[homeles_ot-l] Fwd: poverty question in the legislature

[Terrie]

On Monday, Michael Prue asked in the legislature a question to
McGuinty, regarding the delay of the poverty reduction plan.  Below is
the hansard script



Naomi Berlyne

Community Development Coordinator

Houselink

805 Bloor st West

Toronto, ON M6G 1L8

(416) 539-0690 ext 258

naomibe at houselink.on.ca

________________________________

Room 154, Main Legislative Building
Queen's Park  M7A 1A5
416-325-1303

HANSARD September 22.08



POVERTY

Mr. Michael Prue: My question is to the Premier. A year ago, this
government promised to make poverty reduction a priority. Last week,
though, the Premier told Ontarians that they have to wait longer
because times are tough and getting tougher. Ontarians are losing
their jobs, some of them are being evicted from their homes, and many
are being forced onto welfare. More than ever, now is the time for
action. How much longer does the Premier expect Ontarians to have to
wait to see serious action on poverty? A year? Two years? Or is it
your intention to wait until after the next election?

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Premier?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I appreciate the question and the opportunity to
speak to this yet again.

I'm proud to lead the first government that is going to put forward a
comprehensive and effective plan to address poverty in the province of
Ontario. The issue is not whether or not we are going to put out a
plan this December to address poverty; it's the rate and the pace at
which we can move on implementing that plan. I have said that several
times. The economy is in a state of flux. I think we should do here
what families do in their homes: If financial circumstances change,
then you adjust and you focus on your priorities. You make sure you
keep investing in those things which are absolutely essential that you
are investing in at present, and you have to be careful about taking
on new responsibilities. That's what I've said in the past.

We will put in place a plan this December. The only issue is-and I
look forward to debating this with my colleagues-how quickly we move
forward on that plan, the first of its kind put forward by any
government in Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary.

Mr. Michael Prue: What I just heard was that we're going to have a
plan, but no implementation. The Premier says this government can't
move ahead with a poverty reduction plan because it is too costly, I
assume, for Ontario's struggling economy. But many significant actions
to reduce poverty would not have to cost the government a single
penny. I'm going to give you four: This government could immediately
increase the minimum wage to $10.25 an hour; this government could
strengthen employment standards so that employers can't underpay and
exploit workers; this government could cap payday loan rates at 35%,
so that people don't see their scant dollars siphoned off at
extraordinary rates; and this government could allow and bring back
card-based certification, so that workers across all sectors can do
what they need to to get better jobs. Why won't this government move
ahead with these anti-poverty actions that will-

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you.

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I appreciate the suggestions; I really do. My
colleague joins 8,500 Ontarians who have visited our "growing
stronger" website. We have received over 600 thoughtful submissions.
Almost 500 individual experts have engaged in our first-ever
province-wide poverty consultations. As I say, we look forward to
delivering on that plan in December, unlike the NDP when they were in
government.

Let me tell you about some of the things we've been doing in the
interim. We have in place a new Ontario child benefit, with monthly
payments now flowing to families. It will support over one million
Ontario children. We've raised the minimum wage several times over.
We've raised social assistance rates several times over. We're
investing in affordable housing, a new dental program, a student
nutrition program and literacy centres for parents and families. So
we're not resting. We look forward to delivering on that plan. We'll
keep working in the interim as well.




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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Naomi Berlyne <naomibe at houselink.on.ca>
Date: Wed, Sep 24, 2008 at 12:09 PM
Subject: poverty question in the legislature
To: odspaction at googlegroups.com, odspaction-announce at googlegroups.com