[homeles_ot-l] Fwd: 'Full steam ahead,' minister says; Government targets December for plan to help poor

[Terrie]

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From: John


       'Full steam ahead,' minister says; Government targets December for
plan to help poor while Hampton demands action and not 'talk'

Tanya Talaga
The Toronto Star , Oct. 23, 2008

The Liberal government says it plans to move ahead on its anti- poverty
agenda, despite the dire economic outlook for the province.

While Ontario slows spending in some areas, the Liberal government will not
back down on its commitments to fight poverty, said Deb Matthews, provincial
chair of the cabinet committee on poverty reduction and the minister of
children and youth services.

"We are full steam ahead," she said yesterday. "Our strategy will be
complete by the end of the year and that is when we are going to release it.
We will have measures and targets."

Nearly 1.3 million Ontario residents live in poverty, including 800,000
children. By December, the government says it will release its plan for
helping lift people out of hardship.

"We will build on what we have done and roll out new initiatives," Matthews
said.

However, tired of talk, some want to see the money and hear more about the
plans.

"I say to the Premier: You talk, talk, talk about poverty," New Democratic
Party Leader Howard Hampton said yesterday in the Legislature. "Meanwhile,
more people are falling into poverty. When is the McGuinty government
actually going to do something about poverty?"

Hampton also wanted to know where the funding is for dental programs for the
poor. "A year later, not one red cent has been put forward for a dental
program for low-income people," he said.

Now is the time for governments to invest in people and not turn away from
them, said Nick Saul, executive director of The Stop Community Food Centre
in Toronto. "In tough times it is time to invest in people," he said.

Saul said that in December, "we'd like to see a clear down payment or
aggressive policy, one that shows we mean business on the poverty plan."

The Stop serves more than 16,000 people each year at its food bank and
through other community programs. "Those who come here are in tough economic
straits," Saul said. "This is the time for the government to show this
matters to us as a province."




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Terrie ( mocharebyl at gmail.com )
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