Social exclusion

Today, there was some good news on the unemployment front in Canada. For the first time since January 2009, the unemployment rate fell below 8%.

Any decrease in the unemployment rate is good news for Canadians, but does this solve the problem of unemployment brought on by the recession? What about support for the unemployed, including those currently without jobs, and in the case of future recessions? Read more »

Last week I participated in a tele-learning seminar hosted by Tamarack on the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy, Breaking the Cycle. This is the fourth in a nation-wide series on provincial poverty reduction strategies.

Ontario’s strategy is unique in the sense that its specific goals and targets are focused on one particular area- to reduce child poverty by 25% in 5 years. As a result much of the plan’s focus is on child-tax benefits, child care, early childhood education, and training for children and youth. Education and support for children is seen as a key element to breaking the cycle of poverty. Read more »

This week, ACORN Ottawa (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) launched their 2010 Platform for the upcoming municipal election. I joined ACORN members and supporters as they gathered at the Dorothy O’Connell Monument to Anti-poverty Activism at Ottawa City Hall and announced their policy priorities for the election. With the election coming up on October 25, 2010 supporters hope to get the message out to candidates across the city – poverty matters. Read more »

A Private Member’s bill mandating the creation of a federal poverty elimination strategy was tabled this afternoon in the House of Commons. The bill was presented by Tony Martin of the New Democratic Party and seconded by Mike Savage of the Liberal Party and Yves Lessard of the Bloc Québécois.

Bill C-545 directs the federal government to consultatively develop a federal poverty elimination strategy, creates a new, independent Poverty Commissioner to monitor progress of the strategy, and provides a stronger advisory role for the National Council of Welfare, to be renamed the National Council of Poverty and Social Inclusion. Read more »

A common criticism of social advocates of income assistance programs like social assistance, disability supports, and child tax benefits is that they are insufficient compared to the costs of living. Instead of helping people out of poverty and difficult situations, such support systems often keep people in poverty because they do not measure up to housing prices, the cost of food, and other costs of living.

Many social advocates and organizations have been calling for an overhaul in these systems to make them more effective, taking into account things like the cost of living, help people get out of poverty, and build sustainable change. The Social Assistance Review Advisory Council called for a review of all major income assistance programs in Ontario, including Ontario Works, Ontario Disability Support, all provincial child tax benefits, unemployment assistance programs and other social supports. Read more »

Recently I participated in a telephone conference call with Tamarack on Nova Scotia’s poverty reduction strategy, Preventing Poverty, Promoting Prosperity. This is the third learning tele-conference in Tamarack’s series on provincial poverty reduction strategies.

Participants included Brenda Murray, director of Policy, Planning and Research with the Department of Community Services, Dr. Ulrich vom Hagen, Coordinator of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, and Tamarack’s Mark Cabaj. The discussion covered the roots and formation of the plan, the goals and targets, as well as implementation strategies. Read more »

Last week I attended a seminar on rental housing and human rights sponsored by the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA) and Amnesty International Canada. Along with Leilani Farha from CERA and Alain Roy from Amnesty, speakers included Barbara Hall, the Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), and Cherie Robertson, policy analyst with the Commission.

The new housing policy is based on the Ontario Human Rights Code against discrimination in housing. The role of the Commission is to illuminate this law so everyone understands their rights and responsibilities under the law. But there is no law protecting the right to access affordable housing in Canada, despite international laws and standards. Read more »

June 11 is the second anniversary of the government’s official apology for the Indian Residential Schools, which represent a disturbing legacy in Canada’s history.This June there are various events and conferences being held across the country to mark the anniversary of the apology and promote ways for the people of Canada to move forward: Read more »

Hunger has become a reality for too many Canadians. No Canadian should go hungry.- Food Banks Canada.

June 1 is Hunger Awareness Day in Canada. It is a wake-up call to the need to address hunger in Canada and around the world.

Food Banks Canada estimates that approximately 2.7 million Canadians struggle to get enough food to eat. Many of these people make sacrifices and go without quite enough food, while others rely on food banks every month. According to the annual Hungercount report from 2009, 794,738 Canadians used a food bank in March 2009.

So, what can we do to really address this problem –to get to the root and bring an end to hunger in Canada? What would you do? Read more »