CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-TORONTO:
OCAP RALLY NEXT TUESDAY:
The following notice is from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP).
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FACING THE CRISIS: We Didn't Create It - We Won't Pay for It!:
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FREE MEAL AND RALLY: Defend the Special Diet!
Raise the Rates Now!
DATE: Tuesday, March 24, 2009
TIME: 11am
LOCATION: City Hall (Bay and Queen)
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SPEAKERS:
Amina Ali, OCAP Women of Etobicoke
Gary Bloch, M.D., Health Providers Against Poverty (HPAP)
Sister Susan Moran, Co-Founder of Out of the Cold
Glen Pappin, Member of Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre (PARC)
AJ Withers, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP)
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(Friday, March 20th, 2009) Last month, the number of people receiving social assistance in Toronto jumped 13% - an additional 10,000 people. Only 3 in 10 workers in Toronto qualify for EI if they lose their jobs.The other 70% of unemployed workers face turning to welfare, with which it is not possible to pay for both food and rent. Food banks and shelters in Toronto are bursting at the seams.
In this city, over 10,000 people depend on a monthly social assistance benefit called the Special Diet payment. Up to $250 a month, this money makes it easier for poor families and individuals to put food on the table. This payment is crucial to survival and health, but still is not enough.
Instead of getting poor people what they need, the city is now auditing the Special Diet benefit. This is a waste of time and money. We already know that people are going hungry. Rather than nickel and dime people on welfare and ODSP, the city should be giving the Special Diet to everyone and demanding that Premier McGuinty raise the level of social assistance so that people can avoid both hunger, and homelessness.
Instead of getting poor people what they need, the province has been championing a sham Poverty Reduction Strategy. This strategy does nothing for poor people without kids, does almost nothing for families on assistance, and does not address the real crisis facing the thousands of poor and unemployed people in our province.
Both the city and the province need to act now to ensure that poor people aren’t abandoned during a recession. We need both the Special Diet payments to continue and a minimum 40% increase in the level of social assistance payments.
Raise the Rates!
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FREE MEAL AND RALLY:
Defend the Special Diet!
Raise the Rates Now!
DATE: Tuesday, March 24, 2009
TIME: 11am
LOCATION: City Hall (Bay and Queen)
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Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
10 Britain St.
Toronto, ON
M5A 1R6
416-925-6939
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