[homeles_ot-l] Special Diet non-crisis

[Linda Lalonde]

There have been several panic email alerts from, among others, the 25-in-5 Network and ISAC asking people to send letters, emails, etc. to various politicians including your local MPP and a list of ministers. The subject line of the 25-in-5 email reads: 
Special Diet Program in Peril: Take Action Now 
Their email alert and my response to them are copied below. Essentially they have asked people to respond en masse to a) their assessment, with no factual backgound given, that the government "seems to be thinking about scrapping the program" and b) a "rumour" that the special diet will be cut. They also refer to the Minister's response to a question in the House when she said, eight working days after a Tribunal decision was released, that her ministry was studying the decision and hadn't decided how it will respond to it yet. 
 
None of that falls within my dictionary's definition of 'peril' or requires all-caps.
 
I'm not a politician but I've spent a lot of time with them. Two things really annoy them and are likely to turn them off your issue. They are 1) mass letter/email/phone campaigns where they get copies of the same email/letter/phone call word-for-word with no content from the sender and 2) 'panic-stations' campaigns that are either not based in fact or are in response to minor issues.  
 
I would hope that people will carefully evaluate the request to react to a rumour and a suggestion that the government "seems to be thinking" about doing something. The government has committed to a review of all social assistance programs, including the Special Diet, as part of the Poverty Reduction Strategy. My understanding is that there will be an opportunity to respond to concrete proposals as part of the Review.
 
I feel a bit like I'm telling folks to leave the government alone which is an abnormal and uncomfortable position for me as many of you will know. But I believe it is really important that we direct our energies and organizing efforts in ways that are focussed, efficient and based on facts. As I said to 25-in-5, their overblown "Program in Peril" subject line brought echoes of Chicken Little and Peter yelling that the sky is falling and the wolf is on the way.  
 
We need responsible responses to government actions or proposals that we can rally people around with clear, reliable background information and solid recommendations. Going off at half-cock doesn't serve our interests in the long run.
 
Linda Lalonde.
 
 
 
(Message to 25-in-5)
Hi folks, 
  
Go outside and look up, please. The sky is NOT falling!! 
  
When you send out something saying a program is in "Peril" and I should "Take Action Now", I expect there is a serious and immediate threat to the program. So when I read later in the email (with no capital letters) that there is "a rumour" and the government "seems to be thinking about" scrapping the program, I hear Chicken Little and his friend Peter coming down the street yelling that the sky is falling and the wolf is on the way. 
  
What are you going to put in the subject line if the government actually announces they are cutting the program? And how will you rally the troops if they've already jumped on their MPP's, etc. based on a rumour? 
  
Some of us met with Madeleine Meilleur in January and, yes, she told us that the special diet will be looked at in the Social Assistance Review process. It will be on the table along with everything else - which is how a thorough review should operate. 
  
So let's all calm down and work through this process in a way that is likely to produce some useful results by organizing, based on solid information, around real threats. 
  
Linda Lalonde. 
(speaking as a private citizen)  

--- On Wed, 3/3/10, 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction <25_in_5_Network_for_Poverty_Redu at mail.vresp.com> wrote: 
  
Subject: March 3: Special Diet Program in Peril: Take Action Now  
25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction 
March 3: Special Diet Program in Peril: Take Action Now 



In this week's eBulletin: 


Tribunal Says Special Diet Program Discriminates
No Cuts to Special Diet: Take Action Now! 



 

Tribunal Says Special Diet Program Discriminates 
Government considering scrapping the program in response 
Discrimination. That’s the ruling of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario on the way the province’s Special Diet Allowance Program provides benefits to three people who made human rights complaints. 
On February 17, the Tribunal issued its decision that the way the program is administered in these three cases violates the Human Rights Code. These three cases are lead cases in a Tribunal proceeding that involves human rights complaints from nearly 200 other people and Social Benefit Tribunal complaints from another 800 people, so the implications are large. 
The Tribunal has ordered the government to increase the benefit amounts for these three people – and any other Special Diet recipients with the same medical conditions. And it set out the legal test that will help determine the outcome of the nearly 200 human rights complaints. 
But the government seems to be thinking about scrapping the program altogether. A recent internal memo from OW and ODSP highlights a rumour that the government is considering eliminating the Special Diet Allowance program - but does not deny the rumour. 
The 25 in 5 Network has sent a letter to Ministers Meilleur, Duncan, and Broten, and to Premier McGuinty calling on them to ensure that the Special Diet Program is maintained and strengthened. There must be no consideration of eliminating the Program. 
The Special Diet Allowance program is too important to lose. Take Action Now! 
Read 25 in 5’s letter to Minister Meilleur, Minister Duncan, Minister Broten, and Premier McGuinty. 
Read the Income Security Advocacy Centre’s press release on this issue here 
Read ISAC’s backgrounder for more information 
Read this recent Toronto Star article about the Tribunal’s decision   
  



Protect Special Diet: Take Action Now! 
Contact the Ministers and your MPP: Tell them Special Diet is too important to be cut!

Send a letter or email to Minister Meilleur, Minister Broten, and the Premier. 

You can use the 25 in 5 letter as a template for your own letter. 

Call, write or email your MPP about the importance of the Special Diet Allowance. 

Especially if you receive the Special Diet Allowance – your voice needs to be heard. 

The ODSP Action Coalition has prepared a lobby kit with tips about points you can make in phone calls or letters. See the lobby kit here.  

A list of contact information for all MPPs (including postal addresses, phone numbers and email addresses) can be found at this link.

And if you send a letter, please send us a copy at info at 25in5.ca. 

The Special Diet Allowance program is a long-standing part of Ontario’s social assistance system. It is intended to relieve the disadvantage faced by people who have extra dietary costs related to a confirmed medical condition. 

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s decision is a huge victory. 
 
But how will the government react? Will they obey the order to pay more? Will they try to get a higher court to overturn the decision? Or will they remove the Special Diet Allowance from ODSP and OW legislation entirely?

Thousands of people in Ontario have medical conditions that require specific diets, and would be seriously hurt if the Special Diet Allowance is eliminated. Now more than ever, people must speak up about the importance of this program. 
  



 



About the 25 in 5 eBulletins

The 25 in 5 Network is steered by a coalition of Ontario organizations including Campaign 2000, The Income Security Advocacy Centre, The Social Planning Network of Ontario, The Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition, The Colour of Poverty Project, the Ontario Coalition for Social Justice, Voices From the Street, among others.

This is a bulletin from 25 in 5 to its contact list of supporters and interested parties across the province. The Bulletin is intended to keep you up to date on the implementation of a poverty reduction plan for Ontario and to let you know how you, your organizations and networks can help make it happen.

For more information visit www.25in5.ca










25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction
c/o Social Planning Toronto
2 Carlton St., Suite 1001
Toronto, ON M5B 1J3 


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