[homeles_ot-l] Fwd: ISAC Fall Update on Poverty Reduction

Fri Sep 19 13:13:44 EDT 2008

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) <isac at lao.on.ca>
Date: Fri, Sep 19, 2008 at 1:13 PM
Subject: ISAC Fall Update on Poverty Reduction
To: mocharebyl at gmail.com

1. ISAC Submission to Government on Poverty Reduction

As you may know, the provincial government concluded its consultations
on Poverty Reduction on July 31. They are now reviewing their findings
from these consultations as well as from the over 500 written
submissions to the Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction from groups,
organizations, and individuals. ISAC made an official submission to
inform the Cabinet Committee's deliberations as they develop Ontario's
Poverty Reduction Strategy, which is expected to be released by the
end of this year. ISAC's goal was to ensure that a review of social
assistance is a key component of the poverty reduction strategy. You
can view the ISAC submission at:
http://www.incomesecurity.org/campaigns/GovernmentConsultationsonPovertyReduction.html

2. 25 in 5 Network – Recent News, and Call for Endorsements

ISAC is a founding member of the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty
Reduction, which has been instrumental in organizing support for
poverty reduction by keeping it in the media and on the government's
agenda. Since its founding in the summer of 2007, 25 in 5 has grown
from a small group of community-based agencies and policy
organizations to a coalition of over 140 groups, agencies, and
individuals in communities across the province, including faith
groups, women's groups, labour organizations, municipalities, public
health departments, multi-cultural groups, youth-related
organizations, and many others. An incredible degree of cross-sectoral
communication and cooperation has been achieved in the campaign for
poverty reduction, which is good news for social justice advocacy in
Ontario.

We are forwarding to you the following message from 25 in 5, which
includes a request for the endorsement of groups, organizations, and
individuals. We encourage you and/or any group you belong to to
endorse the 25 in 5 declaration.

From the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction:

1) No Slow Down on Poverty Reduction!

On Monday this week, Premier McGuinty indicated publicly that his
government remains committed to introducing a poverty reduction plan,
but may have to delay its implementation due to the downturn in the
economy.

(See the following website for coverage of the Premier's comments:
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080916/poverty_Ontario_080916/20080916/?hub=TorontoNewHome)

Within hours, 25 in 5 issued a press release calling on McGuinty to
recognize that the threat of an economic downturn makes leadership on
poverty reduction more important than ever.

The press release can be found at:
www.socialplanningtoronto.org/25in5/ma_roadbumps.html

We encourage you to echo these same messages locally to keep the
pressure on. Use the press release as a template for a letter to your
MPP, a letter to the editor of your local paper, an op-ed, or a letter
to groups and organizations in your area. Visit your MPP and tell them
that a significant downpayment on poverty reduction must be included
in the 2009 budget.

Just as important is your support for the three priorities in the 25
in 5 Declaration on Poverty Reduction – read on, and endorse the
declaration today!

2) Endorse the Declaration!

The next few months will be critical as we come to the government's
self-imposed one-year timeline for introducing its Poverty Reduction
Strategy. We know they're working to design the strategy, but we also
know we must keep the pressure on!

The 25 in 5 founding Declaration lays out three priorities for a
Poverty Reduction Strategy:

1.   Good, sustaining jobs that lift working Ontarians out of poverty;

2.   Liveable incomes that adequately support those unable to work; and,

3.   Strong and supportive communities -- affordable housing, child
care, public education and community programs that help people
connect.

We are calling on friends and allies in groups and organizations
across the province to join us as we affirm our belief that a
poverty-free Ontario is possible. Demonstrate your support for a
poverty free Ontario and for the bold first steps required to get us
there:

·       Get your organization, other groups in your community, and
individuals to endorse the 25 in 5 Declaration.

·       Simply send an email with the name of the endorser (or
organization), a contact name and email address, to
jposthu at toronto.ca. Your endorsement will be added to the list of
supporters on the 25 in 5 website.

·       A list of groups who have already endorsed the Declaration is
on the website at www.25in5.ca.

·       The Declaration is at
www.socialplanningtoronto.org/25in5/declaration_eng.pdf,

·       Organize and host an event in your community on or around
October 17, the International Day to Eradicate Poverty, to show your
support for a bold poverty reduction strategy for Ontario; and

·       Stay tuned for details about a 25 in 5 event in Toronto in
October to mark the Day (details to follow).

Further information will be forwarded in the coming weeks.

Show your support for a poverty-free Ontario. Forward this message
through your networks, and join with the 25 in 5 Network today.

----------

Jennefer Laidley
Research / Policy Analyst and Communications Specialist
Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC)
(Replacing Sarah Blackstock until December 2008)
-------
425 Adelaide Street West, 5th Floor
Toronto, Ontario   M5V 3C1
Phone: 416-597-5820 x 5150
Fax: 416-597-5821

www.incomesecurity.org

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-- 
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