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Good Jobs and Living Wages
Today, Ontario's minimum wage rises to $10.25 per hour - the third and final rise in the past three years.
It was an assertive community based campaign coupled with the by-election loss in York-South Weston (one of Ontario's poorest ridings) that eventually saw the McGuinty government to reverse its long standing opposition to minimum wage increases. Toronto ACORN members were a critical component of this campaign, packing into Town hall meetings, collecting petition signatures and building community support in working family neighbourhoods across Toronto.
Minimum wages remain one of the most important anti-poverty tools available to governments because of there "trickle-up" impact on wages of other low wage workers. By raising the wage floor we are able to elevate more workers out of poverty - and not just minimum wage workers - but workers earning near the minimum wage.
Unfortunately, Ontario has no more new minimum wage increases planned, leaving open the possibility of these gains being lost to inflation and cost of living increases in years to come. Ontario ACORN is calling for the Province to lay out a plan for future raises to bring the minimum wage above the poverty line and to peg the minimum wage to inflation.
Toronto ACORN worked closely with the Toronto District Labour Council as well as a number of other groups to help win this important campaign.
Employment Insurance is a key piece of Canada's social safety net, and an important economic stabilizer. In past recessions it has prevented deeper, longer recession and reduced the shock of job losses on working families and their communities.
As this economic downturn continues, we have an EI system that is weaker than in previous recessions. Only 42% of unemployed workers receive EI at any given time – Because fewer workers qualify and benefit weeks are reduced.
Now is the time to expand EI to protect workers, their families and vulnerable communities.
ACORN Canada is pleased to announce the launch of our Federal People's Platform. In its pages ACORN has laid out a platform that has been developed through 4 years of grassroots community organizing.
The issues identified we’re set as priorities by ACORN’s low and moderate income membership, and represent what they believe it will take to move From Poverty to Prosperity.
Highlights include the return of the Federal Minimum Wage, a National Living Wage Ordinance, a plan to make banking work for working families, a National Housing Strategy and a new Childcare program.
ACORN Canada Members are gearing up to take these issues to Candidates running in the current Federal Election.
Earlier Today, Ontario MPP Deb Mathews released the McGuinty administrations Poverty Reduction Plan.
The plan contains a series of encouraging steps as well as number of clear challenges.
First, the good news; The plan commits the province to reducing Child Poverty by 25% in 5 years and contains some new money for a number of poverty reduction programs including the Child Tax Benefit, the Rent Bank Fund and for the hiring of new employment standards officers to crack down of bad employers.
Now, the challenges; Scaled to the population of Ontario, Quebec made the equivalent of $1 billion of new annual investments in poverty reduction during the early years of their plan. Ontario has only committed to spending $300 million, some of which may have already been allocated. Further, the plan calls on much of the resources required to be meet the goal of 25 in 5 to be committed by the Federal Government, with no hint as to whether or not the Fed's would actually provide the resources.
Read more: Ontario Takes Modest First Steps Towards Poverty Reduction
We offer this response to the announcement made today by Premier Dalton McGuinty;
While we are encouraged by the announcement of new resources for social housing, dental care and student nutrition, it falls far short of the comprehensive poverty reduction strategy the Premier has promised, and that Ontarians deserve.
What was layed out by Premier McGuinty today are incremental pieces of a larger puzzle of how to reduce poverty in Ontario. As a membership owned organization, with a large constituency of low and moderate income families, including many members living in social housing, our members call on the provincial government to systemically address the growing rates of poverty in our province by implementing the following platform;
· Regulation of the payday lending industry
· Full rent controls to bring private rental housing costs back under control.
· Upload Social Housing costs.
· Universal childcare based on Quebec’s $7/day program.
· Licensing of temp agencies to guarantee the protection of workers basic labour rights.
· Peg the minimum wage to inflation
· Raise social assistance and ODSP rates by 40% and peg to inflation.
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