{"id":179,"date":"2016-04-16T11:11:08","date_gmt":"2016-04-16T15:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/?p=179"},"modified":"2019-02-19T13:19:50","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T18:19:50","slug":"ontario-wary-25-5%e2%80%b2-poverty-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/?p=179","title":{"rendered":"Ontario Wary of \u201925-in-5\u2032 Poverty Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

Laurie Monsebraaten<\/strong><\/p>\n

April 15, 2008<\/h4>\n

Cabinet minister Deb Matthews talks with anti-poverty activist Dip Habib, of the East Scarborough Storefront, at a forum at Queen’s Park, April 14, 2008. (TONY BOCK \/ TORONTO STAR)<\/p>\n

\"Deb<\/a><\/p>\n

Ontario can\u2019t say it will cut poverty by 25 per cent in five years until it has defined the problem, says the chair of a cabinet committee drafting the Liberals\u2019 promised anti-poverty strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy to have an ambitious goal on a significant reduction in poverty,\u201d Children and Youth Minister Deb Matthews told reporters after attending a forum of about 500 anti-poverty activists at Queen\u2019s Park yesterday.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut 25 per cent of what?\u201d she asked. \u201cHow are we going to measure our progress? How are we going to measure poverty? This is one of our big challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

The activists, part of a growing coalition with members as varied as the City of Toronto, teachers\u2019 federations, Ryerson University, health-care and immigrant groups, want the<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Liberals to follow countries such as the U.K. that have reduced poverty by almost 25 per cent in the past five years. They call themselves the 25-in-5 Network for Poverty Reduction.<\/p>\n

Canada doesn\u2019t have an official poverty line, Matthews said. However, the number most often cited is Statistics Canada\u2019s low-income cut-off, which for a single person in Toronto in 2006 was $17,570 after taxes. For a family of four it was $33,221. (The before-tax amounts were $21,202 for a single person and $39,399 for a family of four.)<\/p>\n

But income alone doesn\u2019t tell the whole story, Matthews said.<\/p>\n

For example, many children in low-income households struggle in school and never reach their potential, she said. \u201cHow do we get at measuring that kind of progress?\u201d she asked. \u201cIt\u2019s way more than just an income measure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthews said the government is considering several different indicators to measure the complexity of poverty and is looking at what other countries use.<\/p>\n

She said she will be seeking public input when formal consultations on the plan begin later this spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were elected on a number of planks in our platform. One was not to raise taxes. And one was not to run a deficit. So we have to live within that reality,\u201d Matthews told reporters. \u201cBut I\u2019m very, very confident we\u2019re going to be able to do a lot of very good things within that reality,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can assure you we are very, very serious about developing a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cWe can\u2019t afford poverty. It\u2019s in our economic best interests to really address poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gathering, which included about 50 people living in poverty, urged Matthews and her government to make bold changes to improve the lives of some 1.3 million Ontarians living below Statistics Canada\u2019s low-income cut-offs.<\/p>\n

One of those was Michael Creek, a 50-year-old former Toronto business manager whose battle with cancer in 1993 left him unable to work. But it wasn\u2019t the cancer or mental illness that broke his spirit, he told the forum. It was poverty.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unable to afford TTC fare for anything but doctors\u2019 appointments or shopping, Creek became increasingly lonely and isolated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe last time I went to a movie theatre was to see The Lion King,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is how I started to disappear as a person.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Matthews, who seemed moved by the stories of Meeks and others who spoke, said one of the government\u2019s goals is to change the way it provides services and income support to ensure people are helped and not further marginalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to turn government on its ear. We need to develop person-centred strategies \u2026 build on the strengths of people, not on their pathologies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Although the group is excited by the Liberals\u2019 commitment to tackling poverty with a comprehensive, long-term strategy by year\u2019s end, members realize there is still an appetite in Ontario for tax cuts and less government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many who adhere to the view that if you\u2019re poor it\u2019s your own fault and, as a result, government has no business, no legitimate role to play ameliorating, reducing or eradicating poverty,\u201d said Nick Saul of the Stop Community Food Centre. And there are many competing interests at the cabinet table, he told the group.<\/p>\n

But the 25-in-5 network hopes the province will run with its demands to \u201cpoverty proof\u201d the minimum wage; enhance social benefits for children and those unable to work; and beef up supports such as child care and affordable housing.<\/p>\n

Credit: Toronto Star<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laurie Monsebraaten April 15, 2008 Cabinet minister Deb Matthews talks with anti-poverty activist Dip Habib, of the East Scarborough Storefront, at a forum at Queen’s Park, April 14, 2008. (TONY BOCK \/ TORONTO STAR) Ontario can\u2019t say it will cut… Continue Reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[28],"tags":[31,30,29,19,32,15],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=179"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":915,"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179\/revisions\/915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}