[homeles_ot-l] Fwd: April 14 and upcoming consultations

[Terrie]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: 25in5 <25in5 at cspc.toronto.on.ca>
Date: Thu, May 1, 2008 at 3:52 PM
Subject: April 14 and upcoming consultations
To: Mary Micallef <mmary at cspc.toronto.on.ca>


 *NOTE:* 25 in 5 will be responding tomorrow to the province's announcement
that consultations for the poverty reduction strategy will be starting as
soon as this Monday in Peterborough. We expect an open, inclusive and
transparent process for consultation, and if you haven't already, we urge
you to send a message to Minister Matthews that you wish to be included in
consultations. You can do so at our web site, www.25in5.ca, and also view
the 25 in 5 Principles for Consultation.

On April 14, 2008, the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction hosted the
"Countdown to a Poverty Reduction Plan" forum at Queen's Park.
This event drew close to 500 participants from across the province.  Thank
you to everyone who attended and support this event.

At the forum, people living in poverty took centre stage as the Network
unveiled its founding declaration which includes three priorities for
Ontario's poverty reduction plan: good, sustaining jobs that lift working
Ontarians out of poverty; liveable incomes, that include those unable to
work; and, strong and supportive communities – affordable housing, child
care, public education and community programs that help people connect.

The momentum around poverty reduction continues to grow. Working together,
we have a real opportunity to make significant progress towards the
elimination of poverty. At the April 14 forum, Pat Capponi of Voices from
the Street said it best:

"We've all been feeling powerless for over a decade -- those of us who know
poverty first hand and those of you who work around poverty issues. We've
become jaded, and we've retreated behind the walls of our agencies and our
groups and we've kept our heads down for fear that we'd lose even more if we
made any noise.

But this is not the time for cynicism or jadedness -- it's not the time for
my community first, my agency first, my needs first. We need everyone who's
even remotely associated with poverty to stand up and say it's way past time
to work together for the common good – it's way past time we learned to see
the inner worth of people we work with, way past time to give weight to
direct experience over credentialism, way past time to join together and
raise our voices in harmony till we
reach a critical mass that no government and no politician can afford to
ignore.

We can and we will put an end to poverty in Ontario.

It starts with us."

You can read the full text of Pat's speech, find media coverage, the 25 in 5
Declaration and Principles for Consultation and photos from the event at
www.25in5.ca. For regular e-mail updates, please join our listserv at this
link: http://www.socialplanningtoronto.org/25in5/contactus.html











Alissa Von Bargen

Communications Officer

Community Social Planning Council of Toronto

2 Carlton Street, Suite 1001

Toronto, ON   M5B 1J3

T: 416-351-0095 ext. 214

F  416-351-0107

E: avonbargen at cspc.toronto.on.ca

W: www.socialplanningtoronto.org







-- 
Terrie ( mocharebyl at gmail.com )
"If you see an injustice being committed, you aren't an observer, you are a
participant." June Callwood
Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and
renders the present inaccessible. Maya Angelou
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