Harry represents one side—employees, tenants, trade
unionists, women, the disabled, the poor and homeless, the young and aged.
Blight represents bosses, big governments, major corporations, polluters and
industrial magnates and perpetrators of discriminatory and unsafe practices in
the workplace.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Big Brother WILL Be Watching And It Might Cost You
But cards have occasionally been the subject of controversy.
State and federal politicians have sought to prevent recipients from using them at casinos, liquor stores and
tattoo parlours, among other places. Advocates for the poor, in turn, have
argued that governments should not use the cards to try to engineer social
behaviour.
Other details, such as whether withdrawals will be subject
to ATM fees, are still to be determined.
The article fails to mention that now recipients without
bank accounts can cash their cheques at the bank it is drawn on, at no charge
and without ID.
For the latest on the merging of the Ontario Disability
Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works (OW) go to http://welfarelegal.blogspot.ca/
Ron Payne
Welfare Legal
Hamilton Ontario
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Prepaid Benefits Cards Are Here
From the Wall Street Journal
Must we hear it from the US first?
Seems like it might start in Toronto.
Where do you think it will end, with the merger of ODSP and OW?
This is yet another major recognition for SelectCore's
successful implementation of the City Services Benefits Card for the delivery
of Ontario Works Social Assistance.
The Canadian market alone is expected to reach $19 billion
by 2017. The Company continues to secure new contracts and pursue large program
opportunities in both the corporate and public sectors. We anticipate being
able to share details of these programs as they become available for public
disclosure.
It will start at Ontario Works (OW) and then move to the
Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP)
The provincial Liberals certainly kept this one under the
radar didn’t they.
Ron Payne
Welfare Legal
Hamilton Ontario
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Cuts to Benefits Everywhere
We’re next.
It’s happening all over the world and started on July 15 2013 in
New Zealand.
"This is not about getting people into decent work [and] it's not about
job creation. It's about cutting costs by pushing vulnerable people off the
books,''
All sickness beneficiaries, and sole parents and widows with
no children under 14, are now subject to the same requirement to look for
fulltime work as other jobless people, although sickness may be accepted as a
valid reason to postpone work temporarily.
Other new obligations include drug-testing for jobseekers in
relevant industries, which is expected to trigger benefit cuts for up to 5800
people, and a requirement for beneficiaries to clear outstanding arrest
warrants.
About 8000 beneficiaries have arrest warrants outstanding
for issues such as unpaid fines. Unless they clear them within 38 days, their
benefits will be halved if they have children, or stopped completely if they
don't, in what is likely to be the biggest single purge of the benefit rolls
since the system was created.
The reforms, which come into force today, represent the
biggest upheaval in the welfare state since the Social Security Act was passed
by the first Labour Government in 1938.
Auckland Action Against Poverty spokeswoman Sarah Thompson
said the changes were aimed at decreasing the number of beneficiaries in New Zealand,
rather than job creation.
"All New Zealanders who end up on welfare will have more hoops to jump
through or face punitive measures as the Government attempts to push them into
low-paid insecure work - no matter what the downstream cost.A Herald investigation into how the changes will affect people's lives in Papakura, as a case study of a high-welfare area, has found widespread fear of the reforms even among those who are supposed to be exempted from the work-search requirements.
"A lot of people are scared about the warrants to arrest," Ms Neho said. "There's a lot of people that have thousands of dollars of fines outstanding." Some would rather come off the benefit than pay all their fines.
The huge reorientation of welfare shifts the focus from the short-term unemployed, which largely left other beneficiaries alone, to a new "investment approach" aimed at finding work for those who are likely to stay on benefits the longest and cost taxpayers the most - mainly the sick, disabled and sole parents.
Work and Income chief Debbie Power said 85,000 people - mainly the sick, long-term unemployed, and sole parents and widows with no children under 14 - would move today into intensive "work-focused case management" with 760 personal case managers to help them find jobs and overcome barriers such as transport and childcare costs, addictions, debts and workplace attitudes to mental illness and other conditions.
A further 1000 sole parents and 1000 people with mental health problems will be handed over to contractors who will be paid from $2250 to $16,500 for each person they place in employment for at least a year.
Ron Payne
Welfare Legal
Hamilton Ontario
Friday, September 27, 2013
Behind Closed Doors The Merger
On Sept 17th I received this from Cheri DiNovo’s
office. The NDP hasn’t said much on the issue.
It is extremely interesting that the Liberal and Conservatives did not respond to my inquiry.
The evidence says otherwise.
I used bill 27 as a reference. Nothing from stopping the
Liberals from introducing a bill that would be supported by the Conservatives
and get passed with the NDP having no say.
The Liberals don’t want to make this public at this time.
That’s politics for you.
I ask you this
a)
Did the Conservatives make public the fact they were going to
cut 21.6% from people on Ontario Works?
(No but it went through)
b)
Did the Liberals make it public that they were going to cut
the CSUMB? (No but it went through)
c)
Did the Liberals make it public that they were going to cut
the Special Diet twice? (No but it went
through)
The evidence that I see and hear is that the Liberals might
very well merge ODSP with OW and they won’t make it public until its too late.
Hi Ron,
Right now,
from what we have heard, there is no discussion about merging OW and ODSP. At
least, that is what the government liaison officer has informed our office when
we asked about it.
Regards,
Office of Cheri
DiNovo
Ron Payne
Welfare Legal
Hamilton Ontario
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
What People On ODSP Are In For According to The Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said
“Each person on social assistance should have a personalized
plan that sets out certain activities they need to perform in order to receive
their benefits”
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/18/ontario-tories-to-cut-welfare-to-long-term-benefit-collectors-as-motivation-to-find-work/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/18/ontario-tories-to-cut-welfare-to-long-term-benefit-collectors-as-motivation-to-find-work/
Would someone kindly remind him that Ontario Works already
has this in place? It is called a Participation Agreement. It was designed by
his Conservatives.
This guy really doesn't have a clue does he.
Ontario Works Regulations state
Participation Agreement Required for Application for Income
Assistance
18. (1) An
application for income assistance, other than an application related solely to
temporary care assistance, shall include a participation agreement for the
applicant and for his or her spouse included in the benefit unit. O. Reg.
134/98, s. 18 (1); O. Reg. 32/00, s. 4; O. Reg.
294/05, s. 5.
(2) The
administrator may also require other dependants included in the benefit unit to
complete a participation agreement. O. Reg. 134/98, s. 18 (2).
Participation in Employment Assistance Activities
27. (1) Subject
to subsection (2), every participant is required to participate in one or more
employment assistance activities in accordance with sections 28 and 29. O. Reg.
134/98, s. 27 (1).
(2) The
administrator shall temporarily defer the requirement under subsection (1) with
respect to a participant who meets at least one of the following criteria:
1. The participant is a sole support parent with at least
one dependent child for whom publicly funded education is not available.
2. The participant is a sole support parent with at least
one child for whom,
i. temporary care assistance is being received, and
ii. publicly funded education is not available.
3. The participant is a caregiver for a family member and
the administrator is satisfied,
i. that the family member requires daily physical assistance
on an ongoing basis because of a disability, illness or old age, and
ii. that, based on documentation from persons providing
support services to the household, the assistance required to be provided by
the caregiver makes participation impracticable.
4. The participant is 65 years of age or older.
5. There are exceptional circumstances, approved by the
Director, that apply to the participant.
Blog http://welfarelegal.blogspot.ca/
Ron Payne
Welfare Legal
Hamilton, Ontario
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
This Is The Real Story From The Conservatives
Put the disabled on Ontario Works and then kick them off’
TORONTO — Ontario should claw back welfare for able-bodied people who’ve been collecting benefits for a long time to motivate them to find a job, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said Thursday.
Other ideas include merging Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program into a single program, which would still be funded by the province but administered by municipalities. Another idea, taken from the United States, is introducing a debit card that could only be used to buy food.
Money could be saved by reducing “management layers” and supervisors to make the system more efficient, as well as allowing non-profits, charities and the private sector to bid on contracts to administer social programs.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/18/ontario-tories-to-cut-welfare-to-long-term-benefit-collectors-as-motivation-to-find-work/
TORONTO — Ontario should claw back welfare for able-bodied people who’ve been collecting benefits for a long time to motivate them to find a job, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said Thursday.
Other ideas include merging Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program into a single program, which would still be funded by the province but administered by municipalities. Another idea, taken from the United States, is introducing a debit card that could only be used to buy food.
Money could be saved by reducing “management layers” and supervisors to make the system more efficient, as well as allowing non-profits, charities and the private sector to bid on contracts to administer social programs.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/18/ontario-tories-to-cut-welfare-to-long-term-benefit-collectors-as-motivation-to-find-work/
Information About The Merger.
For more information regarding the merger.
Scroll down to page 13.
http://sareview.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Webinar-3-Merging-OW-and-ODSP.pdf
Scroll down to page 13.
http://sareview.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Webinar-3-Merging-OW-and-ODSP.pdf
Will The Liberals Join The Conservatives And Merge ODSP with OW?
Will the Liberals join the Consevatives and pass Bill 27 that will merge ODSP and OW?
http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&Intranet&BillID=2744
I don't know but the stage is set don't you think.
Hudak stays leader and....
The Tories will offer to help fast-track several of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s bills, plus at least three of their own, party sources told The Globe and Mail Sunday. The plan would ensure Liberal legislation – on tanning beds, local food, co-op housing and mobile-phone contracts – would pass the assembly by the end of the year. PC bills that would be pushed through include a measure that would free construction company EllisDon from having to use unionized labour and a law to put carbon-monoxide detectors in all homes.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ontario-pcs-aim-to-back-liberal-bills-in-bid-to-set-agenda/article14459560/
http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&Intranet&BillID=2744
I don't know but the stage is set don't you think.
Hudak stays leader and....
The Tories will offer to help fast-track several of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s bills, plus at least three of their own, party sources told The Globe and Mail Sunday. The plan would ensure Liberal legislation – on tanning beds, local food, co-op housing and mobile-phone contracts – would pass the assembly by the end of the year. PC bills that would be pushed through include a measure that would free construction company EllisDon from having to use unionized labour and a law to put carbon-monoxide detectors in all homes.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ontario-pcs-aim-to-back-liberal-bills-in-bid-to-set-agenda/article14459560/
The Battle Begins, ODSP merging with OW.
The battle begins, regarding ODSP merging with OW.
By Parkdale Community Legal Services
The Fight for ODSP: A Public Meeting & Meal
The Ontario government intends to merge Ontario Works and ODSP. If they succeed, even more disabled people will be denied benefits and pushed into the lowest paying jobs. To stop them, we must organize our communities in Parkdale and beyond. Join us for a meal and discussion of how we can build a movement to defend ODSP and to raise social assistance rates.
https://www.facebook.com/events/160584520807939/
By Parkdale Community Legal Services
The Fight for ODSP: A Public Meeting & Meal
The Ontario government intends to merge Ontario Works and ODSP. If they succeed, even more disabled people will be denied benefits and pushed into the lowest paying jobs. To stop them, we must organize our communities in Parkdale and beyond. Join us for a meal and discussion of how we can build a movement to defend ODSP and to raise social assistance rates.
https://www.facebook.com/events/160584520807939/
Welfare reform minister commits to changing system
Of particular concern is the report’s controversial call to merge Ontario
orks and the Ontario Disability Support Program and develop a single welfare rate. Eliminating a special dietary supplement and working supplement for the disabled are also controversial.
But McMeekin, a former community development worker who lead the Burlington Social Planning Council and worked for the United Church of Canada, is committed to pushing forward.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/09/01/welfare_reform_minister_commits_to_changing_system.html
orks and the Ontario Disability Support Program and develop a single welfare rate. Eliminating a special dietary supplement and working supplement for the disabled are also controversial.
But McMeekin, a former community development worker who lead the Burlington Social Planning Council and worked for the United Church of Canada, is committed to pushing forward.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/09/01/welfare_reform_minister_commits_to_changing_system.html
Trouble on the horizon! Merging ODSP With OW
It is our clear understanding, from a well-placed source within Queen’s
Park, that we will see legislation being introduced in the fall on the
OW/ODSP merger. It is a very serious attack and people should be very
concerned. However, we want to stress that we are putting out this information because we believe that we can organize to defeat the Government’s plans and stop this merger from going through.
Trouble on the horizon!
Is the Ontario Government Planning to Merge Ontario Works & ODSP? YES THEY ARE - and WE PLAN TO...
ocap.ca
Friday, June 7, 2013
The Evidence is here Part 7 Killing Our Kids
The Evidence is
here Part 7 Killing Our Kids
Provincial Ontario
government spends millions killing our kids but…
From Mary Janiga of
CAS
17 deaths in foster care in ontario
107 deaths investigated by CAS under their supervision OMG
*************************************************************
Cuts by the province of Ontario have already started at the
Children’s Aid Society and it’s because of this and other evidence, I would
suggest more are coming.
The family court system and CAS are dysfunctional and the
evidence is clear.
In a case I advised on, an alleged child abuser asked the
court for visitation of his daughter. This case was sanctioned by CAS and paid
for by Legal Aid.
CAS told him that he could have supervised visits.
When CAS was informed that their was a no contact order in
effect, CAS ran for the hills never to be heard from again, as they were in
fact attempting to breach a court order.
This case lasted
more than three years in family court and in the end he lost.
What a waste of taxpayer’s money.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
The Evidence I Here Part 6 Treating poverty works like medicine
Adding to poor patients' incomes works to decrease the health effects of poverty,
Canadian doctors are finding.
"Treating people at the low income with a higher income
will have at least as big an impact on their health as any other drug I could
prescript to them," Bloch said.
"I do see poverty as a disease," Bloch said.
For children in particular, the strong and frequent
bombardment of "toxic stress" from living in substandard housing with
adults who are also stressed can set the stage for lifelong damage, doctors
say.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
The Evidence Is Here Part 5 First A Lawyer Then A Hostel
The Evidence Is Here Part 5 First
A Lawyer Then A Hostel
B.C. woman may lose home over huge
lawyer bill
Woman owes $180,000 despite
winning lawsuit and being awarded costs
A B.C. woman stands to lose her home to her lawyer, who is moving to foreclose on her to pay his six-figure bill.
"My friends and family
say this can't be happening. There's got to be a mistake," Dale Fotsch
said.
Case dragged on
A decade ago, her common law
ex-husband Leigh Wilson went after Fotsch, trying to get a piece of her property
after their breakup. The case took nine years to resolve, which was years
longer than her lawyer had predicted, she said.
"There was a three-week
trial – three weeks! For my little place in the country. I mean, it just seems
a little overboard and ridiculous," Fotsch said. "There were three
tables of binders, with papers stacked sky high."
She said she had already
paid thousands in legal fees when the case finally went to trial in 2007. As it
advanced, her lawyer said he wouldn't continue unless she
allowed him to secure a $100,000 mortgage against her property, at 18 per cent
interest per year.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/11/30/bc-legalbills.html
Blog http://welfarelegal.blogspot.ca/
Saturday, May 25, 2013
The Evidence Is Here Part 4 Modern Day History
The Evidence Is Here Part 4
Modern Day History
The accuser picks the judge.
The accuser picks the prosecutor.
The accuser gets it’s legal fees paid by the accused.
Kopyto hit with costs order over $38,000! But the
Fight Continues…
The Evidence Is Here Part 3 The inmates ARE running the asylum
20 Things Worth Knowing About Toronto’s Crack-Smoking Mayor, Rob Ford
Many Americans awoke this morning to discover that (a) the mayor of Toronto is a guy named Rob Ford, and (b) Rob Ford smokes crack. Gawker reported last night that a cell-phone video clearly showing Ford lighting up a crack pipe — which was supposedly filmed within the last six months, while he was mayor — was being shopped around for six figures. Gawker's John Cook saw the video in person with his own two eyes, as did two reporters from the Toronto Star. Ford's lawyer calls the video "false and defamatory" and asks, hilariously, “How can you indicate what the person is actually doing or smoking?”
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/05/rob-ford-crack-video-toronto-mayor.html
Doug Ford, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s brother, sold hashish for several years in the 1980s.
Another brother, Randy, was also involved in the drug trade and was once charged in relation to a drug-related kidnapping.
Their sister, Kathy, has been the victim of drug-related gun violence. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/globe-investigation-the-ford-familys-history-with-drug-dealing/article12153014/?page=all
www.theglobeandmail.comLong before the current controversy at Toronto City Hall, The Globe and Mail set out to trace the Ford brothers’ rise to prominence. Reporters found the Mayor’s siblings have former ties to drug trafficking, a charge of physical assault and other brushes with the law
Part 3(a)
Until the local news started asking questions, Hector
Santiago had a pretty good thing going.
Video: Drunk Homeless Man Caught Directing Traffic For NJ
Transit Buses The Evidence Is Here Part 2 Poverty Is Man Made
The Evidence Is Here Part 2
Poverty Is Man Made
Ron Payne
Welfare Legal
Hamilton, Ontario
Email welfarelegal2004@hotmail.com
Blog http://welfarelegal.blogspot.ca/
Poverty Is Man Made
UK-linked tax havens
are the biggest G8 culprits
People using tax havens are depriving the world of
more than $150 billion (£100bn) in lost revenue, enough money to end extreme
poverty twice over, according to new figures published today by Oxfam.
A high proportion of this
tax dodging is taking place on David Cameron and George Osborne's watch. Of the
$18.47 trillion (£12tn) that Oxfam estimates is being held by individuals in
tax havens around the globe, over a third - $7.18 trillion (£4.7tn) - is
sitting in accounts in British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
Despite the fact a deal was done earlier this month to get some of these tax
havens to be more transparent and share tax information, and David Cameron's
letter to Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies this week, there is no
tax deal on the table that will benefit poor countries who are struggling to
reclaim the billions of pounds they are owed.
Ron Payne
Welfare Legal
Hamilton, Ontario
Email welfarelegal2004@hotmail.com
Blog http://welfarelegal.blogspot.ca/
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The Evidence Is Here Part 1 The Poorer The Sicker
The Evidence Is Here Part 1
The Poorer The Sicker
Sudbury's most economically deprived areas had more than four times as many emergency department visits for mental health episodes as the more well off parts of the city.
Premature mortality, before the age of 75, was almost twice as high in the more deprived regions. Obesity rates were twice as high in the deprived regions and infant mortality rates were 2.4 times higher.
The Sudbury and District Health Unit report said if the social gap between rich and poor neighbourhoods were eliminated there would be 14,077 fewer emergency department visits per year in the city, 1,783 fewer hospitalizations for all causes and 9,706 more people in the City who rate their health as excellent or very good
http://www.thesudburystar.com/2013/05/20/health-unit-maps-poverty-health
The Poorer The Sicker
Sudbury's most economically deprived areas had more than four times as many emergency department visits for mental health episodes as the more well off parts of the city.
Premature mortality, before the age of 75, was almost twice as high in the more deprived regions. Obesity rates were twice as high in the deprived regions and infant mortality rates were 2.4 times higher.
The Sudbury and District Health Unit report said if the social gap between rich and poor neighbourhoods were eliminated there would be 14,077 fewer emergency department visits per year in the city, 1,783 fewer hospitalizations for all causes and 9,706 more people in the City who rate their health as excellent or very good
http://www.thesudburystar.com/2013/05/20/health-unit-maps-poverty-health
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