[homeles_ot-l] Ontario Launches Comprehensive Social Assistance Review

[Linda Lalonde]

Hi folks,
 
This just in ...
 
Before you start jumping up and down with joy, here's an important piece of info: "The commissioners will determine how they will achieve the objectives of the review including how they engage the public. Detailed information will be available in early 2011... " That means they have several months to come up with a roadmap of how this will play out. Then they actually have to set up the process and do the review which will take another how long?
 
So this is not an announcement about social assistance changing in any way in the near future. It's the beginning of a process that will probably take years - at the very least, it will not be finished and implemented before the October 2011 provincial election.
 
We have just seen the release yesterday of the results of a fairly simple, non-substantial Affordable Housing Strategy which we expected to see a long time ago. This is a much more complicated system and they are going to look at areas of shared federal/provincial and provincial/municipal jurisdiction as well as coordinating it with other programs such as Employment Insurance.
 
Don't wait up for the new world of social assistance.
 
Linda. 


--- On Tue, 11/30/10, Naqvi_Yasir-MPP-CO <ynaqvi.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org> wrote:











Today, our government announced the launch of a major review of social assistance programs in Ontario .  This will be the largest review of social assistance in more than 20 years, and will be the first step in developing an action plan to make social assistance:
  
·         More effective at getting people into jobs; 
·         Easier to understand; 
·         More accountable to taxpayers; and 
·         Work better with other federal, provincial and municipal income security programs, such as Employment Insurance. 
  
This review is one of the key commitments under the Province’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. 
  
The review will be led by two commissioners with extensive experience in social policy development, income security, economics and public finance.  The commissioners are the Honourable Frances Lankin, P.C., and Dr. Munir Sheikh. 
  
The review will take place over 18 months, from January 2011 to June 2012, and will: 
  
·         recommend ways to improve people’s ability to find and keep jobs, and guarantee security for people who cannot work; 
·         examine and determine the effectiveness of social assistance and its role in relation to other parts of Canada ’s income security system; and 
·         define Ontario ’s position regarding the federal government’s responsibility for Ontarians’ income security. 
  
The commissioners will determine how they will achieve the objectives of the review including how they engage the public. Detailed information will be available in early 2011 and I will be sure to send that to you as soon as I have it. 
  
Today's announcement is an important part of the Open Ontario plan to break the cycle of poverty. For more information, I encourage you to visit http://www.news.ontario.ca/mcss/en/2010/11/ontarios-social-assistance-review.html or 
http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/breakingthecycle/index.aspx. 
  
Together, we are building a better community for everyone. 
  
Take care, 
  
Yasir 

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