Kimberly Rogers Inquest Alerts

Tony Martin's Speech in the Ontario Legislature

Tony Martin, MPP Sault Ste. Marie (NDP)

October 31, 2002

Today is Hallowe’en so I am bringing you a really scary story.

It is a story about being poor in the province of Ontario.

The Eve’s government would have you believe that if people are poor it is their own fault and they must be lazy and immoral.

Well the truth is there are many reasons why people can end up falling on hard times.

Losing their job, being in a car accident, being born with a disability, losing their health, having to leave an abusive relationship, problems with mental health, the list goes on and on.

And the truth is that it could happen to almost any of us.

But this story gets scarier.

If you find yourself poor in Ontario under this government there is no help.

If you are on your own and need social assistance you will only receive $520 a month, not even enough to cover most rent.

Can you imagine having to live on 62 hundred dollars a year?!?

But if you are on social assistance and want to get a better education to improve your life - forget it! You aren’t even allowed to go to school.

The $10,000 a year you can get in student loans is not enough to pay for school and rent and food, forcing people at the bottom to stay at the bottom.

Kimberly Rogers was on social assistance and she wanted to get off.

She collected her $520 a month from social assistance and got the $10,000 in student loans.

She worked really hard and got straight A’s so that she could pay back her loan and get off welfare – she was never given that chance.

Was what she did illegal? Yes. Should it be? NO!

Government should be there to help people who have fallen on hard times, but this government holds them down.

It is time to change the Conservative’s scary policies:

Stop the ban on student loans for people on Social Assistance.

Stop the lifetime ban.

Stop the clawback of the National Child Benefit.

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