Office for Systemic Justice
Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada
London, ON, N6A 4X3
August 1, 2018
The Honourable Lisa MacLeod
Minister of Children, Community and Social Services,
Queens Park, Toronto ON M7A 1E9
Dear Minister MacLeod,
We are writing to urge the Ontario government to restore the Basic Income Pilot Project and the planned 3% increase to OW and ODSP benefits.
In April 2018, the Toronto Star reported that the Ford Campaign guaranteed it would keep the Basic Income Pilot Project. The people participating in this program have made life-altering decisions based on the guarantee that this income would be available for a 3-year period. People have gone back to school, found safe housing, started job-training programs and re-connected with the wider community. Simple fairness demands that they be allowed to complete this pilot project. The completion and review of the project also will enable the Ontario government to take an evidence-based approach to employment participation in Ontario.
Rolling back the increase to OW and ODSP from 3% to 1.5% means that, once again, the increase will fall below the rate of inflation. This means recipients will fall further behind and be further marginalized from participation in the Ontario economy and society. This decision doesn’t just hurt Ontarians who received these benefits, it hurts our economy and society. Past research studies have shown that such marginalizing policies increase health care costs, exacerbate mental health concerns, erode a person’s capacity to participate in the labour market and tear apart the fabric of our communities. Given that the tax cuts will offer most Ontario families only about $18 extra per year, the painful costs of these tax cuts are not worth it.
Finally, we call on the Ontario government to cease immediately the scapegoating rhetoric about fraud amongst recipients of social assistance. When this harmful rhetoric was used in the 1990s, police investigated and found that the rate of fraud was, in fact, quite low; lower than tax fraud among the general population and lower than corporate fraud.
We measure well-being and progress in Ontario not by increasing the wealth of the wealthiest but by ensuring that each of us has access to the resources and opportunities which are fundamental to participation in our society. We expect all levels of government to work collaboratively to make this a reality.