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<\/a><\/p>\nVenus Carter, 54, who has been on Ontario Works since she lost her job at a chocolate factory nine years ago, welcomes the proposed welfare changes, but wishes they would happen sooner. (ANDREW FRANCIS WALLACE \/ TORONTO STAR)<\/p>\n
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Venus Carter welcomes a provincial panel\u2019s \u201ctransformational vision\u201d for income security that proposes to raise welfare rates and introduce new housing and health benefits for all low-income households. The panel of advocates, experts and Indigenous leaders, appointed by Community and Social Services Minister Helena Jaczek in July 2016, recommends transforming social assistance from a meagre and rule-bound program of last resort into a broader income-security system that includes supports to all low-income Ontarians by 2027.<\/p>\n Jaczek said the government agrees with the need to \u201cfundamentally reform\u201d Ontario\u2019s income-security system and will use the roadmap to develop a plan for early 2018.<\/p>\n The roadmap\u2019s estimated $3.2 billion annual price tag by 2020 would be subject to the province\u2019s \u201cfiscal realities,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n But NDP Leader Andrea Horwath slammed the government for waiting 14 years to act.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have lost ground under this government\u2019s watch,\u201d Horwath told reporters. \u201cI\u2019m disgusted by the fact that, on the eve of an election, the government is suddenly talking about poverty reduction and talking about this report. It\u2019s far too little, far too late.\u201d<\/p>\n MPP Vic Fedeli, the Progressive Conservative finance critic, blamed the Liberals for making life more expensive for families.<\/p>\n In recognition of the deep poverty experienced by people on welfare, especially singles, whose incomes fall well below any measure of adequacy, the panel proposes an \u201curgent\u201d increase over three years to bring monthly benefits for a single person on Ontario Works to $893 from $721, a cumulative increase of 24 per cent. A cumulative 16-per-cent increase to the Ontario Disability Support Program would boost rates to $1,334 a month by 2020.<\/p>\n Ultimately, the report urges the province to set a minimum income \u201cfloor\u201d for all Ontarians based on the provincial poverty line of about $22,000 for a single person to be achieved through a combination of social assistance and benefits provided outside the welfare system such as the proposed new housing benefit. It also recommends an \u201cassured benefit\u201d for people with disabilities.<\/p>\n \u201cA very key part of the report is raising incomes for people who have been left behind for a very long time,\u201d said panel member Pedro Barata, vice president of United Way Toronto and York Region. A central pillar of the transformation is a new portable housing benefit that aims to help all households in poverty bridge the gap between low income and rent. The benefit would initially cover 25 per cent of the gap and rise to 75 per cent coverage by 2027, the panel recommends.<\/p>\n The housing benefit, along with increased investment in affordable housing and social housing repair are crucial to easing the plight of Ontarians living in poverty, Barata said.<\/p>\n \u201cHousing continues to be the number one concern and expenditure among low-income households,\u201d he said. \u201cIt takes away from their food, clothing and transportation budgets and it\u2019s creating real instability among families.\u201d<\/p>\n The report also tackles the design of social assistance, calling for the \u201cbasic needs\u201d and \u201cshelter\u201d components to be collapsed into a single payment by next year. It would mean a homeless person, who currently receives only the \u201cbasic needs\u201d amount of $337 a month, would see a significant boost. \u201cThis is a really important step in terms of simplifying the system so people can start to understand what is going on,\u201d said panel member Dr. Gary Bloch, a downtown family doctor and long-time anti-poverty activist.<\/p>\n The panel, headed by former Ontario court judge George Thomson, also wants the province to work with Ottawa on an expanded Working Income Tax Benefit, expected in next spring\u2019s federal budget. \u201cIt needs to be seen as a package . . . as an attempt to look at all persons living in low income,\u201d he said. The roadmap report is available online at ontario.ca\/incomesecurity<\/a> for public comment over the next 60 days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Critics call sweeping plan to overhaul supports for low-income Ontarians too little, too late. Venus Carter, 54, who has been on Ontario Works since she lost her job at a chocolate factory nine years ago, welcomes the proposed welfare changes,… Continue Reading
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\nBut the 54-year-old North York woman who has been on Ontario Works since she was laid off from her job in a chocolate factory nine years ago, says she will be a senior before the panel\u2019s 10-year vision is complete.
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\n\u201cIf they say it\u2019s the right thing to do, then they should just do it,\u201d she said. \u201cRaising rates a little bit this year, a little bit the next, and then more after that still leaves us in poverty now.\u201d
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\nThe 180-page \u201cRoadmap for Change\u201d report, released Thursday, calls for a 22-per-cent nominal welfare increase over three years, a new housing benefit to begin in 2019 and expanded health benefits for all low-income Ontarians, starting with prescription drug coverage in 2020.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cBut an essential and complementary part of (the plan) is to also build a system of supports outside social assistance that will both help people leave social assistance and prevent people from falling onto (welfare) in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe change would also mean an infusion of cash for repairs to social housing providers because welfare shelter benefits for people in rent-geared-to-income units are currently lower than those renting in the private market. Under a flat-rate design, this discrepancy would disappear.<\/p>\n
\nThomson, who in the late 1980s headed an ill-fated welfare reform initiative for David Peterson\u2019s Liberal government, said he thinks the current plan will be more successful because it addresses the broader income-security system.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIn the same way people have rallied around very important income-security reforms like the child benefit, I\u2019m hopeful they will do the same with this package of proposals,\u201d he said. \u201cI am hopeful it will be seen as the kind of thing all (political) parties can support.\u201d<\/p>\n