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Our Voice in Action

OPHA Advocates for Openness in Anti-Poverty Consultations and Comprehensiveness as a Goal for Eliminating Poverty…

by Connie Uetrecht, Executive Director, OPHA

Now that the McGuinty government has launched the public consultation phase its Anti-Poverty Initiative, several MPPs are beginning to hold anti-poverty consultation meetings with constituents in their ridings and are making a concerted effort to ensure that as wide as possible a range of voices — including the poorest of the poor — are heard.

Regrettably, this development did not begin spontaneously as a result of the nature of the consultations. The consultations began with hearings by invitation, supplemented with the ability to make submissions via the web. OPHA President Carol Timmings wrote a letter to Children and Youth Services Minister Deb Matthews, who chairs the Anti-poverty Cabinet Committee, requesting that the government consider a strategy for including the voices of people whose educational or financial status did not allow them easy access to the internet. And thus (along with complaints from many others), we believe, a more open an equitable approach was adopted.

OPHA has been steadfastly monitoring the progress of this initiative and offering input at every available opportunity. We have met with Senior Political Advisor Tatum Wilson who manages the initiative in Deb Matthews’ office and articulated OPHA’s position on such issues as the need to:

• Develop rational and just criteria for determining Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program Rates.
• Establish Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program Rates that reflect the real cost of living and are indexed annually to reflect inflation.
• Implement the full Ontario Child Benefit.
• Implement a $10/hr minimum wage immediately and index it against future inflation.

We would urge you, as an OPHA member, to visit as many public consultation meetings as feasible and ensure that our voice is heard on topics that interest you.

For example, our Breastfeeding Promotion Workgroup has prepared a document, The Role of Breastfeeding in the Reduction of Poverty, that includes concrete recommendations that can be brought forward on the subject. OPHA’s Food Security Workgroup’s resolution, Access to a Nutritious Diet for All, which was adopted at the 2007 Annual General Meeting, is also well worth considering in the context of these anti-poverty discussions.

While OPHA generally supports the Anti-Poverty Initiative, we are concerned that the strategies being considered for implementation represent an effort to alleviate the effects of poverty for a segment of the population rather than a comprehensive attempt to understand the root causes of poverty and devise a plan to weaken its stranglehold on our population and eliminate its chronic manifestations over time. In short, while band-aid solutions are preferable to no solution at all, a comprehensive approach to prevention is within our grasp and would be considered ideal.  It has been widely recognized, that the fact that no specific or even estimated dollar amount has been assigned to the anti-poverty initiative further indicates that a comprehensive approach to the problem is not immediately forthcoming.

OPHA is committed to supporting a recently established Public Education Campaign Table of organizations promoting a strategy to reduce poverty in Ontario by 25% in five years and 50% in ten years. Visit www.25in5.ca for details.

Minister Deb Matthews herself will participate in a meeting on the anti-poverty initiative Wednesday, June 18 from 5:00-8:00 pm in Rexdale.  The "invitation only" list of invitees includes “local, community-based organizations and individuals and also provincial organizations and networks reflecting a variety of interests and perspectives on poverty.”

We urge you to be sure that your voice is heard on this important issue at every opportunity available to you.