20 people on social assistance, supporters and members of OCAP confronted Dwight Duncan on live television on Thursday evening only hours after the Provincial budget became public. OCAP went face to face with Duncan,yelling 'shame on you' and 'raise the rates now!' in outrage of a 2010 budget that is an attack on poor people.
Duncan, as Finance Minister for McGuinty's Liberals announced the government will cut the special diet over the next few months. 20% of those on social assistance in Ontario had been getting this vital benefit and they will now be thrown into a crisis by a move that will rob them of the ability to buy food and pay the rent. This is the most devastating social cutback since Mike Harris slashed welfare rates in 1995.
A word of advice. Your protest has failed if nobody can figure out what you are protesting.
5 comments:
I Think that the substance of the post speaks for itself...they are protesting the axing of the 'Special Diet' allowance.
The province did a 'review'in the spring of 2006, in response to widespread concerns (an independent committee of health care professionals. It took 2 years and none of the recommendations were heeded nor acted upon. Then there was a SPECIAL DIET ALLOWANCE HUMAN RIGHTS DECISION – FEBRUARY 17, 2010. It ruled in favour of the complaintants. The decision also laid out the legal and evidentiary analysis that will apply to rest of the complaints (almost 200) that had been adjourned waiting for this decision. But that number climbed to over 800 SDA appeals. The province said we have to 'study' the HR Tribunal decision.
While the province was studying the decision, there were already rumours that SDA was going to be shut down. And so it is.
You can read the HR decision here:
http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onhrt/doc/2010/2010hrto360/2010hrto360.html
McGuinty/Campbell are Harper Liberals.
AdviCe, dammit!
No doubt there is "trail", but the intent is obvious- to reduce gpvernment expenditure by cutting deisbursements to the poorest and most vulerable.
I would hope that "liberals" would see beyond partisan politics on this matter and criticize their own party.
The post makes it clear, Molly, but if you read the TVO blog, nobody in the studio had a clue what they were on about.
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