Federal help sought for Ontario's poverty-reduction plan
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Written by Michael Swan, The Catholic Register,
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Ontario Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure George Smitherman and Minister of Children and Youth Services Deb Matthews
TORONTO - Ontario set a goal for poverty reduction with a five-year plan to lift 90,000 children from poverty by 2013, but said it needed federal government assistance to achieve its goal.
"We are asking the federal government to participate in a fulsome way," said Minister of Children and Youth Services Deb Matthews at a Dec. 4 press conference at Queen's Park to launch "Breaking the Cycle: Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy."
By fulsome Matthews means $1.5 billion annually to double the Working Income Tax Benefit to $2,000 and an increase in the National Child Benefit Supplement to $1,200 per child.
Keeping the focus on child poverty is the best way to ensure results over the long term, Matthews said.
"The research was very clear that investing a dollar on improving opportunities for kids has a very, very high pay-off," she said. "We're starting with kids because it gives us the biggest return on that investment."
By the end of the five-year span of this plan Queen's Park will be committed to $300 million a year in new spending. Of that, $230 million will go to increase the Ontario Child Benefit from $1,100 to $1,310. The next biggest ticket item is $19 million a year to help kids leaving foster care when they turn 18.
The province will dedicate $12 million to its Youth Opportunities Strategy, helping kids in disadvantaged neighbourhoods land summer jobs and training.
Much of the plan leans on the school system with implementation of full-day kindergarten for four and five-year-olds to start some time in the next three years depending on recommendations from provincial early learning advisor Dr. Charles Pascal. Schools will also be pressed into service as community hubs after school hours.
In addition to a willing federal partner, the Ontario plan needs a growing economy, Matthews said. Despite expectations of a recession, she said the economy should be good enough for the plan to work.
"It's a bold, ambitious target. But the projections we're expecting will be sufficient to achieve this target," she said. "The economists today are projecting numbers that are in line with this strategy."
"It's a positive announcement. I think it does give us that foundation," said Bishop Peter Hundt, chair of the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops social affairs commission.
The plan did meet the minimum conditions for a serious plan Hundt and his fellow bishops set out in an Oct. 27 letter to Matthews. It includes a hard target of a 25-per-cent reduction in child poverty by 2013, promises to measure progress annually in eight different ways and plans to introduce legislation mandating an annual government report on child poverty.
Churches and coalitions that have been lobbying for a poverty reduction plan have to stay engaged to ensure the government delivers on its promises, Hundt said.
"It's not so much waiting and seeing as it is encouraging them to make sure that it happens," Hundt said.
National Anti-Poverty Organization executive director Rob Rainer said counting on the current federal government represents a considerable leap of faith.
"It's a real challenge with the current government. . . . They just simply don't want to acknowledge (poverty) or talk about it," Rainer said.
The renewed lobbying begins immediately with pre-budget consultations, said Hundt. The Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition will make a presentation in pre-budget consultations scheduled for the week of Dec. 15 in Niagara Falls, Windsor, Thunder Bay, Sudbury and Ottawa. Catholic Charities of Toronto will make a written submission.
"It's pretty short on tactics," said Bourne, who is also a Toronto firefighter. "From the fire department world where I come from we look at a problem — we've got an overall strategy, but then we need tactical actions to make it happen."
Relying on the federal government seems like shaky ground for a solid plan, he said.
"It's just that that hasn't worked at all up to now. I don't know what they can expect there."
Nick Volk, Rooftops Canada secretary treasurer and Toronto Community Housing board member, was more enthused about the first ever hard targets for poverty reduction than worried by the lack of action on housing. Volk is looking forward to federal-provincial meetings in 2009 to secure social housing funding.
"What we're looking at is stepping stones to get across this huge divide," Volk said.
Michael Swan is Associate Editor of The Catholic Register. He is an award-winning writer and photographer and holds a Master of Arts degree from New York University.
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