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Community Dispatch are InfoFacts which provide members of our community with discussion on important social and economic issues that currently affect our lives and collective well-being.
May 2013
As I reimagine what could be a fair society based on inclusion, I think of the words of Trish Hennessy and Huge Mackenzie, colleagues from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. "At some point Ontario has to have a conversation about what matters more: some of the best public services the world has to offer, the ability to reduce poverty and income inequality, or more tax cuts. One is a bottomless pit with low returns. The other offers Ontario a world of stability. That requires stepping down from the austerity ledge."
On Thursday May 2, 2013 many of us listened with attention to the Provincial Budget. We were anxious to measure the commitment of the Government to move beyond austerity and support those living on the margins – the poor. The last Community Dispatch discussed Poverty Free Ontario's Six Point Plan for a Social Justice Agenda. This Community Dispatch explores how the Budget responded to the Six Points essential for poverty reduction.
- Joey Edwardh
April 2013
The new Premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, has just declared that she would like to be known as the "social justice premier." She lends hope that serious consideration will be given to the recommendations outlined in the report, "Brighter Prospects: Transforming Social Assistance in Ontario," of the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario. On March 8th, 2013, cross-community partners in Poverty Free Ontario (PFO) convened in Toronto and discussed a good faith start to a social justice agenda. A Six Point Plan for a Social Justice Agenda was developed. Premier Wynne is urged to incorporate these six measures into the upcoming provincial budget. These are six practical, achievable steps that will positively impact the lives of Ontarians living in poverty. I wish to share this six-point plan with you as Halton continues to work for poverty alleviation.
- Joey Edwardh
March 2013
The Social Assistance Review Commission Report, "Brighter Prospects: Transforming Social Assistance in Ontario", was released in October 2012 under the shadow of Don Drummond's government-commissioned report to review government expenditures. Entitled "Commission on the Reform of Ontario's Public Services (2012)", Drummond outlined a series of recommendations that would auger in a new period of austerity. Not auspicious timing for social assistance reform! However, in the current context of Ontario's recent transference of leadership concluding with a new Premier and now an upcoming budget, I thought it important to share with you Community Development Halton's (CDH) reflections and concerns about the implementation of the recommendations put forth by the Commissioners. Although CDH has reservations about specific recommendations put forth by the Commissioners, CDH hopes that in the current climate of transition, much needed social assistance reform not be forgotten.
- Joey Edwardh
Archive of Community Dispatch newsletters. Community Dispatch are InfoFacts which provide members of our community with discussion on important social and economic issues that currently affect our lives and collective well-being.
