and trade program to reduce climate change.</div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">There are no new infrastructure commitments.</div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">Finally, the minimum price of a bottle of table wine at the LCBO is going to $7.95 and the tax on a carton of cigarettes goes up $3.</div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">The changes in social programs, including social assistance and housing, are at: <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22422" target="_blank" href="http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2016/ch1e.html">http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2016/ch1e.html</a></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">Student grants are at: <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="yiv0576072901edited-link-editor" target="_blank" href="http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2016/bk1.html">http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2016/bk1.html</a></div><div class="yiv0576072901yqt2137293356" id="yiv0576072901yqtfd22785"><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">Child care, elementary and high school, post-secondary and training are at: <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="yiv0576072901edited-link-editor" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_33462" target="_blank" href="http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2016/ch1c.html">http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2016/ch1c.html</a></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">Health care is at: <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="yiv0576072901edited-link-editor" target="_blank" href="http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2016/ch1d.html">http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2016/ch1d.html</a></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">The Ontario retirement plan is at: <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="yiv0576072901edited-link-editor" target="_blank" href="http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2016/ch1f.html">http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2016/ch1f.html</a></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">There is the promise of a Basic Income pilot that will be researched in 2016:</div><div class="yiv0576072901yqt4889565533" id="yiv0576072901yqtfd01538"><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><div class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_32383"></div><blockquote class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24751" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border:none;padding:0px;"><div class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24434"><div class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22414" style="margin-top:1em;margin-right:20px;margin-bottom:1.5em;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;line-height:16.9px;">"In the <em class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22416" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;">2015 Budget</em>, Ontario introduced a consultation on social assistance rate restructuring. Through ongoing discussions, there emerged a clear consensus on the need to move policy considerations beyond social assistance rates to include aspects of the broader income security system.</div></div><div class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24434"><div class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22418" style="margin-top:1em;margin-right:20px;margin-bottom:1.5em;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;line-height:16.9px;">As a result, this year, the government will continue to engage with delivery partners, clients and sector advocates to chart the path to comprehensive reform that effectively reduces poverty, supports people in their efforts to participate in the economy, and provides human services in a way that makes sense to the people who need them. This process will look across government and at the broader income security landscape to ensure that various existing and future programs work together to help Ontarians. The government will also engage with First Nation, Inuit and Metis communities to ensure that the path forward recognizes unique challenges on- and off-reserve and helps all Ontarians live a better life.</div></div><div class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24434"><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22420" style="margin-top:1em;margin-right:20px;margin-bottom:1.5em;border:0px;outline:0px;font-family:Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;line-height:16.9px;">One area of research that will inform the path to comprehensive reform will be the evaluation of a Basic Income pilot. The pilot project will test a growing view at home and abroad that a basic income could build on the success of minimum wage policies and increases in child benefits by providing more consistent and predictable support in the context of today’s dynamic labour market. The pilot would also test whether a basic income would provide a more efficient way of delivering income support, strengthen the attachment to the labour force, and achieve savings in other areas, such as health care and housing supports. The government will work with communities, researchers and other stakeholders in 2016 to determine how best to design and implement a Basic Income pilot."</div></div></blockquote></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241">Linda.</div><div class="yiv0576072901" dir="ltr" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_22241"><br clear="none"></div><div align="LEFT" class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24463" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:0.22in;orphans:1;"><span class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24466" style="color:rgb(203, 0, 142);font-size:small;">“<font class="yiv0576072901" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24465" face="Arial, sans-serif">Look closely at the present you are constructing: it should look like the future you are dreaming.” </font></span><span style="color:rgb(203, 0, 142);font-size:small;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;line-height:0.22in;">- Alice Walker</span></div></div></div></div><div class="yiv0576072901yqt4889565533" id="yiv0576072901yqtfd04541"><div class="yiv0576072901yqt2137293356" id="yiv0576072901yqtfd01442"><div class="yiv0576072901yahoo_quoted" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24430" style="display:block;"><div id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24429" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24428" style="font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div class="yiv0576072901y_msg_container" id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24437"><div id="yiv0576072901"><div id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24440"><div id="yiv0576072901yui_3_16_0_1_1456433155461_24439" style="color:#000;background-color:#fff;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div class="yiv0576072901yqt2244245007" id="yiv0576072901yqtfd37311"><style>#yiv0576072901 --
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