Dear Premier McGuinty, Minister Meilleur and Minister Broten,
Your government has demonstrated leadership and vision in your efforts to make Ontario a leading jurisdiction in poverty reduction.
I’m urging you to take the next step: make the Social Assistance Review bold and broad.
Ontarians need a social assistance system whose explicit goal is poverty reduction. The Review must be bold and broad enough to be able to accomplish this important task.
The Social Assistance Review must:
- create opportunities for the voices of low-income people to be heard
- identify and address the most punitive elements of the system immediately
- re-imagine and create a system that moves people out of poverty by offering meaningful and appropriate resources and programs
- start soon – Ontarians are entitled to and need a social assistance system that works.
Let me tell you why I care so much about this Review. I want to tell you about how the current social assistance system has impacted my life and my community. I want to share my ideas about the kinds of resources and programs that I think would provide the support and opportunity that would make a meaningful difference.
