16 Dec 2007 Winter doesn’t officially begin until December 21, but judging by the snow, ice and frigid temperatures, the cold winter weather season has already begun. Winter is a wonderful time of year, and Ontario is one of the best places in the world to enjoy winter activities. We’re blessed with great opportunities for skating, ice fishing, cross-country and downhill skiing, snowmobiling, ice climbing, winter camping or snowshoeing. I would encourage anyone planning a winter vacation to enjoy the warm welcome of Ontario tourism – even on the chilliest of days. Winter is also a time for celebration – a holiday season break that draws us together. Here in Beaches-East York, I’m looking forward to the holidays and the many events it brings. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, Eid-al-Adha or Kwanzaa, this time of year is a special season that brings a unique energy to our communities. Winter’s cold days and long nights also remind us of our responsibilities to each other. Our celebrations are accompanied by a heightened sense of our obligations to those less fortunate, and our ability to make a difference in the lives of those around us. Over the last few months, the issue of poverty has come to the forefront in Ontario. Despite living in one of the richest provinces in the world, we’re confronted by the sad reality that hundreds of thousands of Ontarians have nothing but hunger to look forward to over the holidays. Ontario has the dubious distinction of being the child poverty capital of Canada. Campaign 2000, a coalition of social action groups devoted to ending child poverty, reports 345,000 Ontario children live below the poverty line. What’s most troubling is the fact that a job isn’t necessarily the answer to escaping poverty’s grasp. Recent figures show that 41 per cent of all low-income children live in families where at least one parent has a full-time job.
There is hope. We can win the fight against child poverty. December’s responses to toy and food drives are a powerful reminder that Ontarians of all stripes are willing to join the cause. Now, all we need is leadership and some political will from all levels of government. A good start would be real action to sustain Ontario’s vanishing manufacturing and forestry jobs. Setting an industrial hydro rate would lower energy costs for our major employers, sustain jobs and sustain communities that have been hammered by high energy costs. A government “Buy Ontario” policy would sustain jobs by giving preferred treatment to goods manufactured in Ontario. Finally, a Jobs Commissioner would bring labour, management and government to the table to avert plant closures and job losses. Other elements of a poverty reduction strategy include an immediate increase of the minimum wage to $10/hour. This would ensure working people get a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work. A woman working 40 hours a week at $8 an hour earns only $320 a week or $16,640 a year, nearly $1600 below the $18,260 that Statistics Canada says is required to escape poverty in most urban cities. If that person has two children she has to earn $27,965 to lift her family out of poverty. At the current minimum wage she would have to work 67 hours a week just to stay afloat. Our poverty strategy must also focus on more not-for-profit child care spaces, more affordable housing and ending the clawback of National Child Benefit Supplement that takes $1,500 away from low-income families. These steps are all practical, affordable measures that would make a real difference in the lives of low-income children across Ontario. Finally, what Ontario needs is a much more ambitious public dental care plan to help the thousands of Ontarians who can’t afford dental coverage. The government has put forward a plan that leaves out thousands of needy people, hardly an effective way to help change the circumstances of Ontario’s poorest citizens. A serious dental plan should cover all low-income Ontarians without coverage and all children regardless of their family’s income. Ending poverty can be more than a holiday wish. We are a prosperous society. We have the resources that we need to lift children and their families out of poverty. Working together, we can make the eradication of child poverty a reality. |
