[homeles_ot-l] Fwd: Take a Call-in Coffee Break to Save the CSUMB!

Wed Sep 26 11:49:57 EDT 2012

  ----- Original Message ---
  July 19, 2012
  McGuinty is worse than Harris

  Reuel S. Amdur
  More by this author... 
  Can you believe it? Dalton McGuinty is actually worse than Mike Harris. Harris cut Ontario Works (OW) social assistance rates by 21.6%, while leaving disability rates (ODSP) alone. Since then, there have been percentage increases in OW and ODSP for, but less than, increases in cost of living. The percentage has been the same for both. That means that the gap between the rates for the two is constantly increasing. It is no longer correct to refer to the 21.6% cut in Ontario Works as a misdeed to put on Mike Harris' shoulders. It has by now become McGuinty's baby.

  Well, on that score we might say that for social assistance McGuinty is as bad as Harris.  How is he worse?  The Ontario Liberal government has announced changes to the social assistance regulations that are to occur next January.  These will eliminate funding for community start-up and urgent home repairs.  Funding for these programs has been in place for decades. 

  Community start-up covers such things as moving expenses, curtains, and minimal furniture.  Home repairs have been covered to deal with serious problems.  Let’s take some examples.

  A family is living in private housing.  The rental costs are significantly higher than the OW budget permits, meaning that the family has to take money out of the food budget to keep a roof over their heads.  Their name comes up for social housing, meaning that rental costs will be manageable.  How will they pay moving costs?  When they get there, they may need curtains at least, perhaps also some furniture items.  That is what community start-up is for.  

  Then there is the case of a woman and small children fleeing family abuse.  They leave Toronto and come to Ottawa, to be far away from the husband.  In Ottawa they land in a women’s shelter, a municipal family shelter, or a motel paid for by the city.  This is a temporary expedient.  They need to move on, but with no furniture how can they?  

  One could provide other scenarios, such as people displaced by fire or forced to move from a condemned facility.  Your imagination will possibly come up with other examples.  McGuinty’s imagination seems to be blank.  

  When it comes to home repairs, think of a house in urgent need of a roof repair or a furnace repair.  Failure to fix a hole in the roof may lead to major destruction and make the family move and lose their home.  Leaving a defective furnace without repair could leave the family with no heat, and it gets rather cold in Ontario in the winter.  As well, a defective furnace could be dangerous, in emitting methane gas or in exploding.

  I said that McGuinty is worse than Mike Harris.  No doubt you will now agree, even if McGuinty’s language about poor people is more polite than Harris’.  

  While we are talking about welfare, let me take the occasion to correct something I have said previously regarding the policy about dependent and independent adults.  I said that one criterion used was whether the person had ever worked at any time in his life cumulatively for at least a year.  That awkward criterion has since been eliminated and replaced.  However, the need is not for the rule to be made more functional.  The need is for the whole distinction to be eliminated.  Its purpose is simply to establish one more way to make life more difficult for poor people.  It is also just one of many regulations that have made the system so utterly complex and confusing.

  -- 
  From: Terrie 
  To: Homelessness (E-mail) 
  Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2012 8:57 AM
  Subject: [homeles_ot-l] Fwd: Take a Call-in Coffee Break to Save the CSUMB!

  ---------- Forwarded message ----------
  From: Income Security Advocacy Centre <isac at lao.on.ca>
  Date: 25 September 2012 14:57
  Subject: Take a Call-in Coffee Break to Save the CSUMB!
  To: Terrie <mocharebyl at gmail.com>

                    The latest media and policy news from ISAC
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                          Please forward widely

                          Take a ‘Call-in Coffee Break’ to save the CSUMB!

                          On Friday, Sept. 28th take 5 minutes to tell your MPP to reverse the cuts to housing benefits for people on OW and ODSP!

                          Every month, thousands of people in Ontario need the Community Start-up and Maintenance Benefit (CSUMB) and the Home Repairs Benefit (HRB) to stay housed or establish a new home. These benefits work because:

                            a.. They are targeted to people on social assistance (OW and ODSP) who are among the most vulnerable in Ontario. People on assistance have very low incomes and cannot afford these expenses otherwise. 
                            b.. They provide direct assistance. The benefits help people move into a new home, pay rent or utility arrears, get major repairs done to their home, or help them move to safer or more secure housing.  
                            c.. If CSUMB is denied, there is a right to appeal. This ensures fairness, accountability and transparency so that people in need will not be unfairly turned away. 
                          The provincial government’s budget measures have eliminated these critically important programs.

                          The HRB ended June 30, 2012. Starting January 2013, half of CSUMB money will go to municipal housing and homelessness programs, which serve an even larger pool of low-income people. The other half is simply cut from the budget.

                          Because of these cuts, homelessness in our communities will rise. Women leaving domestic violence, people leaving shelters or the hospital, people with disabilities, and many others will find it harder to establish a new or safer household. Demand for other already overburdened community services will rise.  

                          We need to act now to save these benefits!

                          Your MPP needs to hear that people in the community value these benefits, and that the cuts must be reversed. 

                          On Friday, Sept. 28th take 5 minutes to help save the HRB and CSUMB!  

                          Find your MPP’s phone number here. If you don’t know who your MPP is, enter your address or postal code here.

                          Use this flyer as the basis for what to tell your MPP. You can also edit the flyer with your local MPPs number to encourage others to join in.

                          Forward this email to invite your friends or colleagues to join you in calling your local MPP to raise this issue.

                          Visit this link for more information on this campaign. 

------------------------------------------------------

                          This campaign is being coordinated by the Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) and the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO).

                          Forwarded this email from a friend? Click here to subscribe to this E-List (to receive info on ISAC's law reform work, the social assistance review, and other OW / ODSP -related information) 

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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 
  'If it is not on the menu  cook it yourself'  Buffy St Marie 

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