BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

Announcement #1:
There will be a 2% increase to OW and ODSP, as well a to the Comfort Allowance for low-income seniors in long-term care homes and the Personal Needs Allowance for social assistance recipients in care facilities. The increase is effective September 2006.

Municipalities will not be required to share the cost of the increase in 2006.

Comment:
A 2% increase is utterly inadequate. The 2% increase will mean, approximately, an additional $11/month for a single on OW, an additional $29/month for a single mother on OW with one child, an additional $19/month for a single on ODSP and an additional $30 for a single mother on ODSP with one child.

The government says today's budget announcements of a 2% increase to social assistance rates is helping "provide opportunity for those who need it most." Get serious. A 2% increase to the dangerously low social assistance rates is only ensuring there will be plenty of opportunity for people on assistance to continue going hungry and remain in sub-standard housing.

In the budget, the government brags that with the increases to the social assistance rates and the flow-through of the NCBS increases, social assistance incomes have increased by approximately 15% since 2003. A 15% increase to a pittance, is still a pittance. The bottom line is that people on social assistance still do not have adequate income to ensure a decent standard of living. What's more, the social assistance rates, in real terms, will be lower at the end of the government's mandate than they were when the Liberals took power.

Since their election, the Liberals have insisted they care about the lives and well-being of people on social assistance. The Minister of Community and Social Services has even acknowledged the inadequacy of the rates. The Liberals have sworn they would like to do more for people on social assistance, but that their hands are tied by fiscal restraints. Of course, the argument that the deficit should be paid for on the backs of the poorest people in our communities was never legitimate. To be sure, the issue has always been lack of political will to address poverty rather than lack of fiscal capacity. But with $2.5 billion at their disposal and the likelihood that tax room is going to open up when the federal government decreases the GST by a point, the reality that alleviating poverty is simply not a priority for this government has been made all the more clear.

Announcement #2
The clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement (NCBS) will continue. However, families on social assistance will be able to keep the annual increases for the last three years. The flow-through to families of these annual increases is permanent. The increase that will be effective July 2007 is estimated to be approximately $17 a child.

Comment
Families on social assistance continue to subjected to discrimination. While the annual increases to the NCBS from July 2004-07 will permanently flow through to families on social assistance, the majority of the benefit will continue to be clawed back. The increase for 2007 will be approximately $17 a month for each child. However, a family with one child will still have $122 clawed back every month. A family with two children will have $227 clawed back.

During his election campaign, McGuinty acknowledged that the clawback of the NCBS is wrong and promised to end it.

The clawback is wrong. It is discriminatory and cruel. Many proponents of the clawback insist there has to be a financial incentive for people on assistance to find paid work - and that the clawback provides that incentive. Of course, the theory behind the clawback assumes people on assistance are able to work, but choose not to. The reality is that many people on assistance are unable to work because of disability, childcare responsibilities and lack of marketable skills. People face tremendous barriers such as discrimination and reluctance of employers to make accommodations for people with disabilities. And of course, there is the reality that there are not enough jobs for all the people who are looking for one - to say nothing of the poor quality of many of the jobs that are available. (One in four jobs in Ontario pays poverty wages. 37% of jobs in Canada are 'non-standard', that is temporary, contract positions with few or no benefits.) The truth is that most people on social assistance who are able to do paid work are desperately trying to find jobs - while at the same time trying to survive on the grossly inadequate levels of income provided by social assistance and navigate the maze of obstacles that is the social assistance system.

Announcement #3
The creation of a new Employment Innovations fund to "engage employers in expanding job opportunities for ODSP and OW recipients." The details of this program will be announced in the near future by Minister Pupatello.

Comment
One in four jobs pays poverty wages. Making substantial increases to the minimum wage, providing meaningful training and education to people on assistance and assisting in ensuring people with disabilities receive appropriate accommodations in their work places would likely be far more effective in helping people transition from social assistance to paid employment.

Related issues
There is no new spending in childcare. And what's more, the province seems to have given up on trying to ensure the survival of the childcare agreement that was made with the previous federal government. There is no new money for affordable housing.

The People Have Their Say

The People have Spoken Loud & Clear - Dalton McGuinty's Budget is another Liberal Letdown

HEALTH CARE

"Without targeted funding geared to this effort (70% of RNs working full time), we will not reach this goal and quality of patient care will suffer."
~ Doris Grinspun, RNAO executive director

"We're disappointed and, quite frankly, very frustrated. With the province recording higher-than-anticipated tax revenues, we expected the government to make good on its commitment to revolutionize long term care. The fact remains that funding to provide the level of care needed by residents remains woefully inadequate."
~ Donna Rubin, CEO of the Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors

EDUCATION

"Despite the cash injection from the federal government, the financial plan set out in last year's Ontario Budget and reiterated this year hasn't increased by even one cent...Unless those federal dollars are actually added to the training, colleges and universities budget, then there will be no 'reaching higher.' Unless, of course, you're talking about the potential 36% increase in tuition fees."
~ Jesse Greener, Ontario Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students

"At a time when 150,000 college students have been forced out of their classrooms and learning environment due to a province-wide faculty strike, the government has not announced significant investments in colleges...This is unacceptable to college students and their families."
~ Matt Jackson, president of the College Student Alliance

"Recent student financial assistance changes are positive, but they are just band-aids for a severely broken system. The government needs to implement a long-term, sustainable student financial aid plan that improves access and reduces graduate debt."
~ Scott Courtice, Executive Director of Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA)

"The province could be doing more to help children...Schools continue to lose librarians and tech programs and thousands of students continue to wait for special education support. We are not serving our newcomer students and we are not providing adequate programs for at risk youth."
~ Annie Kidder, spokesperson for People for Education

"Ontario still has the worst student-faculty ration in all of Canada...University students are being asked to pay higher tuition with no guarantee of smaller classes. Our students deserve better."
~ Michael Doucet, president of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations

"The crisis in public services funding is an absolute scandal when they are cutting taxes for corporations."
~ OPSEU President Leah Casselman

 

ENERGY

"Ontarians have made conservation the top priority, and they were looking to the government for support. This budget has let them down."
~ Chris Winter, Executive Director, Conservation Council of Ontario

 

NEW DEAL FOR CITIES

"One time funding announcements help the symptoms of downloading - but they do not protect the municipal property tax payer from the ongoing burden of downloaded provincial costs."
~ Roger Anderson, President, Association of Municipalities of Ontario

 

JOBS

"The Liberal budget document actually admits that their energy policies have caused the loss of countless manufacturing jobs in Ontario. This is the biggest loss of manufacturing jobs since the 1990's. This budget document has no strategy, no plan or any indication that the government intends to take any kind of an active role in dealing with the crisis of the countless loss of jobs and livelihoods here in this province. We know the government has the money. Why aren't they using it to handle this job loss crisis?"
~ Wayne Samuelson, Ontario Federation of Labour

"Government coffers are overflowing because of record corporate profits, but Premier Dalton McGuinty is missing in action when it comes to helping our crucial manufacturing and forest products industries."
~ Wayne Fraser, Ontario Director, United Steelworkers

"There's nothing there for the future - nothing - and the money that's been handed out now is chump change. They don't want us here. All they want is our land to go build houses on.''
~ farmer Kosto Popovic

HELP FOR THE VULNERABLE

"The money to alleviate poverty is there. What's missing is the political will - that's always been the missing ingredient for this government. Clearly, poor families are still not a priority for the current government."
~ Sarah Blackstock, research and policy analyst, Income Security Advocacy Centre

"The McGuinty government says it cares about poor people, but I don't believe them. They're still going to take the majority of my child benefit away from my family for the sole reason I am disabled and receive ODSP."
~ Beverly Halls, a single mother on the Ontario Disability Support Program

"You can't be healthy if you live in poverty. The two per cent increase announced today will do little to help struggling families put food on the table."
~ Joan Lesmond, President of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario

"After three years in power the McGuinty government owns the welfare system. While a two per cent increase is a welcome nod, it does nothing to change the system that makes it almost impossibly difficult to make the leap out of welfare and into a job."
~ Gail Nyberg, executive director, Daily Bread Food Bank

 

Budget short changes poor people

Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC)
Media Release - March 23, 2006

The 2% increase to social assistance rates in today's budget will do little to alleviate the desperate poverty faced by the province's poorest people.

"Despite having more than $2.5 billion at their disposal, the McGuinty government has condemned poor families to continued hunger and housing insecurity," says Sarah Blackstock, research and policy analyst at the Income Security Advocacy Centre. "The money to alleviate poverty is there. What's missing is the political will - that's always been the missing ingredient with this government. Clearly, poor families are still not a priority for the current government."

In addition to failing to adequately raise social assistance rates, anti-poverty activists are deeply disappointed the McGuinty Liberals have again failed to keep their election promise to end the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement from families on social assistance.

"I'm furious. My family is in desperate need of the benefit," says Beverly Halls, a single mother on the Ontario Disability Support Program, who recently joined a group taking the McGuinty government to court for their failure to end the clawback of the NCBS.

The NCBS provides low-income families with $143 a month for the first child, $125 for the second child and $118 for each additional child. The NCBS, which is the result of federal-provincial-territorial negotiations, is intended to help reduce the depth of child poverty.

Today, the government announced that for the third year in a row families on social assistance will be able to keep the annual increase to the National Child Benefit Supplement. This will mean, approximately, an additional $17 a month for each child. However, the majority of the NCBS will continue to be deducted from families' monthly social assistance. A family with one child will still have $122 clawed back every month. A family with two children will have $227 clawed back.

"The McGuinty government says it cares about poor people, but I don't believe them.," says Halls. "They're still going to take the majority of my child benefit away from my family for the sole reason I am disabled and receive ODSP."

With the 2% increase to social assistance rates, a single mother on Ontario Works will receive $1007 a month. A single mother on ODSP with one child will receive $1497 a month. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Toronto is $1052. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto is $888.

"When we're hundreds of dollars short every month, the 2% increase is a slap in the face. It's barely enough for a bag of diapers and a carton of milk," says Halls. "I'd like the Premier to tell my daughters why he can't find the money to ensure they have a decent life and a chance at a decent future. They're being punished because their mother is disabled," says Halls.

Anti-poverty groups are calling for the end of the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement and social assistance rates to be raised to reflect the real cost of living.

Dalton's leaky budget - missed opportunities for people

NDP Caucus Services
Media Release - March 23, 2006

NDP Leader Howard Hampton said Dalton McGuinty's third budget is another missed opportunity to make life better for working families.

"Dalton's leaky budget is a missed opportunity for working families. It's a cynical, political document, full of holes, full of broken promises, that fails to address real problems for real people who need real help right now,"
Hampton said.

The McGuinty government unveiled its budget Thursday. Key failings are:

• Health care: The McGuinty government will build 11 private hospitals, bleeding hundreds of millions of dollars from patients to profits for shareholders.
  
  
• - Education: The McGuinty government abandoned the tuition freeze, making college and university more unaffordable for students.
  
  
• Energy: There is no action plan to deal with the high cost of energy.
  
  
• Cities: Apart from cynical one-off funding for some municipalities, there is no commitment to ongoing, sustained uploading of downloaded provincially-mandated services that are driving up property taxes, and gutting infrastructure and services.
  
  
• Jobs: There is no action plan to stop the hemorrhaging of Ontario manufacturing and forestry jobs - that despite all parties passing a resolution calling for one. There is also no sign of multi-year funding for farm assistance, to help farmers.
  
  
• New Canadians: There is no plan to expand accreditation for internationally-trained professionals or expand English as a Second Language programs.
  
  
• Help for the vulnerable: McGuinty has slashed childcare by a massive 22%, broke its promise to stop the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement, and provided only token increases to people on Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support program.
  
  
• Capital tax giveaway: The McGuinty government is speeding up the elimination of the Capital Tax, most of which goes to banks and insurance companies. Fully implemented, that will cost $1.2 billion.

"Dalton McGuinty has missed opportunities to improve health and education, save jobs, and assist the vulnerable to give away money to private health companies and banks. This budget is another Liberal letdown, another
disappointment, another broken promise," Hampton said.

Dalton McGuinty's Pay More Get Less Budget

Tory says McGuinty should have focused on balanced budget, not reckless spending

www.paymoregetless.ca - authorized by the CFO of the Ontario PC Party
March 23, 2006

Progressive Conservative Party Leader John Tory today said it is clear Dalton McGuinty's 2006 Budget is an exercise in paying more and getting less.

"Dalton McGuinty started as Premier by breaking promises," said Tory. "This budget continues his legacy as a promise-breaker. The result is that taxpayers are paying more and more, yet people are not seeing any results."

Despite bringing in the largest tax increase in Ontario history and despite having a $3 billion windfall for the 2005-06 year, Dalton McGuinty refuses to balance the budget and Ontarians are increasingly paying more and getting less. Wait times are up, manufacturing job losses have increased and almost all major economic indicators have a negative trend.

"If you put these numbers to ordinary Ontarians, the answer is clear. What should be up is down and what should be down is up," said Tory. "It goes to show that in his budget numbers, like in everything else he does, you just cannot trust a word Dalton McGuinty says. This budget continues Dalton McGuinty's sorry record of unfulfilled promises."

The 2006 Budget includes 43 more Dalton McGuinty promises. Instead of keeping his promise to balance the budget or his promise not to raise taxes, he has embarked on a massive year-end spending spree coming as a result of an unexpected $3 billion windfall.

"This is not money that was found by good management," said Tory. "This is money that the McGuinty Liberals took out of the pockets of taxpayers. They could and they should be balancing the budget."

http://www.paymoregetless.ca

Provincial Budget Won't Stem the Hunger Crisis

Daily Bread Food Bank
Media Release - March 23, 2006

With transportation revving on a brand new engine, the McGuinty government is fiddling with a social assistance system on jacks and in need of a complete overhaul.

A two per cent increase in social assistance rates was announced in today's provincial budget which amounts to about 10 dollars a month for a single person on welfare. According to a 2005 survey of food bank clients, conducted by Daily Bread, the average food bank client needs 200 dollars more per month in order to not need a food bank. Approximately half of the 175,000 people who access a food bank each month in the GTA are on social assistance.

"After three years in power the McGuinty government owns the welfare system," says Gail Nyberg, executive director. "While a two per cent increase is a welcome nod, it does nothing to change the system that makes it almost impossibly difficult to make the leap out of welfare and into a job."

The budget also leaves intact the "clawback" of the National Child Benefit Supplement. The McGuinty government has committed to ending this practice in the last provincial election and there is wide consensus that this needs to be addressed.

In 2005 Daily Bread put forth a realistic plan to fight hunger and build opportunity for low-income people that would:

• End the clawback of the NCBS by creating a new Ontario Child Benefit to reduce the 38 per cent of GTA food bank clients that are children
• Take children out of the welfare system entirely
• Extend prescription drug and dental benefits to the working poor
• Provide a 200 dollar per month benefit to the working poor, who represent the fastest growing group of food bank clients (which have doubled in the past 10 years)

Community Living Toronto Sees Budget as a Positive Investment in Developmental Services

Congratulations to the McGuinty Government and Minister Sandra Pupatello for acknowledging and investing in the provinces' most vulnerable citizens in today's budget.

"Today's announcement of $80 million will begin to address sustainability in an unstable sector," says Agnes Samler, Executive Director of Community Living Toronto, "This is a positive sign that the provincial government is
committed to ensuring that people who have an intellectual disability live with respect and dignity in our communities."

Attracting and retaining qualified support staff, addressing lengthy waiting lists and supporting senior parents caring for adult children have been urgent priorities for Community Living Toronto and the developmental services' sector for some time. We have been working collaboratively as a sector and with government to ensure these priorities are addressed. Expanding community supports and residential placements will help communities to provide support to those who have been waiting for service.

"Community agencies, families, individuals and staff are assured that the government is committed to addressing critical funding needs," says Agnes, "We believe that the McGuinty Government and specifically Minister Pupatello are dedicated to giving people who have an intellectual disability the respect they deserve. We look forward to the Minister's announcement detailing the allocation of this new money."

http://www.communitylivingtoronto.ca

Government Will Hear from Disappointed Family Members of LTC Residents

Ontario Long Term Care Association
Media Release - March 23, 2006

"We know that family members of residents in long term care homes are going to be deeply disappointed with today's budget, and the government will likely be hearing from them," said Karen Sullivan, Executive Director of the Ontario Long Term Care Association.

"They were looking for government to increase long term care operating funding to add more staff so that their mothers, fathers and relatives could get the care they need that is delivered with the dignity they deserve and the
respect they have earned. Obviously, they don't see that," she said.

Ms. Sullivan pointed out that 'not enough staff' is a concern shared by everyone in long term care. Operators and families alike have had a growing discomfort that with recent funding increases there was a perception that care
levels had been addressed.

"They know that this is not the case when they continue to see things like staff having 10 minutes, and sometimes less, to get residents up, dressed, to the bathroom and to the dining room for breakfast," she said.

This dissatisfaction is being registered by Family Councils, Residents Councils and their supporters in petitions that are receiving a groundswell of support in OLTCA member homes throughout the province. "I believe that today's budget will provide family members with additional encouragement to ensure that their MPPs and the government know that additional care, respect and dignity for their loved ones remain a priority," Ms. Sullivan said.

OLTCA represents the operators of 428 private, not-for profit, charitable and municipal homes throughout Ontario providing care and accommodation to some 49,500 residents.

www.oltca.com

McGuinty fails to deliver on quality education, public services

Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)
Media Release - March 23, 2006

OPSEU President Leah Casselman today called on the McGuinty Liberals to immediately direct college management to allocate their budget resources where it counts: improved the quality of education for students and better working conditions for faculty.

Casselman also said the Ontario provincial budget fails to rebuild public services and at the same time continues to put corporate tax cuts ahead of the needs of the most vulnerable in society. The budget plans to cut a further $400 million from public services while accelerating tax cuts on capital. "The crisis in public services funding is an absolute scandal when they are cutting taxes for corporations," Casselman said.

The provincial budget shows that the colleges have the resources, if properly directed, to improve the quality of education and resolve the current dispute with their faculty, she said.

According to the budget delivered by Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, the 24 colleges are to receive $89 million more in 2006 that they received last year. The budget documents show the colleges ran a surplus of $50 million in 2005 and are projected to run a surplus of $30 million this year.

The colleges are making profits rather than improving quality," said Casselman. "And the McGuinty government is doing nothing to prevent that." Casselman also condemned the Liberals for failing to alleviate the funding crisis facing families dependent on the province's social services, while at the same time accelerating corporate tax cuts.

The proposed increase of 2 per cent for social assistance amounts to only about $5 a week or $276 a year per family, far below the rate of inflation, she said. There is also no new money to help the families who are being
affected by the closure of the three remaining residential facilities for developmentally disabled people.

Ontario nurses give McGuinty's budget thumbs up for health promotion measures but thumbs down for inadequate increase in social assistance

Registered Nurses' Association Of Ontario (RNAO)
Media Release - March 23, 2006

Ontario nurses applaud the government's investment in health promotion including: new screening programs for women and newborns; improvements to our public health system and community care; and expanding public transit. However, to keep Ontarians healthy, we needed a substantial increase in the incomes of families on social assistance. "You can't be healthy if you live in poverty," said Joan Lesmond, president of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario.

Ontario's nurses had called for a 20 per cent increase in social assistance rates. "The two per cent announced today will do little to help struggling families put food on the table. This is most disappointing given the overwhelming evidence that links poverty with increased sickness and premature death," added Lesmond.

Nurses have been impressed with the steps the McGuinty government has taken to address the nursing shortage such as the Nursing Retention Fund and the recent announcement for tuition reimbursement for nursing graduates from rural and remote communities. However, given the demands on the nursing workforce and their central role in health-care transformation, the association was expecting more funding to ease the workload of senior nurses
and allow them to mentor new ones.

RNAO sees no evidence that the government is serious about honouring its pledge to increase to 70 per cent the number of RNs working full time, which is essential to ensuring continuity of patient care. "Without targeted funding geared to this effort, we will not reach this goal and the quality of patient care will suffer. It is preposterous that it
takes two years for a nursing graduate to find full-time work in this province," said RNAO executive director Doris Grinspun.

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) is the professional association representing registered nurses wherever they practise in Ontario. Since 1925, RNAO has lobbied for healthy public policy, promoted excellence in nursing practice, increased nurses' contribution to shaping the health-care system, and influenced decisions that affect nurses and the public they serve.

Students say McGuinty is sitting on nearly $7 billion in new federal transfers for social programmes - Money could be used to reduce tuition fees and hire faculty

Canadian Federation of Students
Media Release - March 23, 2006

Students were shocked today to learn that the McGuinty government has received a written guarantee from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to flow nearly $7 billion in federal transfer payments to Ontario over the next six years to fund social programmes like housing and post-secondary education, in addition to the $2.25 billion surplus the
government realised in the current fiscal year.

"According to the Budget documents, at least $750 million in federal funding is allocated to higher education between 2007-2009," said Jesse Greener, Ontario Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. "This is
more than enough money to reduce tuition fees, hire more staff and faculty and begin to address building maintenance and repairs."

"There is absolutely no reason for college students to be out of their classes while colleges claim they can't hire new faculty," said Greener. "And there is certainly no reason for Ontario families to take on more debt to finance tuition fee increases that could be as much as 36% over the next four years."

"Despite the cash injection from the federal government, the financial plan set out in last year's Ontario Budget and reiterated this year hasn't increased by even one cent," said Greener. "In effect, the federal government is picking up the tab for the first two years of Premier McGuinty's Reaching Higher Plan and students are paying for their own student aid programme through tuition fee hikes."

"As it stands, college and university operating budgets are only set to increase by about 8% in 2006, hardly enough to keep up with the expected increase in enrolment and inflation that is actually higher than the consumer price index," said Greener. "Funding for post-secondary education won't reach the national average until 2010. By that time most of today's students will be gone."

"Unless these federal dollars are actually added to the training, colleges and universities budget, then there will be no "reaching higher," said Greener. "Unless, of course, you're talking about the potential 36% increase in tuition fees."

The Canadian Federation of Students, Canada's national student organisation, unites more than 500,000 students from coast to coast, and over 235,000 in Ontario.

Social assistance payments rise again, but it's not enough, advocate says

by Kerry Gillespie, Queen's Park Bureau, Toronto Star dd March 24, 2006

Excerpt: A single parent with two children on welfare will get another $60 per month, according to the provincial budget announced yesterday. That means $14,650 a year to live on. Rent alone, on the average two-bedroom apartment in Toronto, adds up to $12,624 a year.

"This government has condemned poor people to continue to go hungry and suffer housing insecurity," said Sarah Blackstock, from the Income Security Advocacy Centre.

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