[homeles_ot-l] Coalition calling for province to cut poverty rates by 25 per cent in five years (Maxime Lacroix, Media Analyst, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation ).

[lj1967 at sympatico.ca]

Fyi...Ontario must aim to cut poverty rates by 25 per cent over the next five years through increasing the minimum wage and social assistance rates, building more affordable housing, and expanding access to medical coverage that most take for granted, a coalition of anti-poverty activists said Monday... 

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Maxime Lacroix 
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation - 
Société canadienne d'hypothèques et de logement 
Media Analyst - Analyste des médias 
613-748-2000 (3604) 

 
Coalition calling for province to cut poverty rates by 25 per cent in five years. 

12 minutes ago 

TORONTO - Ontario must aim to cut poverty rates by 25 per cent over the next five years through increasing the minimum wage and social assistance rates, building more affordable housing, and expanding access to medical coverage that most take for granted, a coalition of anti-poverty activists said Monday. 

While the governing Liberals wouldn't commit to the suggested target, about 500 activists gathered at the Ontario legislature Monday with an aggressive plan to lift 320,000 people out of poverty in five years. 

"We can't just nibble away at these things. We've got to really make a move that really combats poverty at every level," said Michael Yale, with the Ontario Disability Support Program Action Coalition. 

"What we're asking for is not exactly radical politics. We're asking for equal citizenship. We're asking for enough money to live a normal standard of living. That's hardly rocket science." 

The Liberals promised to set up a cabinet committee to set targets for poverty reduction by the end of the year and is now launching a travelling tour to gather ideas. 

That's raised the hopes of many anti-poverty activists who say it's time for action if Ontario wants to join Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, the United Kingdom and other European countries that have set hard targets to eradicate poverty. 

"It's been a long, long time since we had a government that was interested in naming poverty as an issue, actually wrestling with it and asking us what we think about it," said Nick Saul, executive director of the Stop Community Food Centre in Toronto. "You've opened the door, we're coming through." 

Ontario must raise the minimum wage much more rapidly to make it possible to work full-time and live above the poverty line, said the coalition calling itself 25 in 5: Network for Poverty Reduction. Social and disability assistance rates also need to be boosted after being cut in the 1990s, the coalition said. 

The province must also make housing, transit and child-care more affordable to lift people out of poverty and the poor deserve equal access to dental, drug and vision coverage, the group said. 

"It's way past time to join together and raise our voices in a chorus that will be heard across the country," Pat Capponi, with Voices from the Street, told the audience - one-quarter of whom put up their hands when asked if they live in poverty. 

"It makes social and economic sense. We need all hands on deck. If we as people living in poverty actually get a chance to contribute to our communities, what a thriving province it would be." 

Deb Matthews, minister of children and youth services, said she agrees that Ontario "can't afford poverty." The Liberals are very serious about reducing poverty because "it's really hard to be poor," Matthew told the group. 

But while Matthews said she values the coalition's advice, she didn't commit to its poverty reduction target. The government still has to define what poverty is and assess the efficacy of its current programs before setting a goal, she said. 

"We have to be realistic about what we can do," she told reporters. "We were elected on a number of planks in our platform. One was not to raise taxes and one was not to run a deficit. We have to live within that reality but I'm very, very confident we're going to be able to do a lot of very good things within those constraints." 

Ontario also needs the co-operation of the federal government if it's going to lift a significant number of people out of poverty, she added. 

Toronto city councillor Joe Mihevc said all levels of government need to play their part and people shouldn't have to wait until 2010 to see their minimum wage rise to $10.25. For Ontario cities to thrive, he said poverty has to be reduced. 

"Reducing poverty by 25 per cent in five years is doable," Mihevc said. "It is not pie in the sky." 

For Michael Creek, a Toronto cancer survivor who survives on disability support payments, it's about having enough pocket money to be able to use public transit or buy a coffee. 

It's about ensuring people don't become trapped in their apartments, isolated from society, Creek said. 

"Every day in poverty is a struggle," Creek said. "I wake up with it and I go to bed with it . . . We all recognize that now is the time for action. Real people are being hurt. Real people are leading diminished lives. It's time for real change." 

Tuitio ad servitium pauperum -- Breath & Shadow: 

"Canada is not a country for the cold of heart or the cold of feet." ~ Pierre Elliot Trudeau. 

Live to make a Just Society every day -- Ne lache pas!
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