Toronto, Ont. – Just hours before a report released yesterday showed food bank usage climbing to an all-time high across Canada, one hundred and fifty people attended a rally to Put Food in the Budget at the Wychwood Barns at 601 Christie St. in Toronto. Monday night’s crowd heard from some of the community leaders that completed the “Do the Math Challenge” and lived for a week on a diet similar to that of many people in Ontario receiving social assistance.

Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario told the capacity crowd that taking the challenge had “strengthened our union’s solidarity,” with every Ontarian who lives with an inadequate diet. “The truth is there are low waged, part time or temporary workers, some of them union members, who also have to rely on food banks. When we build solidarity in our communities between those on social assistance, workers, church groups, and people concerned for fairness and social justice, politicians can no longer ignore poverty in our province.” Anglican Archbishop Colin Johnson said “This campaign has underscored for me the urgency of tackling the root causes of poverty. Many other Anglicans feel the same as me.  Following their poverty diet, they are organizing meetings with their MPP, writing to their MPP, expressing their concern about the tragedy of widespread poverty and calling for action, starting with the $100 per month increase in social assistance.”

One thousand people around Ontario have taken the Do the Math Challenge in eighteen communities around Ontario. They tell us that on average they speak with one hundred people during the week. That means one hundred thousand people have had a conversation in the last two months about the inadequacy of social assistance. “We thought this would be a one week campaign in the first week of October” said provincial co-ordinator Mike Balkwill. “But it has a momentum of its own.  Every week a new group calls me to become involved.”

Tracy Mead, a member of the Put Food in the Budget leadership team, whose income is social assistance, said “Ask yourself if you could survive on $585.00 a month, take the Do the Math Challenge, then try to look me in the eye and honestly say everything is OK. Winning this campaign means that we can all hold our heads high. I’m proud to be a part of this fight and I demand change”.

Diana Stapleton, chair of the Weston Area Emergency Food Bank invited the crowd to join her in making raising social assistance rates a voting issue. “This is a voting matter to me. I will walk away from supporting the Liberal party if this government does not take the initiative to increase social assistance and disability benefits.” Avvy Go of the Colour of Poverty asked what we have to do to convince politicians to deal with the situation of chronic hunger in Ontario. “The right to eat – access to enough healthy food – is as essential as the right to breathe – what do we have to do to convince them… have a ‘hold our breath campaign’?”

The Put Food in the Budget has been working with groups across Ontario to raise awareness of the inadequacy of social assistance benefits and the health impact facing people who cannot access nutritious food due to poverty. The province-wide network continues to ask the Ontario government to immediately increase social assistance by $100 a month for every adult in Ontario receiving social assistance as a first step towards inadequacy of social assistance rates. A single person in Ontario still receives only $585 per month for rent, food and everything else.

The rally encouraged ongoing mobilization across the province in the months ahead to keep the issue of poverty on the political agenda and to put food in the budget.

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For More information visit www.putfoodinthebudget.ca

Media Contact:

Mike Balkwill, Co-ordinator, Put Food in the Budget Campaign,

416 806 2401, mbalkwill@iasc.on.ca

About the Put Food in the Budget Campaign

Thirty communities across Ontario – from Windsor to Cornwall and from Toronto to Thunder Bay are part of the Put Food in the Budget campaign. The campaign is sponsored by the Social Planning Network of Ontario and The Stop Community Food Centre and is supported by ACTRA Toronto; Anglican Diocese of Toronto; Association of Ontario Health Centres; Colour of Poverty; CUPE Ontario; OPSEU; Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario; and the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.

About The Do The Math Challenge

Do the Math is an interactive website (dothemath.thestop.org) launched by The Stop Community Food Centre to draw attention to the impossible budgeting choices faced by social assistance recipients in Ontario. The recent “Do the Math Challenge” – part of the campaign to Put Food in the Budget – asks everyday Ontarians to try to survive on a food bank hamper to draw attention to the chronic food insecurity faced by social assistance recipients in our province.

Several events on April 13, 14 and 15 in Toronto focused attention on the issue of the inadequate access of people on social assistance to healthy food.

Surviving on Peanut Butter and Tuna

More than 350 people attended The Stop Community Food Centre’s Community Town Hall at the Artscape Wychwood Barns on Tuesday evening, April 13. Ten local celebrities reported on the results of their attempts to live on one week’s supply of food bank provisions.

None could make the food hamper they were given last through the week and several used community dining services provided by churches and charities to make it through the week.

All agreed that it was an eye-opening experience and acknowledged that they had the luxury to return to their normal eating practices, while people on social assistance certainly did not.

Video Overview of April 13 Event

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQRqXeeS2L8

PFIB Campaign – Organizing for Impact

Eighty local leaders from communities across Ontario stretching from Sudbury to Hamilton and Cornwall to Windsor came together in Toronto on Wednesday, April 14 to share experiences and plan further action on the Put Food in the Budget (PFIB) campaign.

The latest update on Do the Math Team visits to local MPPs was released [Full Report; Summary Report] – 40 MPPs have now been met and half have actually done the survey. Several Do the Math Team members reported on their particular experiences with their MPPs (see videos below).

Four workshops were held to share different actions and tactics to use in continuing the cross-community PFIB campaign. All remain committed to advocating for the introduction of the $100 a month Healthy Food Supplement for all adults on social assistance and longer-term adequacy in social assistance rates.

Video Overview of PFIB Campaign Event – April 14, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqUeTq5sOVM

Nick Saul from The Stop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDx3Et9flPY

Nadia Edwards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hlo1aUUKRTo

Danielle Yahalnitsky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnQOeSwrBhA

Susan Bender

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIcSFTWqG7A

Bronwyn Underhill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6wfnR8yzuc

Rene Adams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOiF7EXs4oY

“Tom Cherry”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csvqRtNey8c

If I had a 100 dollars…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcxis3CRa-4

OCAP Protests the Special Diet Cut

The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty held a march and rally in Toronto on Thursday, April 15 to protest the cut to the Special Diet Allowance that will severely affect about 170,000 people on social assistance.

Several hundred marchers expressed their anger and disdain for the Ontario Government’s inhumane action in the recent budget against Ontario’s most vulnerable people.

Video Overview of OCAP Event – April 15, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kklpkMpX2ws

“Now is the time to reduce poverty in Ontario!” The October 24th, 2008 25 in 5 forum held at Cambridge City Hall was one of many taking place across Ontario. Showcasing the “25 in 5 Declaration on Poverty Reduction” Peter Clutterbuck delivered the keynote address calling on the Government of Ontario to reduce poverty by 25% in 5 years and 50% over 10 year. The event was co-hosted by The Social Planning Council of Kitchener Waterloo, the Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries and Opportunities Waterloo Region and featured a diverse panel of community representatives. Videos provided by the Social Planning Council of Kitchener Waterloo.

Key Note Speaker

Peter Clutterbuck Part 1

• Introduction
• History of the anti-poverty movement
• Provincial track record on poverty

Peter Clutterbuck Part 2

• Introduction of the 25 in 5
• Building of a coalition
• 25 in 5 goals

Peter Clutterbuck Part 3

• How we have been moving forward
• The consultation period
• 3 major themes emerging from consultations and community meetings

Peter Clutterbuck Part 4

• How to reduce poverty in Ontario
• Jobs, wages, housing, education, transportation

Peter Clutterbuck Part 5

• Conclusion
• Now is the time for a multiyear plan, policy action and more!

Panelists

Anne Tinker – Executive Director of Bridges Shelter in Cambridge

Deborah Schlichter – Executive Director House of the House of Friendship

Len Carter – Chairman of Waterloo Regional Labor Council

Melannie May Hogg – Citizen Advocate

Greg deGroot Maggetti – Opportunities Waterloo Region – Endorsing the 25 in 5

Brice Balmer – Opportunities Waterloo Region – Closing

One hundred people attended an early morning breakfast in Greater Sudbury to learn more about the 25 in 5 movement on the morning of October 30. A diverse crowd from the business, labour, health care, education, social service, municipal, faith based and general community gathered to listen to three key addresses from community leaders.

• Brian Gatien, Chair of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce spoke to the business case for reducing poverty.
• Dr. Penny Sutcliff, Medical Officer of Health spoke to the health and social impacts of poverty.
• Laurie McGauley, a key leader in the local arts community, provided a fascinating explanation as to why ending poverty was good for the environment.

Janet Gasparini, Executive Director of the Social Planning Council of Sudbury invited participants to sign on to the 25 in 5 Declaration following the presentations as a way of showing solidarity with many across the province who believe the time has come to make significant reductions in poverty levels in Ontario.

The Social Planning Council has developed a local plan for poverty reduction and organizations were requested to ensure they had endorsed the strategy and were committed to working locally as well. Copies of the 3 presentations can be found at www.spcsudbury.ca.

Report submitted by Janet Gasparini, Social Planning Council of Sudbury

On August 21, 2008 MPP and Minister for Community Safety and Correctional Services Rick Bartolucci met with a diverse group of over 70 people in the City of Greater Sudbury in an open forum organized by the Social Planning Council of Sudbury in order to receive community input into the Liberal Government’s plans for a poverty reduction strategy. Sudbury was included in the communities visited by Minister Deb Mathews in her cross provincial consultation process; however there were many in the community who wanted further opportunity for input. Minister Bartolucci had not been available when Mathews visited Sudbury and was pleased to make himself available for this session.

Janet Gasparini of the Social Planning Council of Sudbury provided an overview of the provincial and local strategies to reduce poverty and the work that had been done to date. The floor was then opened and individuals were invited to present their views.

The presenters represented a broad and diverse group of community members. The list included an individual living on ODSP, a municipal politician, anti-poverty activists, a college president, front line workers from social service agencies, a political science professor, the local and Canadian Labour Councils, candidates preparing for a federal election and staff from the Sudbury & District Health Unit. The audience members who choose not to speak were equally as diverse and all expressed a great deal of appreciation for the opportunity to meet, speak and learn more.

Ideas and issues expressed included:

• Concerns in regards to the impact of poverty on seniors
• Support for the Liberal plan with encouragement to enhance the skills strategy to include concentration on employability
• The need for a Poverty Reduction Chapter in the Northern Growth Plan
• The impact that not addressing learning disabilities has on lost productivity and poverty
  • 1 in 10 students has a learning disability
  • 35% of students identified with learning disabilities don’t finish school
  • 62% of students identified with learning disabilities were unemployed after graduation
• The federal Liberal party has committed to a 30/50 plan for poverty reduction – 30% reduction in poverty levels with 50% of children out of poverty in 5 years in Canada
• We need to eliminate poverty – not reduce it – We need a 40% increase to OW and ODSP rates now!
• Effective labour market strategies are key to poverty reduction including better wage subsidies and supports, full grants for training, effective unemployment insurance benefits
• Nordic model spends more on labour market policy and programs – has lower unemployment, lower levels of poverty, strong economy
• Must ensure that we have good jobs
• Increases in non-standard work is of concern
• Card certification for unionization must be reinstated
• National child care must be addressed
• Gender gap in wage differential must be addressed
• Improvement to the Employment Standards act to include all workers
• Supports are needed for children in the 8 to 11 year range including after school programs
• Supports for teen mothers are required
• While the government investment in school nutrition programs is good there is still a need for more
• Income is the best predictor of health outcomes – those with the most money have the best health and vice versa – we must address poverty as a social determinant of health
• Babies born to low income families have higher mortality rates
• Must ensure that policies that are enacted are inclusive – i.e. RESP’s for children in CAS care – good policy but excluded all current 7 to 18 year olds in care
• Children must continue to receive support from CAS post 18 years
• Mismatched programs between various levels of government is a huge waste of time
• Contributing takes many forms and should not just be considered making money
• Poverty reduction will take providing access to housing – a full spectrum of housing, increasing ODSP and OW, providing access to education and training, providing access to primary health care

Minister Bartolucci concluded by thanking everyone for coming and indicating how much he appreciated receiving the input. He reiterated that the government had not pre-determined the outcome of the consultation process and that input was very important. He agreed that labour market strategies were key and that those strategies had to be integrated in the education system as well as the workplace. He believed that we had to create a plan that matched what people actually needed and that while the Liberal government had made efforts to reduce poverty there was still more to be done.

The session concluded with thanks to all from the SPCS and a clear invitation to stay engaged. The week of October 13 – 17 will focus on cross provincial activities to support the strategy development and Sudbury will be involved.